Trusting Vendors vs Trusting Yourself: Finding the Right Balance in Tech Implementations

Implementing a new technology system means walking a fine line: you need to trust your vendor or implementation partner and trust yourself.

Too often, I see institutions take a step back and default to “the vendor’s the expert”—but they’re only experts in the product. You’re the expert in your institution. It’s still your job to make sure the system truly works for you. And given the size of this investment, that’s no small thing.

Taking a strategic approach to project planning is what turns a good tech implementation into a great one.

A school recently reached out and asked me to review a configuration workbook they were completing for their Workday Student implementation. The fields looked fine on the surface, but my first question was, “What’s the goal of this field?”

That answer changes everything.

Here’s what you need to ask yourself when deciding whether a config workbook is really right for your institution:

1. What will this look like in day-to-day reporting?

What information will leaders need to make decisions, and how will data from this field help? Don’t design in a vacuum—design with purpose.

2. What will you need for federal and state reporting?

In this case, Workday allowed more options than required—but more isn’t always better.

If federal reporting requires students to fit into smaller predefined categories, those extra options could become a headache. You’ll need a plan to roll them up appropriately.

I see this all the time—especially in HCM implementations where race/ethnicity fields aren’t configured correctly for IPEDS. Then when you get to the Student implementation, untangling that gets messy, fast.

I believe most people step into system implementations with good intentions. Everyone wants to do the right thing. But without a clear strategy from the start—especially around where key information will live—institutions often end up paying for it later.

Yes, you have to trust the new data model and give yourself time to learn it. But that trust has to be balanced with vigilance. You’ve got to continually ask: Have we found a home for everything we need to operate and report effectively?

That’s where we come in.

At Legato, we love serving as a guide for higher ed institutions navigating this kind of change. Our goal is to help save significant time and money—without ever burying you in jargon. We bring a practitioner’s perspective that keeps things grounded and delivers real value.

It’s a big reason why we’ve grown from 2 clients to 7 in under a year—and why we’ve had 100% client retention.

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