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Workday Global Survey: Finance, HR, and IT Leaders Reveal Top Barriers to Digital Transformation Post-Pandemic

55% of Senior Business Leaders Surveyed Say Their Digital Strategy is Outpaced by Business Demands, Widening the Digital Acceleration Gap

Business Leaders Are Prioritizing Data Accessibility, Employee Experience to Accelerate Digital Transformation Progress

PLEASANTON, Calif., April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), a leader in enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, today published the results of its latest digital transformation survey, which examines the impacts of the global pandemic on organizations' digital transformation efforts across three critical business functions: finance, human resources (HR), and information technology (IT).

In the report, "Closing the Acceleration Gap: Toward Sustainable Digital Transformation," Workday surveyed 1,150 global senior business leaders to understand the pace of digital transformation over the course of the past two years and the biggest barriers to success. The findings revealed that while finance, HR, and IT leaders recognize the importance of digital transformation, 55% of respondents say their digital strategy is always or often outpaced by the demands of the business. As a result, the digital acceleration gap is widening, where business needs are changing faster than the technology, processes, and culture required to keep pace. In response, leaders are adopting a more sustained approach to transformation by prioritizing access to data and employee experience.

To help close the acceleration gap, business leaders across the three functions are focusing on:

  • Finance leaders: Unified, fast data. 
    More than half of finance leaders (51%) say that one of the most important elements to accelerating planning, execution, and analysis cycles is new technologies that can help integrate data between disparate systems and break down internal data silos. Yet, 61% say that technology that unifies financial, people, and operational data is their most pressing need, with 64% admitting that it takes weeks — or more — to get results at the end of a reporting period.

  • HR leaders: Employee experience and skills development.
    Amid the Great Resignation, organizations increasingly focused on skills to help improve recruiting, retention, and overall employee experiences. According to the survey, 25% of HR leaders rank resilience and adaptability first among skills that will ensure teams can continuously meet business demands as they evolve. Further, 50% of HR leaders say positive employee experiences are most important to accelerating transformation across the business.

  • IT leaders: Breaking down silos to drive automation.
    While CIOs hold the key to data-fueled transformation, many are overwhelmed by the pace of change as legacy constraints and data silos are top barriers to digital transformation, according to the survey. Only 42% of IT leaders are confident in their teams' ability to adopt cloud technologies without legacy constraints. Further, half of IT leaders (50%) are struggling to keep pace with service upgrades as part of legacy technology, with 59% saying it can take weeks or months to change an automated business process.

Workday helps organizations close the digital acceleration gap with Workday enterprise management cloud, which provides a unified view of financial, people, and operational data to help enable organizations to adapt and stay ahead of the accelerating pace of change. 

Comment on the News
"Digital transformation is no longer a choice – it's necessary to keep pace in today's changing world. Yet, as the study shows, there's an acceleration gap organizations need to address to help ensure their digital journeys keep pace with the growing and evolving demands of their business," said Pete Schlampp, chief strategy officer, Workday. "We're encouraged that global finance, HR, and IT leaders are taking a more measured approach to their transformation strategies by leveraging technology – like Workday – that drives adaptability across their business."

About the Survey
Workday surveyed 1,150 senior business leaders in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region across 13 industries to understand the impact of digital transformation on three core business functions: finance, HR, and IT. This research took place between August and November 2021.

In addition to this quantitative research, between September and November 2021, Workday conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with senior business leaders and transformation experts from the finance, HR, and IT functions, which are included in the report.

For More Information:

About Workday
 Workday  is a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, helping customers adapt and thrive in a changing world. Workday applications for financial management, human resources, planning, spend management, and analytics have been adopted by thousands of organizations around the world and across industries — from medium-sized businesses to more than 50% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.

© 2022 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are registered trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding Workday's plans, beliefs, and expectations. These forward-looking statements are based only on currently available information and our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. If the risks materialize, assumptions prove incorrect, or we experience unexpected changes in circumstances, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements, and therefore you should not rely on any forward-looking statements. Risks include, but are not limited to, risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022, and our future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Workday assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Any unreleased services, features, or functions referenced in this document, our website, or other press releases or public statements that are not currently available are subject to change at Workday's discretion and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers who purchase Workday services should make their purchase decisions based upon services, features, and functions that are currently available.

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