Workday and Pagero: A strategic collaboration to power digital transformation

Partnership start: 2021
Services: AP and AR automation, e-invoicing, compliance, EDI
Markets: Global

For leading enterprise management provider and Pagero partner Workday, flexibility sits at the centre of their vision. With more than 9,500 customers across the world, Workday provides an adaptable platform to meet market needs, among which electronic invoicing and features to support local compliance at a global level have become increasingly important.

“A large number of our customers deal with global operations, either because they are based in one country but have business partners in others, or because they are multinationals with presence in many regions. As a technology partner, we are committed to developing technology solutions designed to help customers support their statutory tax and reporting obligations in the countries where our customers operate”, explains Tim Wakeford, VP of Financials Product Strategy at Workday.

“A substantial part of the Workday Financial Management customer base requires e-invoicing capabilities, and we recognized early on that this was not a momentary trend, but a pressing necessity that would likely grow over time. We wanted to be able to offer our customers the possibility to add automated and electronic invoice functionalities to the enterprise management cloud”, he continues.

In today’s shifting economy, software providers need to deliver flexible solutions that allow for quick course correction without disrupting business continuity. This often involves switching from large, monolithic structures to more dynamic platforms that can integrate several components to meet new demands.

This approach, referred to by Gartner as “composable business architecture” means “creating an organization made from interchangeable building blocks”, and provides agility and resilience through modularity.

“Whilst in the past software providers aimed to develop or acquire as many capabilities as possible under the same roof, nowadays this strategy limits their ability to quickly adapt and adopt new technologies”, says Alexander Jansson, VP Partnerships & Alliances at Pagero. “In contrast, establishing partnerships when needed and selecting the best solutions already available in your partner ecosystem is a resource-effective alternative to solve customer needs and access the latest technology without heavy investment or maintenance”, Jansson explains.

“Composable architecture is at the core of our offering, as we see change as constant and inevitable. While hard-coded, inflexible systems make it challenging to keep up, Workday’s configurable and open platform allows us to adapt and integrate”, Wakeford declares. “We want to focus on what we do well. When we encounter vendors like Pagero, it makes sense for us to collaborate to continue to evolve and innovate”.

Workday was looking to collaborate closely with an e-invoicing expert. “We wanted to deliver turnkey solutions to our clients. That is when we decided to explore e-invoicing providers in order to establish a long-term partnership in which both sides could invest”, Wakeford observes.

In this case, it was important to find a single provider that could provide a global solution. While e-invoicing vendors typically have different solutions in different countries, Pagero stood out for the ability to meet legal and format requirements for e-invoicing needed in multiple markets around the globe.

“After looking at the market, we found Pagero’s technology to be a great match for Workday’s capabilities”, Wakeford points out. “Beyond compatibility on the capacity and product side, other aspects in our decision to become partners were mindset compatibility as excellence-driven, cloud native organizations, and the fact that our products are very complementary to each other”, he adds.

With the joint solution, Workday customers have the ability to distribute invoices, orders, and other business documents electronically, while taking into consideration local requirements, including digital signatures and specific content requirements.

“As tax administrations continue to discover the value of transaction visibility that comes with electronic invoicing, it will likely become more widespread around the world”, Jansson points out.

“We predict the digital submission of invoices between trading partners with the government will grow, and the Workday – Pagero partnership is well-positioned to serve this growing market”, Wakeford concludes.