Workday’s biannual updates in March and September introduce new functionalities and enhancements. Effective release management is essential to capitalise on these additions.
A systematic approach ensures your organisation leverages these updates. This step-by-step guide will help you prepare and maximise the benefits of each Workday release.
We know that managing Workday updates can be challenging, especially when identifying the most valuable features. That’s why, for each Workday release, our certified consultants create guides. Explore our guides, packed with handpicked insights and analysis on implementation effort versus impact, helping you focus on the features that deliver the most value to your business.
Familiarise Yourself with new Features.
Eight to ten weeks before each release, Workday sets up a Release Centre in the Community. It provides all the information needed to prepare for the update.
Use the Feature Release Guidebook in the Release Centre to plan your release management. It includes essential tools like timelines, schedules, and FAQs. The guide is especially valuable for first-time implementers, providing a solid foundation for effective release management.
Check the ‘What’s New in Workday‘ report in the Release Centre. This report details new, ready-to-use features in production tenants.
Use the Adoption Tool Kit. It will help you to:
- Evaluate new features.
- Incorporate them into your release plan.
- Assign responsibilities.
- Monitor progress.
Schedule Workday Update Release Important Dates
Check the Maintenance Calendar and plan around it. You can find the calendar on the homepage of the Release Centre. Note that when Workday updates, it will shut down and will be unavailable for a short period, usually between three to twelve hours.
The updates happen during the weekend maintenance window. The calendar will always state the expected outage time. The Maintenance Calendar will tell you when to expect features in the preview tenant, their production date, and when to implement them.
Test the Workday Update Release
To test the update:
- Enable and configure new functionalities in the preview tenant.
- Test all newly activated features.
- Verify automatic updates.
- Conduct regression tests to ensure existing functionalities remain intact.
Have a Tenant Management Strategy
Normally, when you make a change to your tenant, you would make the change in the implementation or sandbox tenant. Then test before migrating the change to production. This is good practice to ensure a safe path to production for your changes.
But, with a Workday update release, you should make the change in the preview tenant. Once the release is put into production, you can make any configuration or set-up changes in production.
If you want to refresh your preview tenant at any stage during the six weeks preceding the release, a named support contact can request this. The process is similar to how you would request a sandbox exemption, via the Workday Customer Center. Sandbox and implementation tenants get updated with the new release at the same time as the production tenant.
Schedule Time to Manage the Release
Allocate time to thoroughly review and test new functionalities, assess their impact, and inform affected users of any changes. Notify users of any noticeable changes to avoid confusion and ensure a smooth transition.
Invest the necessary time in managing each release to maximise the value of your Workday subscription.
Don’t Forget to Tell Your Users About the Changes
Notify users of any noticeable changes to avoid confusion and ensure a smooth transition.
You don’t want to be the person who fails to tell users that the look and feel of Workday is changing and then spends the next week fielding calls from users wondering if they are in the right system, or if they have accidentally changed the settings.
Workday Update Releases Calendar
| Feature Release Name | Start of Release Preparation Window | Feature Release Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Workday 2024 Release 1 | 3 February 2024 | 9 March 2024 |
| Workday 2024 Release 2 | 10 August 2024 | 21 September 2024 |
| Workday 2025 Release 1 | 1 February 2025 | 15 March 2025 |
| Workday 2025 Release 2 | 16 August 2025 | 20 September 2025 |
If you would like to discuss how Preos could help you with Workday Release Management, please get in touch.
