What are Workday Partners? Partner Types, Workday Badges & More

Imagine Workday as a giant solar system. If Workday’s core platform is the sun, Workday Partners are the hundreds of planets, comets, asteroids, and chunks of rock orbiting around it.

If you’re on the outside looking in, it might seem like an incredibly complicated and confusing system that would take light years to learn. But there is method to the madness. 

Here’s what you need to know about Workday Partners - including the top Partner categories and what they all mean, plus a breakdown of the Workday Badges system. Consider this your Workday star map.

Follow along or skip ahead:

• Why Workday uses Partners
• 8 Key Types of Workday Partners
• What are Workday Badges and how do they work?
• Workday Partner Case Study: eduMe

Why Workday uses Partners

As a leading provider of enterprise solutions, Workday understands that its client needs are diverse, wide-ranging, and ever-changing. To meet those needs, Workday has established a comprehensive partner system, collaborating with businesses of all shapes and sizes to provide a wide range of solutions and services to its customers.

By buddying up with other businesses, Workday is able to:

• Address its customers’ varying needs
• Provide industry-specific solutions
• Help customers access specialized expertise
• Offer customers advanced and customized features
• Continuously adapt and improve through collaboration
• Expand to new markets and regions

To help users get the most out of Workday’s suite of products, Workday broadly divides companies into different Partner categories - such as Services Partners, Sales Partners, and Advisory Partners - providing a web of Workday-approved businesses that relate to different products and services. 

By creating a formalized Workday Partner network, Workday gives businesses a stamp of approval, helping to cut through the chaos and provide official Workday recommendations for software, integrations, consultants, advisors, and more. This gives customers reassurance that those Partners have been vetted by Workday and they’re in safe hands.

Let’s look at those categories in more detail. Here are the 8 main types of Workday Partners and the key features for each type.

8 key types of Workday Partners

1. Workday Services Partners

Main role: Help customers implement, deploy and optimize Workday solutions.

One of the broadest categories of Workday Partners, Workday Services Partners are responsible for helping businesses utilize Workday in the most efficient and effective way for their needs. 

The role of a Services Partner can range from technical specialists to staffing and recruitment support. What Workday Services Partners have in common is their work on implementing and optimizing Workday solutions for every business’ specific use case, including custom integrations, setup, tech support, and employee training. 

Key features of Workday Service Partners

• Manage deployments: Many Services Partners help organizations implement Workday solutions - often known as Implementation Partners - including planning and rolling out the platform according to a business’ specific needs to help ensure a smooth transition and minimal disruption. This might include data migration, system setup, optimization, and training.
• Support application-managed services: To ensure Workday stays up-to-date and efficient, Services Partners also provide ongoing support and maintenance for Workday’s applications, including managing updates, troubleshooting issues, and optimizing the performance of Workday solutions within a company.
• Provide staffing solutions: Workday Services Partners may also provide recruitment support and staffing to businesses, either for a temporary project or long-term to help manage and operate Workday systems.

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Services Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably or used to provide customers with more detail about Services Partners’ specializations, including:

• Workday Channel Partners
• Workday Solutions Partners
• Workday Implementation Partners
• Workday Staffing Partners
• Workday Deployment Partners 
• Workday Consulting Partners

Workday Services Partner example

Helios Consulting is both a certified Workday Services Partner and Workday Staffing Partner, providing talent solutions for organizations implementing Workday, including Workday-certified early career professionals, temporary Workday experts, and tailored consulting services. 

By equipping companies with individuals who are experienced in working with Workday systems, applications, and installations, Helios Consulting helps companies maximize their Workday investment, without asking their existing employees to learn the intricacies of the platform.

Other Workday Services Partners also include KPMG, Invisors, and Deloitte.

2. Workday Software Partners

Main role: Provide additional Workday features and functionality through integrations and applications.

One of the broadest categories in the Workday Partner ecosystem, Workday Software Partners are dedicated to the technical side of Workday, helping to extend the platform’s functionality, capabilities, and address specific technical needs. This includes helping businesses integrate Workday-compatible third-party tools and apps. Software Partners might include businesses specializing in simplifying solutions for payroll, compliance, analytics, and much more.

Key features of Workday Software Partners

• Develop Workday integrations: Workday Software Partners include businesses developing tailored Workday-certified integrations and applications to create a more streamlined and robust experience for Workday users.
• Simplify integration and connections: Another service offered by Workday Software Partners includes helping organizations connect their existing Workday software with pre-built integrations and third-party tools for a smoother, simpler user experience.
• Offer enhanced features: By using integrations and enhancements, Workday Software Partners can extend the functionality of Workday and provide features that are not available in Workday’s core products, especially for businesses in niche industries or markets.

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Software Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday Innovation Partners
• Workday Solutions Partners
• Workday Technology Partners
• Workday Certified Integration Partners
• Workday API Integration Partners

Workday Software Partner example

Corporate learning platform Skillsoft is a leading solution for enterprise-focused desk-based leadership training. Skillsoft is a Workday Software Partner and Workday Certified Integration, integrating with both Workday Skills Cloud and Workday Human Capital Management (HCM). As a Workday Software Partner, Skillsoft can provide organizations with integrated career development and talent optimization tools within Workday, especially focused on overcoming skill gaps.

ADP and eduMe are also examples of Workday Software Partners.

3. Workday Innovation Partners

Main role: Collaborate with Workday on new technologies, applications, or integrations.

Within the umbrella of Workday’s software partners are Innovation Partners - these are Workday Partners who collaborate closely with Workday to develop innovative solutions to Workday customers’ needs.

The Workday Innovation Partner status is a stamp of approval from Workday, signifying a solution, technology, or software that expands Workday’s existing capabilities and meets Workday’s high standards for performance and quality. Workday Innovation Partners span a wide range of categories, ranging from healthcare to retail to manufacturing, but the unifying factor is their focus on pioneering solutions to common business needs.

Key features of Workday Innovation Partners

• New solutions to meet customer needs: Workday’s core platform provides a wide range of features for businesses - but it has its limits. The role of Workday Innovation Partners is to offer fresh solutions to meet Workday customers’ needs and extend the functionality of Workday’s current products, often co-developed with Workday.
• Work with Workday product teams: Workday Innovation Partners collaborate with Workday product teams to ensure that new products are compatible with existing Workday software and truly meet the needs of Workday users to ensure maximum interoperability.
• Focus on innovative technologies: To be awarded Workday Innovation Partner status, a business should provide solutions and technologies that are high quality and cutting edge, such as AI-driven applications, that enhance Workday’s core products.

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Innovation Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday Software Partners
• Workday Co-development partners 
• Workday R&D Partners

Workday Innovation Partner example

Leading monetization platform Zuora is a Workday Innovation Partner, integrating with Workday’s Financial Management platform to allow businesses to automate recurring billing processes for a variety of monetization models and pricing, including subscription bundles, hybrid offerings, and more. The integration also provides existing Workday users with close to real-time insights into customer and revenue data to open up the path to data-driven decision making.

Trintech and One Model are two more Workday Innovation Partners.

4. Workday Sales Partners

Main role: Drive business growth by referring leads, reselling, or co-selling Workday products.

Workday is a big investment for organizations and the sales process can be a long and drawn out one. Workday Sales partners offer a helping hand to Workday, playing a key role in generating demand, promoting sales, and advising potential buyers. They also help customers in evaluating Workday products or focus on driving leads to the business, often with a specific area of focus such as an industry, country, or product type. For example, Addedo is a Workday Sales partner serving clients in Sweden.

Key features of Workday Sales Partners

• Generate and close leads: Workday Sales Partners work on finding and nurturing leads for Workday products and selling Workday’s solutions within a particular niche or industry.
• Expert guidance during the buying process: Certified Workday Partners assist prospective customers in making buying decisions, offering tailored advice and information.
• Broaden market reach: Partners may sell or resell Workday solutions, helping to expand Workday’s market reach by driving leads to the business from specific customer segments or regions. 

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Sales Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday Channel Partners
• Workday Resellers
• Workday Referral Partners

Workday Sales Partner example

Combining both technical and industry expertise, CrossVue specializes in Workday advisory services, deployment, and post-production support. This consultancy draws on their in-depth understanding of the Workday platform to advise companies on Workday solutions and how to transform their existing operations. With over 10 years as an official Workday Partner and a hat trick of Workday Badges, CrossVue is a Workday Sales Partner, Workday Services Partner, and Workday Innovation Partner. 

Accenture and Kainos are also official Workday Sales Partners.

5. Workday Ventures Partners

Main role: Co-develop Workday solutions with funding from Workday to drive innovation.

Workday’s Workday Ventures arm focuses on strategic investments. By partnering with ambitious early stage technology companies through their Partner program, Workday helps shape and accelerate their growth, opening up new opportunities for innovation and technological advancements. Workday Ventures Partners include a wide range of enterprise technology stretching from career coaching to finance automation.

Key features of Workday Ventures Partners

• Receive strategic investment from Workday: Workday Ventures Partners receive direct funding from Workday and strategic guidance on the development of products and features.
• Complimentary solutions for Workday products: Workday collaborates with Ventures Partners to co-develop solutions that work to fill the needs of Workday’s customers and compliment or enhance their existing products.
• Vision and innovation: Emphasis is placed on innovative and pioneering solutions to common problems for organizations, especially in key growth areas such as AI and data analytics.

It’s common to see Workday Ventures Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday Strategic Investment Partners
• Workday Startup Collaborators

Workday Ventures Partner example

Employee benefits platform Benepass is a Workday Ventures Partner, combining employees’ pre-tax benefits and personalized benefits into one user-friendly platform. Emphasizing flexibility and personalization, Benepass boosts employee engagement rates with benefits schemes, helping companies to attract and retain their best talent.

Beamery, Auditoria, and Blink are more examples of Workday Ventures Partners.

Main role: Provide payroll support and functionality for Workday customers in international markets.

6. Workday Payroll Partners

Workday is a global company with customers spread across more than 45 countries worldwide. To provide specialized payroll support to its many multinational customers, Workday teams up with certified Workday Payroll Partners to offer regional payroll solutions in countries where they don’t have native payroll features, including payroll integrations, compliance, and managed payroll services. This allows companies to integrate payroll with their Workday system and ensure they stay compliant with local regulations.

Key features of Workday Payroll Partners

• Regional payroll compliance: One of the top advantages of the Workday Payroll Partner program is the extension of Workday’s payroll capabilities. By developing relationships with official Payroll Partners, Workday can better serve their international customer base with a focus on regional compliance and payroll processing.
• Payroll-focused integrations: Workday Payroll Partners also include companies developing payroll applications and products that integrate with Workday’s existing HR and Financial management products.
• Managed payroll services: Some Workday Payroll Partners specialize in outsourced payroll management services where they take over the entire payroll process for organizations, especially those with complex and multi-national payrolls.

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Payroll Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday Certified Payroll Partners
• Workday Global Payroll Partners
• Workday Managed Payroll Service Providers

Workday Payroll Partner example

As a Workday Payroll Partner, Strada (formerly Alight) offers comprehensive payroll services across 60+ countries. With particular focus on organizations in the EMEA and APAC regions, Strada helps to simplify and streamline multi-country payrolls, allowing companies to integrate their HR and payroll operations with their Workday platform and ensure payroll is compliant, efficient, and on track.

Two more examples of Workday Payroll Partners are SD Worx (formerly Intelligo) and Activpayroll.

7. Workday Advisory Partners

Main role: Offer strategic guidance to organizations on Workday selection, implementation and long-term strategy.

Workday is one of the few solutions on the market that allows companies to bring all their business processes into one place. But doing so can be a challenge without specialist expertise. Workday Advisory Partners provide expert advice to businesses looking to use and implement Workday, helping them to create and adopt a long-term, strategic plan that’s tailored to their industry, systems, and their unique needs.

While this might sound similar to Services Partners, Advisory Partners have a unique role in the Workday Partner ecosystem. Workday Advisory Partners often work alongside Workday Services Partners, rather than being an either/or. Think of Services Partners being more about the practical side of implementation, and Advisory Partners as being more pre-purchase strategic advisors that help you choose the right products and create a plan to help achieve your goals. In addition, Advisory Partners often advise companies in niche markets or regions - take Analyze Consulting, who specialize in helping companies in South Africa with Workday deployments. 

Key features of Workday Advisory Partners

• Subject matter experts: The key role of a Workday Advisory Partner is to provide in-depth expertise on Workday’s products, helping businesses create a forward-thinking strategy that meets their needs and helps them get maximum value from the platform.
• Industry-specific solutions: Workday Advisory Partners tend to work within a specific industry, market, or niche, allowing them to provide tailored advice to clients, such as Healthcare, governmental or Federal agencies.
• Exclusive insights into Workday: With the Workday Advisory Partner status, businesses get access to resources and insights into Workday’s strategic planning, allowing them to advise customers on how to best optimize Workday now and in the future.

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Advisory Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday Advisory Services Provider
• Workday Digital Transformation Partners
• Workday Consulting Partners
• Workday Strategy Partners

Workday Advisory Partner example

A Healthcare technology services company, Health Data Movers is a recognized Workday Advisory Partner within the Healthcare space, helping businesses implement Workday solutions in a way that works for them, while providing strategic guidance to help companies make the most of Workday’s products for the Healthcare industry. 

Genpact and Klarigo are more examples of specialist Workday Advisory Partners.

8. Managed Service Provider Partners

Main role: Help companies optimize and manage their contingent workforce programs.

If a Workday customer has non-permanent workers (e.g., freelancers, consultants), they can benefit from Workday’s partnerships with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Vendor Management Systems (VMS). MSPs are external firms that oversee the management and logistics of a contingent workforce, and VMS is software that facilitates the lifecycle management of these workers. Access to these partnerships can help organizations efficiently source, onboard, manage, and track their contingent workforce, within Workday.

Bearing Workday’s Managed Service Provider Partner status helps Workday customers choose the best MSP to work with alongside the Workday platform, including Workday VNDLY, Workday’s own Vendor Management System product. This helps to ensure a high standard of skill, expertise, and Workday-specific resources for companies looking to outsource.

Key features of Managed Service Provider Partners

• Contingent workforce management: Workday MSP Partners offer businesses a Workday-tailored solution to contingent workforce management, including Workday-specific expertise and resources to limit risk and ensure compliance. 
• Workday Sales Training: As an added benefit for Workday MSP Partners, Workday provides sales training, giving partners the chance to earn an MSP Sales Training Accreditation and win more deals long-term.
• Exclusive information and updates: As well as gaining access to Workday customers, Workday MSP Partners also get exclusive information from Workday on product developments and new features to provide higher-tier support to customers.

Subcategories and alternative names

It’s common to see Workday Managed Service Provider Partners referred to as different names and many of these terms are used interchangeably, including:

• Workday MSP Partner
• Workday Contingent Workforce Management Partners

Workday Managed Service Provider example

As a Workday MSP Partner, NextSource provides a personalized approach to contingent workforce management for businesses, helping clients to fully utilize Workday’s VNDLY platform to streamline and unify their workforce management across the board.

Other examples of Workday Managed Service Providers are Allegis Global Solutions and Randstad.

What are Workday Badges and how do they work?

As well as understanding the Workday Partners system, there’s also the matter of Workday Badges to get your head around. 

To help you get to know this part of the Workday ecosystem, here’s a detailed breakdown of what each Workday Badge means and why they’re important.

1. Workday Approved Integration

The Workday Approved Integration Badge is a mark of approval from Workday. This badge shows that an integration meets the minimum requirements for security, functionality, and quality, as well as reliable interoperability with Workday’s core products.

Key features

• Shows basic compatibility with Workday
• Foundational integration capabilities
• Meets minimum security requirements

2. Workday Certified Integration

Taking it up a notch, Workday Certified Integrations undergo a much more rigorous and in-depth testing and development process in order to be awarded this badge. The Workday Certified Integration Badge demonstrates that an integration provides seamless, efficient, and streamlined integrations with Workday’s products.

The Workday Certified Integration also signals to Workday customers that there’s likely to be less need for custom development or adjustments. Any integration with this badge is comprehensive, high-quality, and meets at least 90% of standard use-case requirements. It’s a green light from Workday.

Workday Certification is the best way to help our Partners build meaningful integration use cases… The certification process is really about predictability and trust.

- Sonny Yuen, Senior Director, Product Strategy, Workday

Key features

• Meet at least 90% of standard use-case requirements
• Focus on boosting efficiency for business processes
• More intensive qualification process

3. Workday Built Integration

As the name suggests, this badge is given to integrations built or developed in close collaboration with Workday. The Workday Built Integration Badge shows that developers worked in with Workday product teams and the integration is deeply embedded within the Workday platform, suggesting high-quality standards, security, and long-term support from Workday.

Key features

• Developed alongside Workday
• Close relationship with Workday product teams
• Integration supported by Workday

4. Workday Global Payroll Certified

Applying only to global payroll integrations, the Global Payroll Certified Badge is a mark that a tool has been developed with local regulatory compliance expertise and is tailored to the regulatory standards of a particular country or region. By endorsing these integrations, Workday simplifies payroll processing for global companies and helps to simplify operations and compliance.

Key features

• Fully functional payroll integration
• Country-specific integrations
• Configurations for different business processes

5. Workday Content Cloud Approved

The Workday Content Cloud Approved Badge is given to Content Cloud Partners who have completed a formal approval process to connect to the Workday Content Cloud, including ensuring that all content metadata can be indexed inside Workday - and the content can be seen and used by Workday customers.

Key features

• Rigorous approval system for content providers
• Shows high-quality content, approved by Workday
• Content compatible with Workday Learning system

6. Workday Design Integration

sinesses. The Workday Design Integration Badge is used by Workday to highlight Ventures Partners who’ve created configurable solutions that can be adapted to customer needs and use-cases, based on the review of an approved use case and proposed reference architecture for their integration. 

Unlike the Workday Certified Badge, this badge doesn’t mean the integration is fully tested and customer ready - but, it meets Workday’s minimum standards for interoperability and security. 

Key features

• Configurable solutions and integrations awarded to Workday Ventures Partners
• Meets minimum requirements from Workday
• Not yet fully tested by Workday or customer-ready

7. Built On Workday

The Built On Workday Badge recognizes tools and applications that use Workday’s platform tools in their design, for example Workday Extend, allowing them to integrate with Workday’s core system. This badge is a sign of quality and compatibility for partner-developed applications.

Key features

• Built directly on the Workday platform
• Meets quality and usability requirements
• Uses Workday Extend to integrate with Workday system

Workday Partner case study: eduMe

Now you’ve got the terminology down, let’s take a look at an example of the Workday Partner and Workday Badges system in action.

Leading frontline employee training platform eduMe (that’s us!) is a Workday Ventures Software Partner and has a Workday Certified Integration badge. This means eduMe meets at least 90% of the standard use-case requirements for Workday customers.

The collaboration between Workday and eduMe allows Workday customers to leverage eduMe’s bite-sized employee training solutions to provide best-in-class training to on-the-go workforces. Create social-media style tappable video content in minutes with AI-powered content tools and translations. 

What makes eduMe’s partnership with Workday unique is the depth of the integration. Unlike other Partners in the Learning category, eduMe’s Workday solution was developed in tandem with Workday’s product team to fill the urgent need for an employee training solution that’s tailor-made for time-strapped frontline workers. 

Workday isn’t going to build everything in the learning space. Microlearning, publishing and delivery is an area of strong interest that we’re not well suited to deliver. And that led us to eduMe – a perfect fit to power unique frontline worker learning experiences that complement the programmatic or long-form learning in Workday. Together, we believe that we can serve the deskless worker population in a way no else can.

- Sonny Yuen, Director of Product Strategy, Workday

With the eduMe Workday integration, frontline employee training becomes effortless. Create a seamless, streamlined experience for admins and learners alike by building micro-learning programs in eduMe and automatically rolling it out to employees within the Workday app across multiple touchpoints. Plus real-time data syncing between both platforms means your employee records are always up-to-date and reflected in both systems, as is your training completion data.

Take a look at a demo of the Workday eduMe integration here.

Take advantage of the Workday Partner Solar System

Whether you’re looking to become a Workday Partner or you want to choose the right solution for your business, this breakdown of Workday Partners and Badges is just the start. 

To learn more about the world of Workday Partners, visit our resources on the Best Workday Partners and the Top Benefits of Workday Partners. Plus check out a demo of the Workday eduMe integration.