Consider this common scenario in many fast-growing organizations: Different departments run different systems for different reasons. Some departments work from spreadsheets. Other departments build their own systems. The data is often inconsistent from one system or spreadsheet to another.

So what do you do when someone asks for a report? How do you provide consistent, accurate data? How do you get through a merit review cycle? How do managers prepare for new employees?

RightNow Technologies managed their human resources operations with independent point solutions and manually-driven processes for a number of years—until their employee count nearly doubled within twelve months, and the need for a system of record became undeniable. Specifically, they recongized the need for a solution that would centralize their data, better support reporting needs, and empower managers and employees with modern, intuitive decision-making tools.

Why Workday?

RightNow provides organizations with on-demand customer relationship management solutions. Approximately 1,800 companies around the world turn to RightNow's hosted solution for real-time visibility across all customer-facing departments.

"We were committed to working with a SaaS [Software-as-a-service] vendor for our business applications, but unfortunately, there were no truly mission-critical solutions available—until Workday came along," explains RightNow's founder and CEO Greg Giantorte. "We've seen the benefits of on-demand solutions with our own customers, so it was an obvious decision for us to pursue an on-demand provider for our business needs."

RightNow was founded in 1997, "before SaaS was an industry term," says Giantorte. "Six or so years ago, we saw half of our clients selecting this deployment option. In 2006, more than 90 percent of our new customers have chosen hosted delivery. So clearly this is where the market is moving."

Implementation Summary and Results

RightNow's implementation of Workday HCM 1.0 kicked off in Q1 2007. The project team spent a few weeks visioning, planning, and gathering requirements and data before their first kick-off meeting. Six weeks later, the company went live with core HR, and HR specialists are realizing just how much the system will ease their daily workload.

"Now, when someone asks for a report, it's just a matter of downloading and sending it. This is a major time saver, especially around performance reviews," explains Terri Dore, recruiter and employment consultant. "In coming months, managers will be able to run their own reports. RighNow is a customer service company, and Workday is helping us to best serve our internal customers—that is, our employees."

HR Director Kevin Boylan also sees relief in administrative burdens with Workday. Over time, he anticipates significant improvements in the company's ability to manage compensation, conduct performance appraisals, and ensure organizational alignment. He also expects that self-service features will optimize benefit enrollments, leave management, and employee information management.

"The ability to access, group, and regroup information will be tremendously helpful in terms of empowering both managers and employees," he predicts. "You just don't see this agility in other solutions."

Future Plans

Upcoming implementation phases call for an upgrade to HCM 2.0, a roll out to managers and employees, a payroll interface, and an interface to a learning management system. The team is also planning to use Workday HCM for their annual performance appraisals, merit increases, and a benefits open enrollment.

"We're very excited about what Workday will bring to our business," affirms Boylan. "As an early customer, it was a big incentive for us to have the opportunity to be involved in the design of the system. As the solution matures, we expect to move off our point solutions and on to Workday wherever possible.

"By the end of the year, we expect that RightNow management will have complete global visibility and reporting for all employees, enabling them to react to change and manage their teams without any involvement from other departments. We think that's a great position to be in, and we're really pleased to be there with a company that shares our on-demand business vision."