Transforming legacy systems into a modern technology foundation

The Challenge

Operating on a 20-year-old ERP system that heavily relied on manual processes created inefficiencies across finance and HR, increasing risk and limiting scalability. Leadership recognized the need to replace the legacy environment as part of a broader technology and operational transformation, with a modern, integrated solution capable of improving visibility, automating core functions, and supporting future growth. 

But selecting new technology was only the first step. The organization needed to evaluate ERP and HCM platforms against its business requirements, determine what its future state should look like, and identify where supplemental solutions might be needed. Just as importantly, leadership made it clear that avoiding carrying outdated processes and technologies into the new environment was a top priority.

The Solution

Highspring guided the organization through an end-to-end ERP and HCM selection process, beginning with requirements gathering, future-state process mapping, and pain-point analysis. The team developed demo scripts and facilitated vendor evaluations to help stakeholders assess each platform against the organization’s needs.

The process ultimately led to the selection of Workday as the organization’s unified platform. The evaluation also identified gaps that Workday couldn’t address, enabling Highspring to recommend supplemental solutions that solved specific business needs and created a more complete technology environment. Following selection, the team led contract negotiations, supported implementation planning and governance, and helped select a Workday implementation partner. 

The engagement then continued into implementation design, with Highspring partnering with the client and its Workday implementation partner to guide strategic design decisions, support independent validation and verification activities, and ensure the system met both functional and operational needs. The team assessed legacy technologies for decommissioning and continued partnering with the organization through key milestones, even delivering integration management office support for a major acquisition that took place during the implementation phase. 

Beyond the technology itself, Highspring led the development of finance and HR policies aligned to the Workday design and worked closely with the client to drive organizational readiness for change. This included facilitating change impact assessments across operational and corporate functions, identifying adoption risks and role-specific impacts alongside business leaders, and translating those insights into targeted communication, training, and support strategies that built buy-in and prepared employees for the transition. 

Our Impact

The structured selection process gave the client greater confidence in its technology investment decisions and established a clear roadmap for modernization. Detailed requirements, future-state process maps, and pain-point documentation improved implementation readiness and helped streamline planning efforts. 

Stakeholders entered implementation aligned around a shared vision for the future state and prepared for adoption at go-live. Leadership also gained clarity on which technologies and processes should evolve to support long-term objectives, helping the organization realize value from its technology investment more quickly. By continuing beyond platform selection into design, policy development, and change management, the engagement helped create a scalable foundation for future growth. It also reduced the risk of carrying legacy processes into a new environment and positioned the organization for long-term operational and technology transformation.