SAP SuccessFactors vs Workday comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 6, 2024

We compared SAP SuccessFactors and Workday based on our user's reviews in several parameters.

In summary, SAP SuccessFactors is praised for its comprehensive HR capabilities, customizable reporting, competitive pricing, and strong customer support. On the other hand, Workday is highly valued for its user-friendly interface, extensive reporting capabilities, mobile accessibility, and versatile adaptability. Both platforms have room for improvement in areas such as customization options and UI simplicity. Workday excels in proactive customer service, while SAP SuccessFactors offers robust training resources.

Features: SAP SuccessFactors stands out with its comprehensive HR capabilities, customizable reporting, and strong support resources. In contrast, Workday excels in user-friendly interface, extensive reporting, adaptability to different business needs, and robust security measures.

Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for SAP SuccessFactors is considered affordable and straightforward, with flexible and varied licensing options. On the other hand, Workday offers a positive experience with fair and reasonable pricing, manageable setup costs, and no concerns about licensing., According to user feedback, SAP SuccessFactors delivers significant value to organizations, resulting in positive outcomes. Workday also shows satisfactory or positive ROI based on users' experiences.

Room for Improvement: Users have suggested that SAP SuccessFactors could benefit from enhancements in customization options and user interface simplification. Workday users have expressed a need for more intuitive navigation, better customization options, and enhanced reporting capabilities.

Deployment and customer support: The reviews show that for SAP SuccessFactors, there is a clear distinction between deployment and setup phases, with users mentioning different timeframes for each. On the other hand, for Workday, there is more variability, with some users considering deployment and setup as the same period and others treating them separately., SAP SuccessFactors stands out for exceptional customer service, with prompt and helpful assistance. Users value the support team's knowledge and efficiency. Workday also excels in customer service, with prompt, helpful, and professional support.

The summary above is based on 70 interviews we conducted recently with SAP SuccessFactors and Workday users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.

To learn more, read our detailed SAP SuccessFactors vs. Workday Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"SAP SuccessFactors is a very reliable and stable solution.""It's a uniform user interface.""This solution provides up with an easy way to on/off-board staff, as well as actioning internal transfers.""SAP SuccessFactors is a stable solution.""SuccessFactors' best features are talent management and HR Analytics.""It's very user-friendly.""They have succeeded in sustaining a powerful system supporting their philosophy.""This solution is very user-friendly, and supports 60 plus languages."

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"We use this solution to manage financials, payroll and recruiting.""Provides flexibility to integrate with the product. It has several tools, out-of-the-box, for integrations. It delivers pre-built interfaces for specific vendors, pre-built generic integrations to extract or push data into Workday through configuration.""There is a lot to like about it. I really enjoy the business process framework. It's something that's really seamless. It allows you to have people within the flow. They get assigned a task to complete something to approve, etc. That's a really good piece of functionality that Workday offers. Their out-of-the-box reporting framework is also really powerful in terms of what it provides. These would be two things that I would highlight.""The user interface is good and very easy to use.""It's easy to set up.""The solution is stable.""It helps the users to enroll for the benefits automatically and update their life events without the involvement of HR individuals or back-office staff. It enables a person to take action on their own. It reduces the administrative burden on HR and puts the ownership on the person that is going through the life event, whether it is having a child, taking a leave of absence, or something else. There are easy ways to integrate Workday with your common benefits. At least in the USA, it can be integrated with common benefits providers such as Fidelity, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, etc. It has got a connector that is able to connect with the vendor or the third party to which you are trying to send the eligibility file. It basically allows us to automate or set up the tool, and the integration with the provider is a lot quicker than competing tools. When it comes to reporting on just eligibility and SLSA, it is a lot more user-intuitive. Depending on the purpose of what you are doing, you can grant security rights or roles, for example, you can control whether someone is a benefits administrator doing an independent audit. Workday makes it very easy to do that. It significantly simplifies the reporting process.""The payroll and benefits engine is the most valuable Workday solution in my opinion. It is also easy to access."

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Cons
"The reporting and cloud integration could be done better in this solution.""Integration between Employee Central and Compensation in SAP SuccessFactors is one area of the solution that has room for improvement.""We lack information regarding how to build a network.""SAP SuccessFactors can improve the recruitment module and artificial intelligence features. More powerful analytics are needed.""The SAP SuccessFactors integration with old versions can improve. We are using an older finance module but we are having migration issues.""The SAP SuccessFactors updates need to be more industry-specific because every industry has specific modules. What I want to be added to SAP SuccessFactors is a chat box where SAP staff can give support to users.""SAP SuccessFactors' pricing structure could be improved.""There is not much scope for enhancements, personalization, or customization with the cloud-based variant of this solution, which could be improved."

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"Setting up reports can be a bit tricky.""I would be happy if it was faster. Currently, when I try to navigate within the solution itself, it is a bit slow in terms of the page load time. When I click on something, it usually takes time to load. When you click on different icons or areas on the website, it is slow. Even when you navigate between different models, it is a bit slow. I would like to see a bit faster performance and a better user experience.""The solution has some features missing when you put them in the test studio or Confluence Studio. I would like the tool’s coding to be easier to understand and automated. Most of the coding these days is automated. Any query given can pull the answer directly which can make the solution easier to understand.""The UI, UX (user experience) is very bad. It is not very interactive.""Workday could improve by adding other features, such as messaging to candidates and other recruiting capabilities that other new-age solutions have.""The solution can be improved by speeding up the load time when pulling up information.""The solution needs to be updated with generative UI.""This solution could be improved by providing user-level access to customization capabilities. Users currently rely on more technical teams to customize reports, for example."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The licensing fees are based on the number of modules that are being used, and the number of users."
  • "I don't want to comment on the license cost, to be honest. It could be about $1,000 approximately per customer. However, it's very flexible in terms of the licensing costs depending on the volume and depending on the deal of installation."
  • "If you go by best practices and do it right from the outset, the setup won't be a costly endeavor. In terms of setup, there is a lot of flexibility compared to three years ago."
  • "It could be cheaper."
  • "We have a yearly license. There are no additional costs."
  • "SAP SuccessFactors requires an annual subscription."
  • "It is not expensive because it is a complete suite with a module-based cost."
  • "For SAP, the product is pricey, both CAPEX and the OPEX. It's something that could be improved."
  • More SAP SuccessFactors Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "With a bigger budget, I would recommend SAP."
  • "Workday is an expensive solution."
  • "You have the license fee per module, and then you have a kind of annual training fee, which is a kind of add-on. I wouldn't say it is exhaustive; it is minor. Licensing is pretty transparent for most of the part."
  • "The pricing is good from an HR perspective, although management gets upset after spending $500,000 a year, every year."
  • "Its price is pretty high. It is more expensive than what is offered by other competitors in the market."
  • "It has an annual subscription rate, but I'm not sure how it will work."
  • "The pricing for this solution is fairly high. It is not affordable for small and mid-sized companies."
  • "By and large, Workday is expensive. It is based on the headcount. I'd probably rate it a three or four out of five in terms of pricing. It'd be like buying a Mercedes or a high-end car. It's expensive, but there's a specific value that you're getting with additional features and things of that nature. Using that metaphor, Workday probably tends to be more of a luxury. There are others like ADP that can do your payroll, your time off, and other things, but they don't do it as well."
  • More Workday Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud,w and SAP SuccessFactors:w Oracle: "simple interface and deep customization to suit the purpose." SAP: Multiple functionalities that increase process… more »
    Top Answer:When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new experience and an advanced user interface. Additionally, the entire concept of SF is to… more »
    Top Answer:The tool's most valuable feature is its integration capabilities with on-premise ERPs and other systems.
    Top Answer:We use the platform for tasks, including applying for leaves, communication, and adhering to our organization's policies through efficient goal setting and reviews.
    Top Answer:They could provide a web chatbot feature in the dashboard for Workday.
    Ranking
    1st
    out of 85 in Talent Management
    Views
    18,906
    Comparisons
    12,556
    Reviews
    41
    Average Words per Review
    502
    Rating
    7.7
    2nd
    out of 85 in Talent Management
    Views
    19,377
    Comparisons
    12,133
    Reviews
    26
    Average Words per Review
    398
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    SuccessFactors
    Learn More
    Overview

    SAP SuccessFactors is a valuable human resource management system (HRMS) solution that streamlines numerous HR tasks and activities, such as payroll, talent management, and people processes, to help make the entire HR process run more smoothly and improve the overall employee experience. It is primarily developed to meet the needs of enterprise-class organizations. SAP SuccessFactors can also help users to boost business processes and achieve desired outcomes.

    SAP SuccessFactors is cloud-based and built as a Software as a Service (SaaS) tool. It can integrate seamlessly with any existing ecosystem. This solution can easily be accessed from any web browser, from any location, with any device.

    SAP Success Factors Key Features

    • Improve core HR and payroll process: SAP SuccessFactors can help users improve productivity by simplifying everyday tasks, streamlining processes across the organization, establishing consistent business practices, and improving the bottom line by reducing risk. SuccessFactors core HR tools include time and attendance, payroll management, document management, and additional core HR services to meet regulatory and compliance needs.

    • Staff planning and HR analytics: SuccessFactors can facilitate an improved DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) environment using intuitive people data measurements. The solution can help create action plans to ensure that hiring goals are met in a timely manner, preventing critical staffing gaps and ensuring that productivity and profitability goals are consistently being achieved.

    • Employee welfare management: SuccessFactors allows users to respond in a timely manner to employee needs and concerns, to better understand employee motivations, to keep employees happy and involved, to specify employee dissatisfiers, and to help improve the overall employee experience. The solution will also facilitate employee performance using an intuitive holistic approach, improve employee benefits, and guide and administer the entire employee career growth. SuccessFactors provides valuable opportunities for employee growth through intuitive individualized learning and career development opportunities. It also rewards and recognizes good performance and provides pathways for successful career growth. The solution will help to attract and retain the best available talent in the marketplace.
    • Succession Planning: The solution can be used to assist with talent sourcing, candidate management, and improving the overall candidate experience to include new hire onboarding, offboarding, and more. SuccessFactors also provides action plans for performance and compensation management, education and career development, talent reviews, leadership planning, and even sales performance management, goal setting, and quotas.

    Reviews from Real Users

    “We are using it for a lot of things: HR, performance management, and learning management. There are a lot of features embedded in SuccessFactors. We recently implemented a learning platform that employs the individual staff to actually manage their own learning. They can do it at their own pace. SuccessFactors allows you to manage your team, have calibration for promotion, and you can generate reports and see how you're doing.” - Alaba O., IT Asset Management Lead at Dangote Industries Limited

    “SuccessFactors Talent Management tools help us in managing the entire employee journey. HR and managers can use the succession and development tool to create career paths and staff development plans. When combined with the learning tool, these development objectives can help employees gain the skills they need to advance their careers within the company.” - Yamen Z., SAP Project Manager at a manufacturing company

    Workday is a cloud-based software solution that specializes in developing applications for capital and finance management applications. The system is built to work in global workforces and is adaptable. The global system ensures that users are up to date and can manage internal career-related information, and everyday business problems like timesheets, payrolls, and time off.

    “A Pioneer in Software-as-a-Service”

    Workday Human Capital Management tool is designed to simplify and streamline your work. It leverages machine learning to adapt capital management to a changing environment.

    The Workday model is based on delivering a single system that uses a single source of data and a single security model to deliver a unique user experience. The system is user-friendly and ensures that employees and management can use it from any and all devices. Workday HCM integrates into a central system that includes financial management, payroll, recruiting, learning, and planning. Managers and employees can provide feedback to one another, too.

    Workday’s features include:

    • Flexible framework that lets you organize your staff according to different criteria. You can group employees by function, hierarchy, or department.
    • Personalized career guidance: Knowledge management and career guidance that can be easily customized for each staff member and also done at scale.
    • Augmented reporting and analytics: Configure, change, update, and publish reports, scorecards, and dashboards. The system centralizes the transactional and analytical data so you can act on the data from anywhere.
    • Compensation tools: Compensatio, payroll, and time tracking are automated and simplified.
    • Workforce planning allows you to uncover and address talent gaps and get visibility of your staff.
    • Mobile-first ensign approach: Users can access all resources from any device, and they are always in sync.
    • Machine learning capabilities enable personalized enterprise experiences and faster business processes.

    Workday smart platform consists of the following modules:

    • Human resource management
    • Business process management
    • Reporting and analytics
    • Benefits administration
    • Compensation management
    • Talent management
    • Survey framework
    • Employee and management self-service

    Reviews from Real Users

    Many organizations choose Workday because it provides an all-in-one modular solution for human capital and finance management. Our users say they like the ease of use for time-off requests, career and development segments, and overall HR management. The records and reporting capabilities are another popular feature.

    "The solution was very good at reconfiguration and customization of their software. It helped us to meet federal regulations," said one user. Another said that the best feature is the optimization of the work day experience with a unified platform that can be applied across different business units. “You will never find a use case that cannot be covered," said a third.

    Sample Customers
    City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skril
    AAA, Allied Global, Avago Technologies Limited, Aviva, Cardinal Health, CareFusion, Chiquita Brands International, Equifax, Flextronics, HP, Life Time Fitness, McKee Foods, MGM Resorts International, Sanofi, ServiceSource International, Symantec, TripAdvisor, Yahoo!
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company26%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization45%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm29%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Hospitality Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization26%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise63%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business11%
    Midsize Enterprise50%
    Large Enterprise40%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise65%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business14%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise54%
    Buyer's Guide
    SAP SuccessFactors vs. Workday
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about SAP SuccessFactors vs. Workday and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    SAP SuccessFactors is ranked 1st in Talent Management with 42 reviews while Workday is ranked 2nd in Talent Management with 27 reviews. SAP SuccessFactors is rated 7.8, while Workday is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of SAP SuccessFactors writes "Good tool for performance and HR management". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Workday writes "Offers good business process framework and out-of-the-box reporting, and brings operational efficiencies". SAP SuccessFactors is most compared with SAP HCM, Oracle HCM Cloud, PeopleSoft, UKG and Cornerstone Learning, whereas Workday is most compared with SAP HCM, Oracle HCM Cloud, PeopleSoft, UKG and Cornerstone Learning. See our SAP SuccessFactors vs. Workday report.

    See our list of best Talent Management vendors, best Talent Acquisition vendors, and best Cloud HCM vendors.

    We monitor all Talent Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.