Stabilising Workday and Payroll Migration for a Highly Regulated Financial Services Client in Germany
Client Profile
Industry: Financial Services (DAX 40 enterprise)
Location: Germany
Employees: 40,000+ (Germany)
The Challenge:
The organisation initiated a large scale digital migration program following the consolidation of its legacy infrastructure into a new digital environment. As part of this initiative, two closely connected migration programs were executed sequentially.
The first program focused on migrating the German workforce from a legacy SAP HCM system to a cloud based HCM platform. This was followed by a second program that addressed the migration of payroll processing from a standalone SAP Payroll environment into a centralized SAP Payroll landscape.
During the HCM migration, the testing phase did not progress as expected. While roles and responsibilities were clearly defined, test activities did not consistently follow the agreed testing timeline. Test execution lacked discipline, progress tracking was limited, and defect resolution was not always aligned with planned milestones. This resulted in delays, reduced transparency, and increased delivery risk.
As the payroll migration followed the HCM program, the overall transformation required strong coordination, clear risk awareness, and careful cutover execution to ensure continuity for a large German workforce within a highly regulated environment.
In addition, the organisation required a compliant and structured archiving concept to ensure historical HR and payroll data remained accessible, auditable, and aligned with German regulatory and internal governance requirements.
Given the scale of a DAX 40 enterprise and the operational sensitivity of HR and payroll, the client required experienced leadership to stabilise execution, regain control of critical phases, and guide both migration programs safely to go live.
The Solution:
Technology: Workday | SAP HCM | SAP Payroll
Services: Program and Project Management Service
Fishtank Consultancy was engaged to provide Program and Project Management services, taking responsibility for stabilising delivery and ensuring that activities stayed on schedule across the HCM and payroll migration programs.
All key activities, including test stabilisation, cutover planning and execution, risk and dependency control, hypercare coordination, and the definition of a structured archiving concept, were delivered as part of the overall program and project management service.
The Approach
The transformation was executed as a coordinated, multi stage migration program with a strong focus on clear execution and operational readiness.
Fishtank Consultancy introduced structured controls to ensure that teams followed agreed timelines, progress was visible, and decisions could be made quickly during critical phases of the migration.
Testing activities were stabilised by reinforcing clear planning, improving progress tracking, and aligning defect resolution with planned milestones. This restored transparency and confidence during the HCM migration phase.
Cutover activities were planned and executed using clear readiness checks, detailed runbooks, and close monitoring during go live and hypercare. This ensured a controlled and smooth transition across HR and payroll systems.
For the payroll migration, particular focus was placed on managing risks, sequencing activities correctly, and maintaining clear oversight to ensure continuity between the two migration programs.
A structured archiving concept was defined to ensure historical HR and payroll data remained accessible, audit ready, and compliant with German regulatory and internal governance requirements.
Key Results
Stabilised testing and improved execution during the Workday migration
Workday migration achieved go live as originally planned with no delay
Controlled and well planned cutover across HR and payroll systems
Smooth transition supported by structured hypercare and monitoring
A structured archiving concept was introduced to comply with internal and German regulatory requirements
