Workday to Acquire Scout RFP: Helping Transform the Office of Procurement

Workday has entered into an agreement to acquire Scout RFP, a leading cloud-based platform for strategic sourcing and supplier engagement. The acquisition of Scout RFP will help accelerate Workday’s ability to deliver a comprehensive source-to-pay solution with a best-in-class strategic sourcing offering, elevating the office of procurement in strategic importance and transforming the procurement function.

As organizations face growing business complexities while navigating increasing competitive pressures, digital transformation is becoming a top priority. And as companies embrace these shifting dynamics, there’s an elevated focus on the office of procurement as a way to support growth while improving the bottom line, with organizations viewing supplier relationships as strategic assets -- not just transactions. 

To support our customers’ procurement needs, we have designed Workday Procurement and Workday Inventory as part of our single system, to streamline the procure-to-pay process and improve operational efficiency, driving down costs while enhancing supplier collaboration and engagement. We now have more than 650 Workday Procurement customers, with more than half of them live. 

But, as our customers evolve their supplier relationships to be more strategic, we realize the opportunity to accelerate our efforts in this area and are excited to announce we have entered into an agreement to acquire Scout RFP, a leading cloud-based platform for strategic sourcing and supplier engagement. 

With Scout RFP, which has been a Workday Ventures portfolio company since 2018, Workday will provide organizations a comprehensive source-to-pay solution with a best-in-class strategic sourcing offering to transform the procurement organization and deliver better business outcomes, including reduction in spend, greater policy compliance, and maximized engagement across key stakeholders.

Not only are we excited about the opportunity to bring Scout RFP’s innovative technology into Workday’s Power of One and welcome its global customers to Workday, we’re also thrilled to expand our talents and welcome Scout RFP’s employees -- who share our passion for customer service and fun -- to Workday.

We look forward to expanding our efforts in this area and will share more information in the future. In the meantime, here’s a short FAQ with more detail: 

Q: What is Scout RFP?

A: Scout RFP provides cloud-based strategic sourcing solutions that help organizations source faster and achieve better business outcomes. It’s disrupting the market with an intuitive and modern cloud-based platform that encompasses everything from project intake through sourcing pipeline to contract and supplier management to RFx and reverse auction tools. 

Scout RFP is already part of the Workday community as both a Workday Ventures portfolio company and Workday Software Partner, equipping joint customers with a tight integration between Scout RFP’s sourcing capabilities and Workday’s procurement capabilities.

Q: Why has Workday entered into an agreement to acquire Scout RFP? 

A:  Building on its momentum with procure-to-pay, Workday is committed to leveraging modern technology and our digital core to bring a comprehensive source-to-pay solution to our customers. With increased importance around the supplier as a strategic asset, the acquisition of Scout RFP will help accelerate Workday’s ability to deliver a comprehensive source-to-pay solution with a best-in-class strategic sourcing offering, elevating the office of procurement in strategic importance and transforming the procurement function. 

Q: How will this acquisition impact the Power of One?

A: Workday remains committed to the Power of One as an integral principle in our technology strategy and core value proposition for our customers. We do not intend to re-platform Scout RFP but over time, customers can expect the same Power of One experience, including access to one data model, one security model, one user experience, and one Workday Community, so that they can plan, execute, analyze, and extend in one system.

Q: Will the Scout RFP team be joining Workday?

A: The company’s more than 160 employees across North America and Europe will be joining Workday. The company’s corporate headquarters is in San Francisco, California. 

Q: How much is Workday paying for Scout RFP?

A: Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Workday will acquire Scout RFP for consideration of approximately $540 million in cash, subject to adjustments.

Q: When will the transaction close?

A: The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Workday's fiscal year 2020, ending January 31, 2020, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approval.

Forward-Looking Statements

This blog post contains forward-looking statements related to Workday, Scout RFP and the acquisition of Scout RFP by Workday that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits and effects of the proposed transaction, Workday’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, and the anticipated timing of closing of the proposed transaction. Risks include, but are not limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all; (ii) failure to achieve the expected benefits of the transaction; (iii) Workday’s ability to implement its plans, objectives and other expectations with respect to Scout RFP’s business and its ability to accelerate its growth in the procurement software market; (iv) negative effects of the announcement or consummation of the transaction on Workday’s business operations, operating results or share price; (v) significant transaction costs; (vi) unknown liabilities; (vii) breaches in our security measures, unauthorized access to our customers’ data or disruptions in our data center operations; (viii) our ability to manage our growth effectively; (ix) competitive factors, including pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors and new applications, advancements in technology, and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (x) the development of the market for enterprise cloud applications and services; (xi) acceptance of our applications and services by customers, including any underlying technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence; (xii) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (xiii) the regulatory, economic, and political risks associated with our international operations; (xiv) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (xv) changes in sales, which may not be immediately reflected in our results due to our subscription model; and (xvi) additional risks included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2019 and our future reports that we may file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. Workday assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Any unreleased services, features, or functions referenced in this document, our website, or other press releases or public statements that are not currently available are subject to change at Workday’s discretion and may not be delivered as planned or at all. Customers who purchase Workday services should make their purchase decisions based upon services, features, and functions that are currently available.

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