Workday’s Partner Ecosystem: Investing in Our Opportunity

Customer service is a core value at Workday, and our partner ecosystem plays an important role in helping us deliver great customer experiences. Whether it’s through consulting services, partnering with innovators that complement our products, or co-creating innovative solutions, Workday partners offer the skills, experience, and expertise our customers require to help them solve business-critical needs in the changing world of work.

Today we’re excited to announce our new chief partner officer, Sam Alkharrat, who will lead Workday’s partner ecosystem strategy, as we look to support joint customers on their transformation journeys. 

We sat down with Sam to learn more about his experience, the opportunities he sees ahead, and what excites him about joining Workday. 

Can you share a bit about you and your experience as it relates to enterprise software and the value of a thriving partner ecosystem?

I’ve held leadership positions at C3 AI, VMware, and SAP, and have experienced first-hand how the pace of innovation and transformation continues to increase to meet evolving industry needs. This includes the impact of new technologies, such as the cloud and AI, in helping organizations accelerate their digital efforts to be more customer-focused, insights-driven, and adaptable in the face of rapid change. 

I also recognize that such opportunity cannot be fully realized alone and the critical role a strong partner ecosystem can play in helping support customer success. Whether it’s sharing their deep industry and line of business experience so that customers can better navigate challenges to drive results, or supporting a customer on every step of their transformation so they get the most from Workday, partners are a critical component of any company’s growth journey.

What do you see as some of our biggest opportunities relative to Workday and our partner ecosystem? 

Workday has always had a partner ecosystem centered around meeting the customer where they are. But as I think about the next evolution of our strategy, I see an incredible opportunity to continue opening up our partner ecosystem, and doubling down on this effort will accelerate our ability to co-innovate with our services, software, venture, and channel partners. 

One way to extend the value of Workday is through Workday Extend, where our partners can build and deploy new applications that run on Workday for joint customers, helping organizations remain agile as they address challenges in the moment. For example, with Workday Extend, Kainos, a certified Workday Extend partner, was able to build a vaccine management solution to address customers’ needs as they bring employees safely back to the office.  

Can you talk more about this shift in our partner strategy, and what it means? 

As I’ve mentioned, Workday partners have always been a key component of our customer strategy but as the world around us continues to evolve, so must we. We’ve already made great strides in identifying opportunities to do more with our partners and they’re an important component of growth efforts on the path to $10 billion. 

Some examples of areas we plan to focus on with our ecosystem include: 

• Increasing our global channel partner footprint, including helping them scale internationally.

• Helping partners grow their practices to be able to support customers and prospects in newer markets for us, such as U.S. federal.

• Developing new solutions with our partners through Workday Extend, Workday Prism Analytics, and Workday Adaptive Planning.

• Leveraging key software partners and services partners to drive our industry go-to-market strategy.

I‘m excited to start this new chapter and work with our partners on creating packaged solutions, building on our industry-specific capabilities, and expanding our global reach.

What excites you most about joining Workday?

In light of all the uncertainty and change over the past few years, I was immediately drawn to the core values that serve as the constant in Workday’s story, and the company’s commitment to building trust. During my career I have witnessed how trust is foundational to any successful partnership and to see the business prioritize this for its employees, customers, and its partners, reaffirms that I’m in the right place.

Workday understands that success is shared so, in the same way happy employees lead to happy customers, supporting our partners’ success only adds to our customers’ success. 

I also admire the Workday team and how it not only thinks about innovating from a technology lens, but also from a culture and partnership lens. We have so much opportunity ahead of us and I look forward to continuing to build upon their great work.

Sam Alkharrat is chief partner officer at Workday, responsible for the company’s strategic partnerships and ecosystem business, covering Workday’s services, channel, advisory, software, and technology partners. 

Prior to joining Workday, Sam held global executive roles at C3 AI, VMWare, and SAP. He holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Toledo, a global executive MBA from Duke University, and has been to the advanced management school of INSEAD. He is also a certified master behavioral coach.