As Workday details its IPO plans, it reportedly lands a huge deal with Google as a human capital management customer.

Doug Henschen, Executive Editor, Enterprise Apps

August 31, 2012

2 Min Read

Details of Workday's initial public offering plans emerged on Thursday just as the media also caught wind of a big deal with search giant Google. It's a double dose of good news that will make would-be Workday customers and rival cloud, ERP, and human capital management (HCM) vendors take notice.

Workday is set to replace parts of Google's home-grown human resources software, which Google developed to manage its more than 50,000 employees, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg. Google has hired Deloitte LLP to help integrate Workday's software, Bloomberg reported.

As for the details of Workday's IPO planned for this fall, the vendor's S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes that the company expects to raise as much as $400 million through the offering. The document also outlines the company's recent financial performance, reporting $134.4 million in sales in 2011, nearly doubling 2010 sales of $68.1 million. The company is clearly spending big bucks to fuel product development and growth, as it reported a net loss of $79.6 million in 2011 and a loss of $56.2 million in 2010.

Workday's IPO is planned for October, depending on market conditions. The banks running the offering will include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan.

[ Want more on Workday's strengths? Read Workday Wins More Customers For Cloud Apps. ]

Founded in 2005 by PeopleSoft veterans David Duffield and Aneel Bhusri, Pleasanton, Calif.-based Workday has specifically targeted the public-sector and educational institutions that represent a core market for PeopleSoft. Workday customers in that segment include Brown University , Georgetown University, the State of Nebraska, and the New York Public Library.

Workday also competes in an increasingly competitive mainstream commercial market for HCM and financial management applications.

Just this week, IBM acquired HCM vendor Kenexa for $1.3 billion. That deal comes in the wake of SAP's $3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors, Oracle's $1.9 billion buy of Taleo, and Salesforce.com's purchase of privately held Ryyple.

Commercial-sector Workday customers include Flextronics, Kimberly-Clark, and Four Seasons Hotels.

At this year's InformationWeek 500 Conference, C-level execs will gather to discuss how they're rewriting the old IT rulebook and accelerating business execution. At the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, Calif., Sept. 9-11.

About the Author(s)

Doug Henschen

Executive Editor, Enterprise Apps

Doug Henschen is Executive Editor of InformationWeek, where he covers the intersection of enterprise applications with information management, business intelligence, big data and analytics. He previously served as editor in chief of Intelligent Enterprise, editor in chief of Transform Magazine, and Executive Editor at DM News. He has covered IT and data-driven marketing for more than 15 years.

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