Bringing Workday Within Reach for Higher Ed; How Dunwoody Selected, Implemented & Optimized Workday

What does it take for higher education institutions to modernize their technology ecosystem while maximizing the value of Workday? In this episode, Jeff Miller hosts a conversation with Dave Kieffer from The Tambellini Group, Houman Immen and Shawn Fournier from ERPA, and Mark Anderson from Dunwoody College of Technology. Together, they explore how higher education institutions are approaching Workday modernization through continuous optimization, long term partnership models, and cloud transformation strategies. You’ll hear insights on ERPA’s Optima deployment as a service model, the role of AI delivery accelerators in reducing implementation risk, and how institutions can move beyond traditional ERP projects toward continuous adoption and improvement. The discussion also highlights Dunwoody College of Technology’s Workday journey, including lessons learned around change management, governance, technology debt reduction, and building trust across campus teams. Institutions are encouraged to think beyond implementation alone and consider how modernization strategies can support long term student success, operational efficiency, and institutional agility. In this episode, you’ll learn about: What Optimization-as-a-Service means for higher education Workday implementations How ERPA’s Optima model supports continuous adoption after go live Why institutions are shifting from ERP projects to long term operational partnerships Things To Listen For: (00:00) Intro (01:49) Tambellini Group higher education research overview (02:58) Why higher ed needs optimization services (05:03) ERP as a product mindset(08:38) Meet the ERPA leadership team (09:37) ERPA’s higher education Workday expertise (13:43) Optima deployment as a service model (17:27) Comparing Optima Core Plus Advantage packages (19:40) AWS modernization and ERPA Edge overview (24:31) Cloud foundation assessment and modernization roadmap (26:20) Dunwoody College Workday transformation story (26:45) Mark Anderson’s higher education technology journey (28:27) Leading institutional modernization through trusted relationships (29:52) Reducing technology debt with Workday modernization (32:23) How Dunwoody selected Workday ERP (34:18) Why Dunwoody partnered with ERPA (36:05) AWS initiatives beyond the Workday implementation (39:59) Balancing change management and implementation speed (43:12) Building trust between IT and campus (47:29) Why trust matters more than cost (50:42) SaaS benefits and business continuity planning (53:44) Fixed cost deployments and technology audits Resources: Connect with the Team: Dave Kieffer -   / dave-kieffer-tech   Houman Immen -   / houman-immen-3282934   Shawn Fournier -   / fourniershawn   Mark Anderson -   / mark-anderson-w   Connect with Host: Jeff Miller -   / jeff-miller-349213161   Connect with ERPA: www.ERPA.com Check out ERPA’s Webinars: https://www.erpa.com/webinars/