The reasons for this delay can be traced to one root cause: legacy system architecture and the slow evolution from on-premises to truly cloud-native workforce management.
Look no further than Infor WFM and Timework for your new Modern Workforce Management System.
In the evolvinglandscape of workforce management, time and attendance — once considered aback-office necessity — has become a strategic differentiator. Organizationsare demanding flexible, automated systems that integrate seamlessly withpayroll, scheduling, and analytics platforms. Yet, despite their dominance inenterprise software, Workday and Oracle remain behind in delivering modern,comprehensive time and scheduling capabilities.
The reasons for thisdelay can be traced to one root cause: legacy system architecture and the slow evolution from on-premise to trulycloud-native workforce management solutions.
Oracle’s position inworkforce management was historically defined by its acquisition of PeopleSoft, a legacy platform built for adifferent era — when on-premise HR systems were the norm, and employee timetracking meant physical punch clocks and static schedules.
PeopleSoft’s architecture, while robust for its time, was not designednotdesigned for real-time, data-driven workforce management. As laborrules, compliance demands, and scheduling complexities grew, customers foundthemselves relying on extensive customizations, manual integrations, andbolt-on tools just to meet operational needs.
Even as Oraclelaunched Fusion HCM and later its Oracle Cloud HCM, many of its time andattendance components remained conceptually tied to the older PeopleSoftframework. This slowed innovation and made seamless scheduling capabilitiesdifficult to scale — particularly in the public sector and complex hourlyenvironments.
Workday entered the market later, positioning itself as the next-generation cloud-native HR Platform. Its architecture was built to unify HR, payroll, and finance — and it delivered exceptionally well in those areas.
However, time and attendance and scheduling were not early priorities. For years, Workday focused on salaried workforce management and broad HCM analytics, leaving hourly and shift-based operations underserved.
As a result,organizations with complex scheduling rules, labor union requirements, or multi-department shift operations — such as cities, utilities, hospitals, and universities — have had to rely on third-party tools or manual processes to fill the gap.
Only in recent yearshas Workday begun developing deeper time-tracking and scheduling capabilities,but even now, its feature set trails behind specialized systems that werepurpose-built for this space, such as Infor WFM,UKG, or ADP’s advanced modules.
For both Oracle andWorkday, the issue isn’t ambition — it’s architecture and legacy integration.
Modern time andattendance requires systems that can:
Legacy ERP systemswere not built for this level of agility. Their data models, approvalworkflows, and payroll integrations were built around batch processing — notcontinuous, rules-based validation.
This means bothOracle and Workday face the difficult task of retrofittingtheir enterprise backbones to behave like purpose-built workforcemanagement engines — a challenge that inherently slows innovation.
This gap has openedan opportunity for specialized providers like Timework,who focus exclusively on workforce management,timekeeping, and scheduling transformation.
By leveraging Infor WFM’s proven architecture — purpose-builtfor dynamic hourly workforces — Timework delivers implementation expertise,configuration depth, and real-world process alignment that larger HCM vendorssimply can’t match today.
While Oracle andWorkday continue to expand their time-tracking capabilities, their evolutionremains slow and costly for organizations needing immediate modernization. Incontrast, dedicated workforce platforms — and the partners who know them best —are driving measurable outcomes now.
Both Oracle andWorkday have reshaped the HR technology landscape — but when it comes to time and attendance, their progress remainshindered by legacy systems, historical focus, and architectural constraints.
In today’senvironment, where accuracy, compliance, and flexibility define operationalsuccess, time and scheduling can no longer be anafterthought. Organizations ready to modernize must look beyondgeneralist HCM platforms — toward partners and solutions designed for thecomplexity of the modern workforce.
