Making Identity Management Easier: Connecting Workday with AD Manager.

Introduction:

In large enterprises, ensuring that employee information like email addresses, usernames (UPNs), and job titles stay consistent across systems is critical. Znifa Technologies partnered with Globus Medical to automate the synchronization of identity data across Workday, Azure Active Directory, and AD Manager. This project eliminated manual updates, reduced errors, and significantly improved data reliability and operational efficiency.

Product Synopsis:

Znifa designed and implemented a two-part automation solution that streamlines identity management across systems. The first part involves synchronizing UPN and email information with Workday using a SOAP API, updating user credentials based on accurate data fetched from Azure Active Directory. The second part focuses on transforming and updating key employee fields such as Company, Manager, and Location in AD Manager using Workday as the source system. This component compares daily data snapshots, detects changes, and applies transformation rules dynamically through JSON-based configurations. The entire system operates on a scheduled basis, automatically sends email alerts, and maintains detailed logs and exception tracking to ensure reliability and transparency..

Resources Engaged:

Znifa assigned a dedicated team member with expertise in Python, Postgres, SOAP web services (for Workday integration), Azure Active Directory, SQL databases, and configuration management using JSON files. The team member also possessed strong development skills in Angular, Spring Boot, and Java, enabling seamless integration, robust backend processing, and a scalable automation framework.

Key Challenges:

The key challenges were:

1. Manual entry of UPN and email across systems caused inconsistencies.
2. Different XML formats were required for employee’s vs contingent workers in Workday.
3. Location and Company names required transformation before updates.
4. No tracking or retry mechanism for failed updates.
5. Column mappings were hardcoded, making future enhancements difficult

Solution Implementation:

Znifa implemented a two-part automation solution to streamline employee data synchronization. The first part focused on updating UPN and email in Workday by extracting employee data from a CSV file, querying Azure AD for accurate values, validating names, and selecting the appropriate XML format based on worker type. Updates were made via SOAP API, with success and failure logs maintained, automated email notifications triggered, and a retry mechanism in place for failed transactions. The second part involved transforming and updating employee fields such as Company, Location, and Manager in AD Manager by comparing daily CSV data against previous records to identify changes. Transformation rules were applied dynamically using JSON-based configurations, and updates were applied to AD Manager accordingly. The system also generated audit logs, emailed detailed CSV attachments, and included a retry process to ensure all updates were successfully completed.

Results and Data:

Following the implementation of the identity automation system, the client experienced substantial improvements in operational efficiency and data consistency. Key results and data include

1. 90% reduction in manual work, significantly freeing up HR and IT teams for higher-value tasks.
2. 95% decrease in update errors, thanks to improved data accuracy and validation.
3. 99.9% system uptime, ensuring reliable, uninterrupted daily automation.
4. Automatic retry mechanism, guaranteeing that failed updates were retried until successful.
5. Real-time email alerts, providing enhanced monitoring and faster issue resolution.
6. Improved onboarding speed, allowing new team members to quickly understand and manage the system.
7. Scalable design, with JSON-based rules enabling rapid enhancements without code changes
8. Positive end-user feedback, with zero complaints post-launch and improved user trust in data systems

Znifa's smart automation framework seamlessly integrated Workday, Azure AD, and AD Manager, replacing manual processes with a reliable, scheduled, and fully traceable solution. With modular components, robust logging, and rule-driven processing, the system provides long-term maintainability and scalability. The success of this implementation demonstrates the value of thoughtful automation in enterprise identity management.