Creating a leading, global HR service provider

Hot on the heels of its purchase of Appirio’s Workday practice,  Appirio’s Alight has announced its acquisition of HR and payroll expert NGA Human Resources (NGA HR).

NGA HR was owned by an investment bank and two private equity firms, so its sale comes as no surprise. Its alignment with Alight creates a global HR expert, an important factor for enterprises looking for HR services to consider in RFIs. Alight and NGA HR will continue to operate as two separate entities until late Q4 in 2019 when they officially initiate the merger. Alight must still get the integration right to reap the benefits.

Here we outline a few reasons why you should consider Alight in your HR transformation journeys. 

Alight will have the third largest pool of certified Workday consultants

HFS estimates that the combination of Alight, Appirio’s Workday practice, and NGA HR will provide more than 1,000 certified Workday consultants. In a closed partner ecosystem with a limited number of Workday services partners, this is significant. If Alight succeeds in retaining the skills it has acquired, it will achieve the No. 3 place in scale behind Deloitte and Accenture. 

Advice to clients

Clients complain about the lack of availability of Workday consultants when they need them. Experienced consultants and engineers are scarce in this fast-growth market, and all Workday services partners are struggling to hire and retain experts to meet client needs. Keep Alight in mind, especially if you have a complex Workday deployment, as you may need regular access to experienced experts. Also refer to the HFS Blueprint Report: Workday HCM Services 2018, in which we analyzed the capabilities of Alight, Appirio, and NGA HR.

Alight will have one of the most robust payroll services capability sets in the market

The combined entity has significantly strengthened payroll services offerings. Payroll is often omitted from deployments as clients consider it to be too complex, and not many of the typical HR service partners have deep skills here. Alight has experience in complex Workday payroll deployments and operations, particularly in North America. NGA HR has particular strength in global payroll services. This solid investment in tools development, including Payroll Exchange (PEX), acts as integration middleware between HCM systems and payroll solutions in more than 100 countries and supports customers globally.

Advice to clients

You should already be considering Alight and NGA HR for payroll deployments. Together they present a very credible, deep payroll expert, particularly for Workday Payroll. For example, clients tell us that they typically look to Workday payroll partners, mostly ADP, for international plug-ins and connectors. Using Alight and NGA HR, you can potentially have a more seamless Workday global payroll experience in terms of the look and feel of the solution to end-users.

It will provide global coverage

While Alight and NGA HR both have experience with global clients, NGA HR’s relative strength in the UK and Europe complements Alight’s relatively wider experience in North America. Alight also acquired Future Knowledge, an HR advisory company in Australia and New Zealand in July 2018.

Advice to clients

Don’t underestimate the ability to access experts at any time and in any location. Critical HR issues that need an on-site visit to resolve cannot wait for different time zones and travel visas. 

The combined entity becomes an HR powerhouse

Individually, Alight and NGA HR are already established brands in the HR services market. Together they would form an HR services powerhouse, assisting clients throughout their HR transformation journeys. 

Advice to clients

Remember that a purely technical HR solution deployment is not likely to realize maximum business value. You must position all HR deployments in the context of your wider HR strategy to gain maximum value. Working with a service provider that adopts a business approach will more likely deliver business benefits. In addition, use a service provider that understands the importance of user-centric deployments, including any change management requirements. If no-one uses the new solution, then it has been a failure, regardless of meeting on-time and on-budget targets.

Together they provide complementary and additional solution capability

Alight and NGA HR have many complementary capabilities that would offer clients a wider array of offerings. For example, Alight also has Workday Financials skills, which is rare in this growth market, as well as Cornerstone OnDemand services. NGA HR has a SAP SuccessFactors practice of approximately 350 people and approximately 220 certified SAP SuccessFactors certified consultants. We analyzed NGA HR’s SAP SuccessFactors services capabilities in HFS SAP SuccessFactors Services Top 10 Report.

Advice to clients

Alight is making a lot of investments in new and adjoining solution areas. Enquire about these beyond your specific deployment. 

Alight’s success relies on a successful integration

Alight and NGA HR will continue to operate as two separate entities until late Q4 in 2019 when they officially initiate the merger. While the synergies and complementary skillset mentioned above should alleviate this usually difficult task, Alight must still get the integration right to reap the benefits. Many of NGA HR’s skills, including Workday services and general payroll expertise, are in high demand in the marketplace. We expect competitors to attempt to poach senior talent to strengthen their own capabilities. Alight must pull off a seamless integration and present clear benefits for all the NGA HR staff to become part of the resulting company. 

The Bottom Line: Watch this space as Alight goes from strength to strength 

Keep an eye on Alight as it continues its investment spree to become an HR services leader in the market. Even if you have not considered Alight before, it may become a credible partner for you in the next year. Its acquisitions of NGA HR and Appirio’s Workday practice demonstrate that it is not shy to target practices that are prominent in their respective markets.  Clients should take note of the Workday services and payroll expertise, as well as the international delivery capability that the NGA HR acquisition bring to the Alight family.