---
category: [Administration & Integrations, Platform and Product Extensions, Platform and Product Extensions/Integration]
keyword: Integrate
nav: wcp_docs
parent_url: /wcp_docs/
title: >- 
  Setup Considerations: Integrations
layout: subsection
---

You can use this topic to help make decisions when planning your configuration and use of Workday integrations. It explains:

-   Why to set them up.
-   How they fit into the rest of Workday.
-   Downstream impacts and cross-product interactions.
-   Security requirements and business process configurations.
-   Questions and limitations to consider before implementation.


Refer to detailed task instructions for full configuration details.

## <a id="section_ekr_cxn_w2b"></a>What It Is

Workday integrations enable you to exchange data efficiently between Workday and an external endpoint. Examples:

-   Export payroll data from Workday to a third-party payroll provider.
-   Import data for employee hires into Workday using Enterprise Interface Builder (EIB).


You can use Workday integrations to:

-   Efficiently export and import large volumes of data.
-   Initiate integrations ad hoc or on schedule.
-   Complete most tasks in bulk that you can perform in Workday.


## <a id="section_gbx_fxn_w2b"></a>Business Benefits

Workday integrations make some tasks easier and other tasks possible. Example, an integration:

-   Can save you time and effort when transferring data from other applications into Workday.
-   Is necessary to send large volumes of payroll results regularly to a third-party payroll service in the format they require.


When you need to exchange large volumes of data in a specific format with an external endpoint, Workday integrations are a good choice. With Workday integrations, you can avoid manual re-entry of data between Workday and an external application.

## <a id="section_msd_hxn_w2b"></a>Use Cases

<table><thead><tr><th>Use case</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Account provisioning</td><td>With Workday integrations, you can send records of hires and terminations to other internal applications, including Active Directory. Account provisioning enables you to synchronize updates in Workday with related external accounts automatically.</td></tr><tr><td>Payroll, tax, and benefits processing</td><td>You can use Workday integrations to send worker data on a schedule to external payroll processing services and benefits providers.</td></tr><tr><td>Bulk import tasks</td><td>Workday integrations enable you to load data for large numbers of objects into Workday. Example: You can change manager assignments for a large number of workers.</td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

## <a id="section_g2q_hxn_w2b"></a>Questions to Consider

<table><thead><tr><th>Question</th><th>Considerations</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Does a Workday-delivered integration template support your use case?</td><td>If a Workday-delivered integration template supports your use case, using that template can simplify building the integration.</td></tr><tr><td>Do you need to import and export data regularly, or infrequently?</td><td>You can configure most Workday integrations to run on a schedule.</td></tr><tr><td>Can workers at your organization build the integrations using the technology approach that you select?</td><td>Workday provides customer training for EIB, some Workday Connectors, and Workday Studio.</td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

## <a id="section_sdn_4xn_w2b"></a>Recommendations

Workday provides several integration technologies. The best technology for your use case varies depending on the use case.

<table><thead><tr><th>Integration Technology</th><th>Description</th><th>Advantages</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Inbound Enterprise Interface Builder (EIB)</td><td>A tool for building simple integrations that load data into Workday.</td><td><ul><li>Available in Workday tenant.
</li><li>Simpler to use than other Workday integration technologies.
</li><li>Can use an inbound web service as a data source.
</li><li>Can generate spreadsheet for data entry by workers who don't have access to Workday.
</li><li>Enables automation of multistep data entry in Workday (Example: Hire business process).
</li><li>Best for one-time bulk data loads.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Outbound Enterprise Interface Builder (EIB)</td><td>A tool for building simple integrations that export data from Workday.</td><td><ul><li>Available in Workday tenant.
</li><li>Relatively simple to use.
</li><li>Can use 1 Workday Custom Report or outbound web service as a data source.
</li><li>Can run on schedule or launch from business process step.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Template-Based Integrations (for specific endpoints)</td><td>Tools for building integrations to specific services and vendors (Example: Salesforce.com). These integrations support file formats that are specific to the service.</td><td><ul><li>Available in Workday tenant.
</li><li>Workday preconfigures much of the template for the specific endpoint it supports.
</li><li>Integration supports vendor file format without additional configuration required.
</li><li>Can run on schedule or launch from business process step.
</li><li>Simpler than Workday Studio or WWS API.
</li><li>Best solution if you have to integrate with the endpoint that the integration template supports.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Template-Based Connectors</td><td>Tools for building integrations that export data of a specific type (Example: Worker, Organization) and export or import data in a Workday-defined XML format.</td><td><ul><li>Available in Workday tenant.
</li><li>Provides a broad range of data fields.
</li><li>Can run on schedule or launch from business process step.
</li><li>Some Connectors can export additional report field output if the Connector doesn't already include a field for that data.
</li><li>Outbound Connectors can use Document Transformation Connector to convert Workday XML into the file format used by the external endpoint.
</li><li>Best solution when Workday doesn't provide an integration template for your specific endpoint.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Orchestrate for Integrations</td><td>A web-based, low-code, drag-and-drop development environment. Available from the Workday Developer Site at <a href="https://developer.workday.com/">https://developer.workday.com</a>.</td><td><ul><li>The central Orchestrate for Integrations tool is Orchestration Builder, a drag-and-drop development environment that enables you to create complex workflows called orchestrations without writing code.
</li><li>Orchestrations can automate business processes, transform data, and facilitate real-time, event-driven interactions with third-party services.
</li><li>Entirely web-based. No downloads required.
</li><li>Data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
</li><li>Designed to handle high volumes of data and complex integration patterns.
</li><li>Extensible through the use of custom logic, third-party APIs, and Workday's extensive library of Orchestrate Expression Language global functions and member functions.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Workday Studio</td><td>An Eclipse-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE). You can build custom integrations that follow the same template-based model as Workday Connectors.</td><td><ul><li>Flexible developer tool available from Workday.
</li><li>Enables you to build custom integrations that reside in your Workday tenant.
</li><li>Studio integrations can access data from any Workday Web Service operation.
</li><li>Can run on schedule or launch from business process step.
</li><li>Best solution if your developers have completed Workday Studio training.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Workday Web Services (WWS) API</td><td>This Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API supports several thousand Workday operations. The API provides programmatic access to most Workday functionality through exchange of XML documents.</td><td><ul><li>API provides access to Workday data from outside of Workday.
</li><li>API supports almost all operations available in Workday.
</li><li>Enables you to use developers trained on non-Workday development tools.
</li><li>Enables you to use any development tool.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Workday REST API</td><td>This API provides access to a limited number of Workday operations.</td><td><ul><li>API provides access to a limited set of Workday operations from external applications.
</li><li>API supports smaller transactions than WWS API.
</li><li>Enables you to use developers trained on non-Workday development tools.
</li><li>Enables you to use any development tool.
</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

## <a id="section_hgm_4ch_3gb"></a>Requirements

No impact.

## <a id="section_n35_3xn_w2b"></a>Limitations

<table><thead><tr><th>Integration Technology</th><th>Limitations</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Inbound EIB</td><td>Supports only 1 data source per EIB.</td></tr><tr><td>Outbound EIB</td><td>Supports only 1 data source (Custom Report or web service) per EIB.</td></tr><tr><td>Template-Based Integration (specific vendor)</td><td><ul><li>Can be more difficult to configure than EIB.
</li><li>Each template supports a single, dedicated vendor that you can't change. Integration templates can't support any other endpoint, even if use case is similar.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Template-Based Connector</td><td><ul><li>Can be more difficult to configure than EIB.
</li><li>The only additional data sources you can add are report fields.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Orchestrate for Integrations</td><td><ul><li>Orchestrate for Integrations is separate from your Workday tenant.
</li><li>Requires Orchestrate-specific training for developers.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Workday Studio</td><td><ul><li>Studio is separate from your Workday tenant.
</li><li>Requires Studio-specific training for developers.
</li><li>Studio integrations generally take longer to build than template-based integrations, orchestrations, or connectors.
</li></ul> <p><b>Note:</b> Custom Reports can only be linked to an integration system directly in Workday Studio. If you attempt to link a custom report to an integration using the <b>Configure Integration Reports</b> related action on the integration system, the custom report does not display on the integration.</p></td></tr><tr><td>Workday Web Services (WWS) API</td><td>Requires non-Workday development expertise and infrastructure.</td></tr><tr><td>Workday REST API</td><td>Requires non-Workday development expertise and infrastructure.</td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

## <a id="section_dmh_jxn_w2b"></a>Tenant Setup

The <b>Edit Tenant Setup - Integrations</b> task enables you to:

-   Disable integration subscription notifications for all integrations in your tenant.
-   Require that Studio integrations include source code.


## <a id="section_pwz_jxn_w2b"></a>Security

Security setup varies between integration types and specific integrations. Non-EIB integrations require an associated <i>Integration System User</i> (ISU) account. ISUs enable you to give an integration <i>Get</i> and <i>Put</i> access to only the domains it needs to run the integration.

## <a id="section_efj_kxn_w2b"></a>Business Processes

Workday provides 1 business process and 1 type of business process step for all integrations except EIBs:

-   You can configure the <i>Integration Process Event</i> business process definition in the Integration functional area to control how an integration runs. Examples:

<table><thead></thead><tbody><tr><td>Inbound integration</td><td><ul><li>    Initiate.
</li><li>    Retrieve file from external endpoint.
</li><li>    Fire (load data into Workday).
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Outbound integration</td><td><ul><li>    Initiate.
</li><li>    Send approval request to the worker you designate.
</li><li>    After approval, fire (extract data from Workday).
</li><li>    Send data file to external endpoint.
</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

-   The <i>Integration</i> business process step enables you to launch an integration from any business process that supports this step type. View the business process definition to see if the business process supports an Integration step. Example: You can add an integration step to the <i>Complete Form I-9</i> business process. This step launches an E-Verify integration to send data for the worker.


## <a id="section_blq_g14_w2b"></a>Reporting

Workday provides these reports for integrations:

<table><thead><tr><th>Report</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><b>View Integration System</b></td><td>Displays all integration systems (EIB, Connector, Orchestrate for Integrations, Studio, and so on) that you've created.</td></tr><tr><td><b>View Integration Template</b></td><td>Displays all integration templates that Workday provides, enabling you to find the template you need efficiently.</td></tr><tr><td><b>Integration Events</b></td><td>Displays: <ul><li>A summary of integration events that are in process or completed.
</li><li>Details about the status for each integration event.
</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><b>Integration Exception Audit</b></td><td>Displays: <ul><li>Critical errors and warnings.
</li><li>Suggestions to resolve problems.
</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

## <a id="section_b4x_kxn_w2b"></a>Connections and Touchpoints

Workday integrations interact with various parts of Workday, depending on the product area, purpose, and data sources for the integration:

-   Outbound integrations extract data from Workday, but don't change the data in Workday.
-   Inbound integrations add and update data in Workday.


Workday offers a Touchpoints Kit with resources to help you understand configuration relationships across your tenant. Learn more about the [Workday Touchpoints Kit](https://community-content.workday.com/en-us/reference/learn/resources/workday-touchpoints-kit.html) on Workday Community.