Workiva Announces Wdesk Data Collection Surpasses 100 Customer Milestone

Organizations Like Whirlpool Corporation Save Hundreds of Hours by Collecting Business Data with Wdesk Productivity Platform

AMES, Iowa, Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Workiva (NYSE: WK), creator of the Wdesk cloud-based productivity platform for business data collaboration and reporting, announced today that more than 100 organizations, including Fortune 500 companies such as Whirlpool Corporation, are using Wdesk Data Collection to securely gather, aggregate and manage critical business data.

Global organizations face the difficult task of collecting, verifying and monitoring the business data they need from a wide variety of sources. Manual processes can be tedious, are error-prone and can increase the possibility of a data breach because they often rely on unsecured emails and rolling versions of independent spreadsheets.

"Wdesk Data Collection provides a secure and efficient way to bring critical information from across organizations into a single source of trusted business data," said Matt Rizai , Chairman and CEO of Workiva.  

Key features of Wdesk Data Collection include:

  • Control - Users can control the types and structure of data they collect and how that data will be used.
  • Automation and Accuracy - Data only needs to be entered once. It is automatically compiled, aggregated and updated through live linking to Wdesk spreadsheets, documents or presentations. This improves accuracy and can save hundreds of hours.
  • Security - Data is collected within the Wdesk platform, which is protected by enterprise-grade security measures, including multi-factor authentication, encryption in transit and encryption at rest.  
  • Tracking and Monitoring - All sources, changes and progress are tracked in dashboards.

"Whirlpool Corporation has deployed Wdesk Data Collection across multiple departments in our organization, and its impact continues to grow," said Nancy Fadel , Accounting Manager at Whirlpool Corporation. "We have 120 people using the solution today, and most regions save approximately 75 hours each quarter by eliminating administrative, non-value-added processes."

"Wdesk not only streamlines the data collection process, it also keeps the data secure, which is a growing concern for our customers," said Rizai.

Forrester predicts that more than 60 percent of brands will discover a breach of sensitive data in 2015. In a recent study commissioned by Workiva, Forrester writes: "With new processes of data collection, compilation and review – where security is user-level provisioned with read, write or creator rights – Wdesk addresses the internal data breach risk found in enterprise-level organizations." 1

"Data Collection is just one more piece of the Wdesk productivity platform that gives enterprises the confidence they need to report to management, boards, regulators and other stakeholders," said Rizai.

"There are many areas where Whirlpool Corporation can leverage Wdesk Data Collection across the enterprise where no other best practices exist," Fadel added. "It's user friendly and intuitive, and it's a no-brainer."

About Workiva
Workiva created Wdesk, a cloud-based platform for enterprises to collect, manage, report and analyze business data in real time. Wdesk includes a sophisticated productivity suite for business data collaboration and reporting that is used by thousands of corporations, including more than 65 percent of the Fortune 500. Wdesk proprietary word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications are fully integrated and built upon the Workiva data management engine. Wdesk helps reduce enterprise risk and increase productivity with synchronized data, controlled collaboration, granular permissions and a full audit trail. This gives users confidence to make decisions with real-time data. Workiva (NYSE: WK) employs more than 900 people with offices in 15 cities. The company is headquartered in Ames, Iowa. For more information, visit workiva.com.

1 Cost Savings and Business Benefits Enabled By Wdesk, Forrester Consulting, February 2015. Study commissioned by Workiva.

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