Workiva Releases Independent Study That Shows Wdesk ROI of 187 Percent

Major Airline Carrier Reaps More Than $400,000 in Benefits and Cost Savings

AMES, Iowa, July 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Workiva (NYSE: WK), creator of the Wdesk cloud-based productivity platform for enterprises, announced today the findings of an independent study showing that a major airline carrier achieved a return on investment (ROI) of 187 percent by using Wdesk. Workiva commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct "The Total Economic Impact™ of Workiva Wdesk" study in July 2015.  

The airline spent $140,980 on Wdesk but recognized $404,391 in total benefits and cost savings over a three-year period, according to Forrester. The airline reduced the costs of external and internal management reporting, simplified sustainability reporting and benefited from the cloud-based security protections of Wdesk.

Prior to Wdesk, the airline was using multiple office productivity products and a service provider to aggregate and create financial reports. With Wdesk, the airline compiled financial metrics into a centralized, linked and version-controlled system. Wdesk links allowed for data to be input just once and then distributed to the required instances.

"With all our key financial metrics in Wdesk, we are able to feed a number of different reports, saving all of us time while ensuring accuracy," said the airline's Director of External Reporting. "Because of the linkages, we got to know and trust our data."

As a direct result of Wdesk, the airline experienced:

  • Quicker and expanded financial visibility for internal management.
  • Improved information conveyance to stakeholders on matters such as sustainability and social responsibility.
  • A more streamlined process for statutory reporting to a variety of governmental agencies.

Forrester reported the airline experienced the following cost savings and benefits by using Wdesk:

  • Changed from a process that relied upon 400 printed pages to an electronic presentation of linked workbooks for internal financial reports. Reduction of time and effort equaled $173,340.
  • Reduced by three weeks the process to create and review its annual 10-K report.
  • Reduced by two weeks the process to create and review its quarterly 10-Q report.
  • Saved over $50,000 by simplifying the former "review and adjust" process to a centralized review platform for reporting stakeholders.
  • Gained productivity in external reporting, amounting to $119,751.
  • Streamlined a former complex, third-party process for sustainability reporting into a centralized, linked-data location. Reduction in costs totaled $61,314.
  • Saved 16 hours each month by linking financial data from its GL system directly to a number of different required reports.
  • Cost avoidance of decreased security risk added up to $49,985. The airline took advantage of the scalable, secure and maintenance-free features of the Wdesk cloud-based platform.

"Realizing that centralized data coupled with linkages and version control are powerful tools, the organization continues to explore possible new use cases for Wdesk," writes Forrester.

Workiva commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the benefits of Wdesk to enterprises. In addition to interviewing several experienced Wdesk customers, Forrester's research approach included gathering usage data and constructing a risk-adjusted financial model to measure benefits, costs, flexibility and risks. Forrester highlighted one airline customer in this case study.

The full study can be found here: www.workiva.com/tei

About Workiva
Workiva (NYSE:WK) created Wdesk, a cloud-based productivity platform for enterprises to collect, link, report and analyze business data with control and accountability. Thousands of organizations, including over 65% of the Fortune 500, use Wdesk for risk, compliance or management reporting. Wdesk proprietary word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications are integrated and built upon a data management engine, offering synchronized data, controlled collaboration, granular permissions and a full audit trail. Wdesk helps mitigate enterprise risk, improve productivity and give users confidence to make decisions with real-time data. Workiva employs more than 950 people with offices in 15 cities. The company is headquartered in Ames, Iowa. For more information, visit workiva.com.

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