The challenge
The client ran a custom in-house HR and payroll system that had served the university for years but no longer scaled to the operational reality of a modern higher ed workforce — faculty appointments, staff classifications, student employment, and the integration touchpoints to internal university systems built around the legacy platform. ADP Workforce Now offered the modernization path, but the client wasn't ready to move HR and payroll together. The decision was payroll first, with HR migration deferred until the operational team could absorb the change. The challenge was building an integration layer that let the custom HR system continue running upstream of ADP WFN Payroll without compromising payroll accuracy or compliance — and doing it in a way that wouldn't have to be torn out when HR migration eventually happened.
How we built it
RJR built the integration between the client's custom HR system and ADP Workforce Now Payroll as a bidirectional data layer — employee, position, classification, and pay rate data flowing into ADP WFN; payroll results flowing back into the custom system for downstream consumption. The integration was designed knowing HR migration was eventually coming, with extension points and data shape decisions that would carry forward rather than require rebuilding.
When the client decided to move HR to ADP Workforce Now, RJR led the transition. Faculty appointments, staff classifications, student employment, and benefits administration all migrated to ADP WFN HR on the client's timeline. The integration layer was rebuilt for the new architecture, with ADP WFN HR now feeding the internal university systems that had previously consumed data from the custom HR system — badging and security provisioning, custom reports, and the internal applications that depend on workforce data to function.
Throughout both phases, the engagement structure adapted to the client's pacing rather than imposing a vendor-driven implementation timeline. The two-phase approach gave the operational team time to absorb each change before the next one started.
Outcome
Phase 1 closed with the custom HR system continuing to run as the system of record for employee data while ADP Workforce Now Payroll handled compensation calculations, tax filing, and statutory reporting — with no disruption to payroll continuity through the transition. Phase 2 closed with the client fully on ADP Workforce Now HR and Payroll, with integrations to internal university systems rebuilt and stabilized on the new architecture. The client retained operational continuity throughout both phases, with no payroll cycles missed and no integration gaps to internal systems that depended on workforce data. [CONFIRM: any specific timeline data — e.g., phase 1 duration, phase 2 duration, total elapsed time across phases]