Workday Strategic Sourcing Event Management Training Course

Course overview

Procurement teams need sourcing events that produce comparable supplier responses, transparent evaluations and defensible award recommendations—not inbox-based bid collection and disconnected spreadsheets. Workday Strategic Sourcing provides a structured environment for managing RFPs, RFIs, RFQs and reverse auctions, but value depends on how well event managers translate business requirements into event content, supplier invitations, scoring logic and stakeholder decisions. This course addresses the practical gap between knowing the procurement process and running controlled, insight-led events in the platform.

Participants learn to configure and manage sourcing events in Workday Strategic Sourcing from intake through award. They build event templates, questionnaires, bid line items, supplier lists, pricing sheets, weighted scorecards and approval workflows; manage supplier communications and event timelines; compare responses; and document award rationale. The course also covers selecting the appropriate event type, using auctions responsibly, managing addenda, protecting confidentiality, and applying evaluation criteria that balance price, quality, risk, service and sustainability.

Instruction combines live platform demonstrations with guided configuration labs and a running sourcing case. Participants create a complete sourcing-event pack for a realistic category scenario, including the event strategy, supplier invitation plan, response requirements, scoring model, bid analysis and award recommendation. They leave with reusable templates and a documented event blueprint that can be adapted for a live category, tender or supplier competition.

This intermediate course is suited to procurement professionals who already understand basic sourcing and supplier-selection principles and now need to operate Workday Strategic Sourcing with greater consistency, control and commercial confidence. It is equally valuable for managers seeking repeatable event governance, clearer evaluation evidence and faster stakeholder alignment.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure RFI, RFP, RFQ and reverse-auction events in Workday Strategic Sourcing
• Build supplier questionnaires, bid line items and pricing response sheets
• Create weighted scorecards that convert stakeholder requirements into auditable evaluation criteria
• Develop supplier invitation lists and communication plans using supplier profile and event data
• Manage event timelines, addenda, supplier questions and controlled document distribution
• Analyse supplier submissions using response comparison, scoring and bid-normalisation methods
• Produce a documented award recommendation with evaluation evidence and approval rationale
• Create a reusable Workday Strategic Sourcing event template for a defined spend category

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Strategic Sourcing Managers — who need to run governed competitive events and defend award recommendations
• Procurement Officers — who evaluate supplier bids and must maintain a clear sourcing audit trail
• Category Managers — who translate category strategies into supplier competitions and negotiation events
• Sourcing Specialists — who configure RFIs, RFPs, RFQs and auctions in Workday Strategic Sourcing
• Procurement Operations Analysts — who standardise event templates, workflows and reporting practices
• Supplier Relationship Managers — who need structured supplier engagement and transparent performance-related selection criteria

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand the basic procurement lifecycle, including requirements definition, supplier prequalification, competitive tendering, bid evaluation and award approval. Experience participating in or supporting an RFI, RFP or RFQ is expected. Learners should be comfortable working with spreadsheets, comparing commercial responses and using a web-based business application. Access to a Workday Strategic Sourcing training tenant or sandbox is strongly recommended for the hands-on labs; the course does not require system-administration, integration, coding or Workday Financial Management configuration experience. Participants do not need prior reverse-auction experience, as auction design and controls are taught during the course.

Training methodology

The five-day programme uses instructor-led demonstrations in Workday Strategic Sourcing, followed by guided individual configuration labs. A continuing case involves sourcing a high-value services contract: participants convert a business brief into an RFP, set up suppliers and response requirements, manage bidder questions, evaluate submissions and prepare an award decision. Small-group review sessions challenge scoring logic, supplier communications and auction suitability. Each day closes with a practical output, and the final session includes an application-planning workshop for adapting the event blueprint to a participant's own category.

Course outline

Day 1: Sourcing-event strategy and platform foundations

• Workday Strategic Sourcing navigation and event workspace structure
• RFI, RFP, RFQ and reverse-auction selection criteria
• Translating stakeholder requirements into a sourcing-event strategy
• Event roles, permissions and collaboration responsibilities
• Event templates, sections and reusable content libraries
• Supplier discovery, supplier profile review and invitation-list planning
• Event timelines, milestones and governance checkpoints

Workshop: Participants convert a category brief into an event strategy and configure the initial RFP workspace, timeline and supplier invitation list.

Day 2: Building controlled supplier response requirements

• Questionnaire design for technical, commercial and compliance responses
• Response types, required fields and conditional supplier questions
• Bid line items, units of measure and pricing-sheet configuration
• Document requirements and controlled attachment management
• Supplier instructions, participation rules and confidentiality language
• Stakeholder input collection and content approval workflows
• Event preview and supplier-experience quality checks

Workshop: Participants build a supplier-facing RFP with questionnaire sections, pricing line items, required documents and clear bidder instructions.

Day 3: Event launch, supplier engagement and change control

• Publishing events and issuing supplier invitations
• Supplier acceptance, participation tracking and reminder management
• Managing supplier questions through controlled communications
• Addenda, deadline changes and version-control practices
• Clarification requests and equal-treatment principles
• Event monitoring dashboards and response-completion indicators
• Reverse-auction suitability, format selection and bidder safeguards

Workshop: Participants manage a simulated bidder-question period, issue an addendum and decide whether a reverse auction is commercially appropriate.

Day 4: Evaluation, comparison and commercial analysis

• Weighted scorecard construction and evaluator assignment
• Independent scoring and calibration-session methods
• Supplier response comparison within Workday Strategic Sourcing
• Bid normalisation for scope, volume and pricing assumptions
• Price, quality, risk, service and sustainability evaluation criteria
• Outlier analysis and clarification-based evaluation controls
• Consolidating evaluator feedback into a decision-ready view

Workshop: Participants score supplier responses, normalise a pricing comparison and facilitate a calibration discussion that identifies the leading bidder.

Day 5: Award governance and reusable event management

• Award recommendation structure and evidence requirements
• Approval routing, decision records and audit-trail controls
• Supplier notification planning and unsuccessful-bidder feedback
• Post-event data capture and lessons-learned review
• Event performance metrics and sourcing-cycle reporting
• Category-specific template standardisation in Workday Strategic Sourcing
• Personal implementation plan for a live sourcing event

Workshop: Participants present a complete event pack containing their evaluation summary, award recommendation, reusable template components and 30-day implementation plan.

Tools & standards covered

Workday Strategic Sourcing, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat, ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions