The Workday 2026 R1 Release is approaching, making early preparation essential for system stability and business continuity. As a mandatory release, Workday 2026 R1 introduces both automatically enabled features and configurable updates that require careful review.

i8CLOUD supports organizations across HCM, Financials, and Integrations, ensuring a controlled and well-tested transition into the 2026 R1 production release.

What Is Included in the Workday 2026 R1 Release Support

• Feature Manuals for Workday 2026 R1

​ ​i8CLOUD provides structured documentation to help teams understand release changes clearly:

• Top Features Manual

​ ​Covers the most impactful Workday 2026 R1 features identified by experts. These updates may affect multiple business processes and require review or action.

• Automatically Available Features Manual

​ ​Details features enabled by default in the Workday 2026 R1 release and explains how to review and use them effectively.

Workday 2026 R1 Webinars and Expert Sessions

Expert-led webinars focus on:

• Key release highlights
• Functional impacts
• Best practices for adoption

These sessions help teams understand changes in depth and clarify questions before production deployment.

Workday 2026 R1 Release Preparation Timeline

5 Weeks Before Workday 2026 R1 Release

• Release deployed to Preview tenant
• Release Preparation Guide distributed

4 Weeks Before Release

• System and regression testing begins
• Audit reports executed
• Feature Manuals shared with internal teams

3 Weeks Before Release

• Continued regression testing
• Detailed review of Feature Manuals
• Attendance in live webinars

2 Weeks Before Release

• User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
• End-user and business communication planning

1 Week Before Release

• Final readiness approval
• Review of opt-in features

Production Release

• Workday 2026 R1 deployed to Production tenant

Post-Release Activities

• Configuration updates implemented
• Post-release validation and audits completed

Workday 2026 R1 Important Dates

• Release Name: Workday 2026 R1
• Preparation Start Date: February 7, 2026
• Production Release Date: March 14, 2026

Workday delivers two mandatory releases every year, typically in March and September.

i8CLOUD Workday 2026 R1 Release Plus Packages

i8CLOUD offers three structured Release Plus Packages to support organizations during the Workday 2026 R1 release cycle.

Services Covered

• Advisory support
• Audit templates
• Testing best practices
• Weekly status calls
• Auto-feature consulting
• Regression testing for Business Processes, Reports, and Integrations
• Impact assessment with heatmaps
• Module-level testing
• Test management support

Estimated effort ranges from 10 to 100 hours, depending on the selected package.

Workday 2026 R1 Testing and Audit Services

Audit Reports

Identify differences between current and upcoming releases across:

• Business Processes
• Security
• Integrations
• Reports

Impact Assessment

Side-by-side comparison of critical business processes before and after the Workday 2026 R1 release.

System and Regression Testing

Execution of standard and custom scenarios such as:

• Hire
• Change Job
• Compensation Change
• Integration testing

Workday 2026 R1 Customer Release Checklist

Pre-Release Checklist

• Activate pending security changes
• Resolve Business Process exceptions
• Review deprecated fields
• Run and resolve all critical audits

Preview Tenant Validation

• Review Coming Soon updates and Release Notes
• Validate reports, integrations, and key processes

Post-Release Checklist

• Unlock user accounts
• Reactivate Workday sessions
• Reapply sandbox changes to production
• Re-run audits and resolve issues
• Review retired functionality

Conclusion: Prepare Confidently for Workday 2026 R1

The Workday 2026 R1 release requires structured planning, testing, and validation. With a clear preparation timeline and expert support from i8CLOUD, organizations can reduce risk, maintain system stability, and ensure a smooth production rollout.