Mohegan: Transforming legacy systems into a streamlined, unified cloud solution

What was the challenge?

“From a back-of-house perspective, we needed to modernize our tech stack to facilitate growth and stay nimble. Mohegan ran on decades-old technology. HR, payroll and accounting were disparate processes that relied heavily on manual bookkeeping and weren’t unified across our properties. We were about to open a new resort, Mohegan INSPIRE, in Korea but weren’t yet functioning like a global company. We needed a solution that could streamline our processes, help us operate more efficiently and deliver insights into our entire global operation. It had to be a true transformation, not just a technology upgrade. And we needed it by the time Mohegan INSPIRE was set to open.”

Describe the solution delivered by the PwC community of solvers.

“Mohegan selected Workday as a full-platform solution: finance, human capital management, accounting and analytics. We knew the technology would meet our needs, providing the flexibility, insights and efficiency to scale and grow on one, consolidated cloud. We also knew that our success depended on the advisor we’d choose to help us realize our strategy and effectively use the technology. We looked for an established leader with industry knowledge, one who could help us transform our operating model with the enabling technology. PwC has significant experience in the gaming industry, but more importantly, the firm understood the scale of the implementation we envisioned. Its team of cross-industry and tech specialists advised us over the duration of the transformation to help bring our employees up to speed, enabling change management and allowing for a smooth transition while driving adoption across our properties.”

How does the solution blend the strengths of technology and people? 

“The legacy system didn’t let us pull data in real time or compile reports automatically. Our processes were manual and siloed between properties. We had an opportunity to communicate more effectively between the front and back of the house, which would enable real-time decision-making and help positively impact our customer experience. With Workday, we created an interoperable technology architecture that shares data seamlessly across our organization. Our team can now find answers or correct errors in near real time. Reports that used to take eight hours to run are ready in seconds. We can lean into the benefits of artificial intelligence and machine learning to augment our work and better understand data in increasingly efficient ways. This will help us plan our global operations across properties and make strategic decisions that empower our people to better serve our customers.”

Where or how did innovation and unexpected ways of thinking come into play?

“We changed our operating model and the entire way we work — all while implementing Workday, from the decision to go-live, in a nine-month period. That’s not for the faint of heart. Getting people to adopt a new system can be the hardest part, but we did it. This came down to two things: executive support and constant communication. With PwC’s help, we were able to get the right messaging out, to the right audience, at the right time for each step of the process. We managed to create a sense of buzz and fun around the transformation, even as we stayed firm about the process and goals. Our senior leadership was supportive and ready to invest in this solution. They backed us up with clear and consistent direction as we rolled out these major changes.”