Introduction

We created Workspaces to make it easier for organizations to grow with us. From adding a few new users to adding new teams and new solutions, Workspaces give teams safe, separate spaces that let them control the organization of their users and their content, and distribute administration across teams without sacrificing control.

Before Workspaces, customers separated their users and their content across accounts, which introduced additional complexity into already complex reporting and compliance processes:

• Single users had multiple usernames because they were members of multiple accounts, which made it difficult to maintain a singular audit log.
• Standard IT security settings had to be set up in each account manually, which added administrative time and introduced the potential for human error when applying settings.
• Sharing data between separate accounts—even accounts that belonged to the same customer—was difficult. Data would have to be exported from one account into the other, which added time and introduced the potential for inconsistencies.

Workspaces address, and where possible, eliminate the complexity of administering and growing with a Workiva solution, but there are many benefits as well:

• Making the move to Workspaces gives you access to the next generation of Wdesk, including next gen Spreadsheets, Documents, and Presentations, all of which include powerful new ways to create, connect, and collaborate.
• Adopting Workspaces also gives you the ability to integrate with other systems, further connecting your data and reports.

What’s in a Workspace?

Before making the move, there are a few differences that you’ll want to be familiar with. Make sure you spend some time with other Workiva administrators at your organization to get up to speed on the new capabilities that you’ll have access to when you transition.

Organization
An organization connects all workspaces at your company. This lets Org User Admins, Org Workspace Admins and Org Security Admins manage all users and workspaces in one central location and apply settings that are enforced across workspaces. More info about the Organization Admin settings and the Org roles can be found here.

Workspaces & Roles
A workspace is a separate, secure container for teams to share and collaborate on data, documents, and processes. Your organization may have one or many workspaces. Every member of a workspace has a role. Workspace Owners can assign members with a role to control what they can do in a workspace. Use roles to provide access to features needed in a workspace, such as filing or certification. More info about Workspaces, settings and roles can be found here.

Workspace Tips & FAQs

• When identifying organizational administrators, consider which of these approaches is the best fit for you.
• Can Org Admins fill in for (carry out the same actions as) Workspace Owners?
• Are there any circumstances where you wouldn’t recommend the Org Admin sit in IT?
• Are there any situations where two separate organizations make sense?
• Are there any situations where it makes sense to have two solutions (unrelated processes or reports) in the same workspace—a multiple solution workspace?

Hopefully you find this information helpful. As always, feel free to ask your own questions here or share your feedback right here in the Workiva Community. Thanks!