Reengineering payroll for a faster, leaner future

A leading European public transport operator modernized its UK payroll operations by replacing a legacy payroll application with automated, cloud-native data pipelines, reducing licensing costs by 40%, pipeline execution times by 65%, and cloud infrastructure costs by 20%, while strengthening security and standardizing payroll operations.

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Industry

Travel & Logistics

Region

United Kingdom and Mainland Europe

Solution

Payroll Modernization & Data Automation

About the client

A century-old transport leader moving millions across Europe

One of Europe’s established public transport operators, the organization has been connecting communities since 1938. Today, it operates locally managed businesses across 11 countries in the UK and mainland Europe, providing bus, train, coach, tram, water bus, bike-sharing, and on-demand transport services. With 39,200 employees, 12,152 buses, 637 trains, and 1.5 billion passenger journeys annually, its operations span a significant part of Europe’s public transport network.

40%

Reduction in
licensing costs

Moving from the legacy payroll application to a modern platform reduced recurring licensing costs.

65%

Reduction in pipeline execution times

Performance engineering and architectural optimization accelerated payroll data processing.

20%

Reduction in cloud infrastructure costs

Leaner, optimized pipelines reduced resource consumption and cloud spend.

At scale

Secure, standardized
payroll operations

A secure, automated payroll data environment now supports all UK payroll operations, built for long-term sustainability and growth.

The business challenge

Turning a cost pressure into a platform opportunity

With the hosting agreement for its UK payroll and duty allocation systems coming to an end, the organization faced a choice: renew aging infrastructure or use the moment to modernize.

Instead of absorbing the cost of another renewal, the organization chose to replace its existing payroll application with a modern platform and rethink how payroll data was processed.

Move beyond legacy infrastructure

Replace the existing payroll application with a modern platform and reduce unnecessary licensing overhead.

Automate payroll data processing

Modernize working practices through automated, more efficient payroll data processing.

Build for the future

Create a secure, scalable, and efficient payroll data infrastructure designed to support UK operations for the long term.

Where friction was building

Behind the need to modernize were five points of friction across the existing payroll environment, from costly legacy systems and manual data processing to security gaps, outdated integrations, and inconsistent payroll operations.

Costly legacy dependency

High licensing costs and an expiring hosting arrangement made the existing payroll application increasingly costly to maintain.

Manual, fragmented data processing

Payroll data moving between source systems and the payroll platform required manual handling, adding complexity and increasing the potential for errors.

Security gaps in data handling

Ad hoc data processing outside a governed environment created security risks around sensitive payroll data.

Legacy integration debt

Workday data integration processing remained on an outdated BI platform, limiting the move to a modern, supported architecture.

Inconsistent payroll operations

Payroll processes lacked the standardized system and approach needed to support all UK payroll operations consistently.

Automated data pipelines

End-to-end pipelines were engineered to ingest data from source systems, validate and transform it within a central DataHub, and deliver processed payroll data to the new MHR iTrent platform, with no manual intervention required in the standard flow.

Data validation and error handling

Robust validation logic was embedded at the point of ingestion, ensuring all mandatory fields are populated, data is available in required formats, and anomalies are caught before they propagate downstream.

Comprehensive error reporting and stakeholder notifications

Automated email notifications deliver detailed error reports to relevant stakeholders at each pipeline execution, keeping teams informed and enabling rapid resolution without manual monitoring.

Automated pipeline performance reporting

Daily execution performance reports track average run times, giving operations teams full visibility into pipeline health and providing a baseline for continuous improvement.

Architectural performance optimization

A suite of performance engineering techniques, including custom polling, paygroup and depot-level pipeline partitioning for concurrent execution, Glue Job consolidation, parallel processing of pipeline segments, custom pipeline handlers, Athena SQL-driven query optimization, and partition pruning, delivered step-change improvements in execution speed and resource efficiency.

Backup and restore processes

Structured backup and restore capabilities were implemented across environments, ensuring resilience and recoverability at every stage of the payroll processing lifecycle.

One foundation.
Less manual intervention.
More control over payroll.

What it enabled

A governed, secure data environment

The replacement of ad hoc data processing with a structured, policy-aligned BI environment eliminated security risks and brought payroll data handling in line with organizational security standards.

People and process standardization

The transition to MHR iTrent, supported by automated pipelines, created the foundation for standardized working practices and functional efficiency gains across all UK payroll operations.

Continuous operational visibility

Automated error reporting and performance dashboards gave stakeholders real-time awareness of pipeline health, replacing reactive firefighting with proactive, informed oversight.

A future-ready payroll system

The architecture is designed to serve as the definitive payroll data platform for all UK payrolls going forward, with the scalability to evolve alongside business needs.

Licensing cost
reduction

40% savings achieved by transitioning from the legacy payroll application to MHR iTrent.

Security and
compliance

A secured BI environment, aligned with organizational security policies, replaced exposure-prone ad hoc data practices.

Pipeline execution speed

65% reduction in execution times through targeted performance optimization.

Cloud cost
reduction

20% lower cloud infrastructure costs driven by leaner, more efficient pipeline architecture.

Payroll
accuracy

Automated validation and error handling improved the accuracy and reliability of payroll data across all processing runs.

Cloud infrastructure

AWS as the foundational cloud environment for all data pipeline operations.

Query and processing engine

Athena SQL for high-performance, cost-efficient data querying across payroll datasets.

ETL and transformation

AWS Glue Jobs, consolidated and optimized for reduced execution overhead.

Central data hub

DataHub for ingestion, validation, transformation, and orchestration of payroll data flows.

Target payroll platform

MHR iTrent as the modern, cloud-ready payroll application replacing the legacy OpenPeople system.

Performance engineering

Custom polling, pipeline partitioning by paygroup and depot, parallel processing, custom pipeline handlers, and partition pruning for resource optimization.

From costly legacy to modern platform

A significant licensing and hosting cost burden was replaced with a sustainable, scalable payroll infrastructure built for the long term.

From manual to automated

Payroll data flows that previously required manual handling now run automatically, with built-in validation, error detection, and stakeholder communication at every step.

From reactive to informed

Automated performance and error reporting shifted payroll operations from reactive problem-solving to proactive, data-driven management.

From siloed to standardized

The new platform brings consistency to payroll processes across all UK operations, establishing a unified system of record for people and payroll data.

Built for scale

With a cloud-native, optimized architecture in place, the organization has the foundation to extend standardized payroll capabilities and continue driving efficiency as its operations evolve.

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