London, W1U 1QY,
United Kingdom
Howdens Technographics
Howdens Technographics, Software Purchases, AI and Digital Transformation Initiatives
Discover the latest software purchases and digital transformation initiatives being undertaken by Howdens and its business and technology executives. Each quarter our research team identifies on-prem and cloud applications that are being used by the 12000 Howdens employees from the public (Press Releases, Customer References, Testimonials, Case Studies and Success Stories) and proprietary sources.
During our research, we have identified that Howdens has purchased the following applications: SAP S/4 HANA for ERP Financial in 2022, Workday Absence Management for Absence and Leave Management in 2024, Kerridge k8 ERP for Distribution ERP in 2022 and the related IT decision-makers and key stakeholders.
Our database provides customer insight and contextual information on which enterprise applications and software systems Howdens is running and its propensity to invest more and deepen its relationship with SAP , Workday , Zellis or identify new suppliers as part of their overall Digital and IT transformation projects to stay competitive, fend off threats from disruptive forces, or comply with internal mandates to improve overall enterprise efficiency.
We have been analyzing Howdens revenues, which have grown to $3.02 billion in 2024, plus its IT budget and roadmap, cloud software purchases, aggregating massive amounts of data points that form the basis of our forecast assumptions for Howdens intention to invest in emerging technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, IoT, Blockchain, Autonomous Database or in cloud-based ERP, HCM, CRM, EPM, Procurement or Treasury applications.
Howdens Tech Stack and Enterprise Applications
Howdens ERP
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAP | Legacy | SAP S/4 HANA | ERP Financial | ERP | n/a | 2022 | 2022 |
In 2022, Howdens implemented SAP S/4 HANA as its ERP Financial platform, executing a greenfield SAP S/4 HANA On-Premise deployment for its manufacturing operations. The implementation targeted end-to-end Make to Order processes with Advanced Variant Configuration to support configurable products and sales order driven costing.
Core configuration work centered on Product Costing and CO-PA, including implementation of product cost by period using the Product Cost Collector and Product Cost Planning for material costing with quantity structure. The team configured costing variants, valuation variant, cost component structures, cost component splits and additive costing, and defined calculation bases, percentage overhead rates and credits within costing sheets.
Sales order costing was implemented through a sales order costing variant and requirement class settings, with a dedicated cost component structure for sales order costing variants. Implementation also included result analysis keys for work in progress with Line IDs, variance keys for production order variance and settlements, and assembly and component scrap handling with associated variance postings.
CO-PA implementation focused on transferring sales order data into profitability analysis and the creation of PA transfer structures to map sales orders into CO-PA postings. The project defined characteristics for configurable materials and derivation rules to support Advanced Variant Configuration, tying sales order configuration into cost capture and profitability reporting.
Operational scope encompassed finance, cost accounting, manufacturing and sales order management, with production order and variance settlement workflows configured to enforce financial and costing governance. Governance activities included definition of PA transfer structures, settlement rule configuration and result analysis setup to standardize costing, WIP recognition and profitability attribution across the Howdens business.
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Howdens HCM
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workday | Legacy | Workday Absence Management | Absence and Leave Management | HCM | Capgemini | 2024 | 2025 |
In 2024 Howdens implemented Workday Absence Management, deploying Workday Absence Management within the Absence and Leave Management category as part of a multi-phase Workday programme that includes Recruitment, Onboarding, HCM, Time Tracking, Scheduling, Reporting, and Payroll. The implementation was positioned as a company-wide people platform initiative led by the internal People Systems Manager and executed with Capgemini as the systems integrator.
Configuration work focused on standardizing absence policies and leave entitlements, configuring absence request and approval workflows, and aligning absence rules with time tracking and scheduling capabilities inside Workday. Automation of absence notifications and integration with Workday reporting were scoped to support manager self-service and HR case handling, while the solution design emphasized end-to-end employee lifecycle alignment with absence processes.
The rollout leveraged existing digital components that had been delivered during a prior HR simplification push, including Adobe Sign for offer letters, Right to Work digital checks, and an HR mobile app with Single Sign On and multi-factor authentication, all coordinated with Workday integrations and internal identity services. Operational coverage extended across HR and IT delivery teams and employee and manager user communities, with Capgemini providing implementation delivery support alongside internal project resources.
Governance and rollout followed a structured change program driven by a 13-week HR review that mapped end-to-end employee lifecycle processes and captured user experience insights through focus groups, interviews, and surveys. The selection and procurement sequence included a seven-month RFP where Workday was chosen, followed by negotiated commercial and legal terms and secured executive approval and budget, with the People Systems Manager overseeing vendor coordination and the multi-phase deployment governance.
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Core HR | HCM |
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2006 | 2006 |
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Core HR | HCM |
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2024 | 2025 |
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Employee Self Service | HCM |
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2010 | 2010 |
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Learning and Development | HCM |
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2016 | 2016 |
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Onboarding | HCM |
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2024 | 2025 |
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Payroll | HCM |
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2006 | 2006 |
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Payroll | HCM |
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2024 | 2025 |
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Recruiting, Applicant Tracking System | HCM |
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2016 | 2016 |
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Time and Attendance | HCM |
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2016 | 2016 |
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Time and Attendance | HCM |
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2024 | 2025 |
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Howdens ERP Services and Operations
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerridge Commercial Systems Limited | Legacy | Kerridge k8 ERP | Distribution ERP | ERP Services and Operations | n/a | 2022 | 2022 |
In 2022, Howdens operated Kerridge k8 ERP as its core Distribution ERP to manage depot sales processing and inventory visibility across its network. Howdens initially chose K8 ten years earlier and has evolved a strategic partnership with Kerridge Commercial Systems that frames ongoing capability planning and platform enhancements.
Kerridge k8 ERP is configured at Howdens with a multi-module footprint that includes finance, eCommerce, business intelligence, warehouse management and delivery management, and it is used to process all sales transactions and manage inventory at the depot level. The application supports Howdens’ package-selling trading profile where single product codes can expand into multiple components, and the system is tuned for fast transaction throughput, including sub-second line-check expectations carried forward through K8 upgrades.
The platform integrates with Howdens’ accounting and manufacturing solutions to create an operational flow from depot sales to production and financial posting, and it supports single-branch, multi-branch and multi-location operations with central distribution centres. K8 has been adapted by Kerridge and Howdens for rapid geographic rollouts, including a short-timescale 20-branch launch in France and start-ups in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, demonstrating language and configuration flexibility.
Governance is organized around regular strategic reviews, Innovation Events and user conference participation where KCS demonstrates prototypes to senior Howdens stakeholders, feeding roadmap decisions and incremental deployments. The implementation supports autonomous depot-level pricing and stock decisions while central configuration and access controls enforce overall system governance, and explicit outcomes reported by Howdens include a sustained partnership with KCS, fast order processing, clear stock visibility, seamless integration with manufacturing and scalable use across 642+ depots.
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Howdens SCM
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
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Warehouse Management | SCM |
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2021 | 2022 |
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Howdens CRM
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
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Marketing Automation | CRM |
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2020 | 2020 |
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Sales Automation | CRM |
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2019 | 2019 |
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Howdens ITSM
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
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Application Performance Management | ITSM |
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2020 | 2020 |
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Howdens TRM
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
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Governance, Risk and Compliance | TRM |
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2020 | 2020 |
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Governance, Risk and Compliance | TRM |
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2021 | 2021 |
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Howdens IaaS
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
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Application Hosting and Computing Services | IaaS |
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2019 | 2019 |
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Content Delivery Network | IaaS |
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2020 | 2020 |
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Content Delivery Network | IaaS |
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2022 | 2022 |
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Howdens CyberSecurity
Vendor |
Previous System |
Application |
Category |
Market |
VAR/SI |
When |
Live |
Insight |
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Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) | CyberSecurity |
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2018 | 2018 |
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IT Decision Makers and Key Stakeholders at Howdens
| First Name | Last Name | Title | Function | Department | Phone | |
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| No data found | ||||||
Apps Being Evaluated by Howdens Executives
| Date | Company | Status | Vendor | Product | Category | Market |
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