The October 2024 acquisition of WorkForce Software affords ADP the opportunity to expand its offerings in HR-related software, take advantage of a respected global support organization and strengthen its product suite even as it offers new capabilities to new and existing markets.

On first glance, the transaction appears to position a big fish to down a smaller fish by combining product lines and employees. But in the month since the deal was announced, ADP has said little, if anything, about dramatic changes to its product development and product marketing efforts.

If ADP has big changes in mind for either organization and its products, it’s being coy about them. WorkForce will operate as a unit of ADP, at least initially, and its customers can continue to use its platform as a standalone: Purchasing or implementing some sort of ADP product won’t be required.

The acquisition, worth a reported $1.2 billion, brings together an industry behemoth with a smaller but well-regarded quasi-competitor. With annual revenue of about $19 billion and more than 64,000 employees, ADP does indeed dwarf WorkForce, with its estimated $254 million in revenue and roughly 600 employees.

However, WorkForce brings two imperatives to the table. First, its product suite complements ADP’s in areas like time and attendance, scheduling, forecasting, leave and absence and employee communications. Second, Workforce serves 1,000 large and enterprise-level customers with little overlap with ADP’s 1.1 million, the majority of which are small or medium-sized businesses.

“As the needs of today’s global workforce continue to shift, employers need dynamic workforce management solutions that will help them maintain compliance and flexibility while engaging their employees,” said ADP President and CEO Maria Black.

Addressing that shift remains central to ADP’s mission. For some time, the company has been steadily strengthening its technology suite and pursuing opportunities to keep pace with market demands. In September, for example, ADP unveiled Lyric, an HCM platform that offers more flexibility, personalization and ease of use across its global platform.

Earlier this year, the company enhanced the ADP Marketplace to streamline selection of its partners’ AI-based tools, and launched ADP Assist, a generative-AI solution that allows users to interact with products through simple, natural-language conversations.

In the near term, the deal boosts ADP’s revenue. Since the transaction was announced, according to Reuters, ADP has raised its revenue forecast to see growth of between 6% and 7%, up from its previous forecast of 5% to 6%. For the first quarter, ADP earned revenue of $4.83 billion, higher than analysts’ estimates of $4.77 billion.