Have You Started Your Cloud Adoption Strategy?

​All too often, we see technology investments go underutilized, regardless of how many efficiencies they bring.

• Migrations are stalled when employees resist, your current tools may be outdated, but employees are resourceful.  They’re accustomed to their work arounds, and in their minds, learning a more efficient way takes too much time.
• Many employees have lived through failed projects before and they are not interested in what you’re selling.
• Shadow IT continues to exist despite the new software having the same features.  Company assets are at risk while they sit on ungoverned third-party apps.

It doesn’t have to be like this.  Below are some recommended solutions to a couple of questions we commonly hear from businesses.

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WE'RE MOVING OUR ORGANIZATION TO THE CLOUD NEXT QUARTER.  WHEN SHOULD I START COMMUNICATING THIS TO OUR EMPLOYEES?

​Now.
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This does not require a complicated communication calendar; project dates can slip due to many reasons.  If you wait for the calendar to be perfect, you’ll have waited too long.
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If you know why your organization is moving to the cloud, start sharing that information!

Seriously.  Now.

No amount of software training can replace the need for your employees to understand why the company decided to make the move.  Share the benefits of changing and the risks of not changing.  Let them know the end goal and how it fits into the company’s overall strategy.
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The benefits to starting now are many, even if some don’t think so.

1. You’re letting people get their heads wrapped around it.  Surprises at work are rarely enjoyable.
2. You’re letting them know that there’s a strategy and they’re not just going to log in one Monday morning to a foreign world.
3. Your early adopters will get energized and start to energize those around them.
4. And, most importantly, you’ll know who your objectors are and what’s making them resist.

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WHEN SHOULD WE START EMPLOYEE TRAINING ON THE NEW SOFTWARE?

If you’ve purchased the licenses, start now.

1. Demo the software and its features. The point here is not for everyone to walk away knowing how to use the software but rather, hopefully, to get them excited. (This is an important point to emphasize to your attendees, so they don’t stress) ​At the least, you’re getting them familiar with the tools and that is not a wasted effort.
2. Find your champions and launch a pilot.  This can be a department itching to have modern tools, or the team that’s planning the company’s annual party/picnic/volunteer gig.  Let them try out the software and have them share with others the perks and the potential pitfalls.  This type of honest testimony from peers goes farther than management or IT stating how great everything will be. 
3. Start formal classroom training one month prior to launch.  Earlier than this and your employees will forget the “hows” and the “whys”.  Later than this and you risk the sanity of your employees and the safety of your company’s assets.
4. ​Offer learning in multiple formats - In person, online, formal and informal.  Set up brown bag informationals to demo the software and answer questions.  Set up hands-on sessions where employees can safely explore and click on everything.  Create a training calendar, post the agendas and encourage employees to register at times that work for them.
5. Be ​prepared for strategy questions.  If they don’t know when it’s happening, or still don’t understand why, they will resist learning and will make it more difficult for others to learn as well.

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HOW CAN WE HELP?
Pivotal can help you regardless of the phase your project is currently in. We map your strategy to a roadmap, help find your champions and resistors, and tailor a communications and training plan to fit.  We can partner with your in-house trainers or we can lead the training sessions, both on-site and online.
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Interested in learning more?  Get started.