Recently I was asked why an increasing number of organizations are switching their attention to user adoption. Rather than a fundamental shift, I think of this as an expansion of focus. Technical deployment is just as critical as it always was; organizations are simply realizing that true business value can only be realized once users are actively using a service/solution month over month. So, what's driving this visible focus on user adoption? Below are a few factors I've seen guiding this mind shift.
- Digital Transformation: What people do hasn’t changed… how they do it has. Employees are required to work faster, with fewer resources and get more done. To add to this, there are a seemingly unlimited number of collaboration tools available for users to leverage in their day-to-day work. The result: if you don’t manage the value messaging (eg what’s in it for me) and work to effectively direct users to your purchased Office 365/Skype for Business service, users will find their own solution.
- Real-Time Collaboration: Seamless communication is non-negotiable. If email goes down for five minutes, most users won’t even notice. If a user’s phone goes down or call quality is disrupted, especially if it’s a sales rep on a call and about to close a deal, that is severely business impacting. When real-time collaboration tools, such as Skype for Business, are involved, it is critical to get your deployment and adoption strategy right the first time, ensuring that the change provides minimal user disruption. This includes confirming the right devices are secured, driving the right persona-based messaging and training, and implementing an ongoing monitoring strategy to track items such as call quality, network bandwidth and service availability.
- Cloud Services: Shift to cloud includes an expectation of results. Organizations are sold on the value of cloud services saving them money while, at the same time, increasing productivity. Cloud services like O365/Skype for Business come equipped with easily accessible usage reports, enabling organizations to quickly see if they are getting the expected return on their investment. To achieve their defined business outcomes, organizations must align technical deployment and user readiness work streams, so that they are executed as parallel activities.
- Instant Gratification: ‘Deploy it and they will come’ – this model does not work. Cloud services, like Office 365/Skype for Business, provide users an end-to-end solution which can transform the way they work. This can be a significant mind shift for users and not everyone will openly welcome the change simply because it is available. To help ensure business value is realized, organizations are no longer gambling on adoption success. Instead, they are employing Change Managers, tasked with facilitating an optimal change and user adoption strategy.
- Adoption is Win-Win or Lose-Lose. Tangible results influence business decisions. If users don’t adopt a new technology, the ‘perceived’ business value (which drove the purchase decision) will not be realized – resulting in an organization’s reluctance to renew their contract. It's that simple. Microsoft understands this and is committed to offering the necessary tools and resources for customers and partners to be successful. Here are just a few resources you can leverage throughout your deployment and adoption journey:
- FastTrack Product Guide (overview of Microsoft's Office 365 onboarding service): http://aka.ms/fasttrackproductguide
- Office 365 Productivity Library (awareness and training resources): http://aka.ms/productivitylibrary
- Office 365 Adoption Guide (step-by-step rollout guide): http://aka.ms/office365adoptionguide
- Skype for Business Adoption Content Directory (approved adoption content for Skype for Business): http://aka.ms/sfbrolloutkit
- Skype Operations Framework (lifecycle methodology for Skype for Business): www.skypeoperationsframework.com
- Tech Community: http://aka.ms/sfbcommunity
Be sure to check this Blog section of the Skype for Business Community in the coming weeks for more information on user adoption and usage reporting. If you are seeing other trends, or have additional insights as to why your organization is focusing on user adoption, please comment below. If you have a question related to user adoption or simply want to share your Skype for Business adoption success story, sign into the Skype for Business Community and post your comments.
1“What is Shadow IT?”, https://www.skyhighnetworks.com/cloud-security-university/what-is-shadow-it/ (accessed March 2017)