Widespread adoption of new technologies in large organizations requires a mindset geared toward transformation. The transformation, however, must be led by culture and process.
That was the main takeaway from a lively session at Microsoft Ignite 2022. The session explored how IT infrastructure service provider Kyndryl rolled out Microsoft 365 to 90,000 users.
Led by two Kyndryl executives – Carla Granger, global leader of experience, design, and practice partnerships, and Ron Xavier, Microsoft center of excellence leader, digital workplace services –the session focused on a nine-point plan used during the transition.
Kyndryl’s Nine-Point Plan
The plan’s nine components were the following:
- Focus on your employees
- Involve multiple departments
- Create a change management strategy
- Appoint ‘Champions of Change’ from within
- Develop a robust training program
- Reimagine your measures of success
- Anticipate bumps in the road
- Remain transparent
- Communicate early and often
The Importance of User Buy-in
Given that enterprise-wide technology adoption can sometimes take years to complete, Kyndryl’s wholesale adoption of Microsoft 365 appears to have gone well. The transition took nine months to complete, which Granger and Xavier said was a smooth process.
While some users did push back on the changes, they were eventually brought into the fold. That was accomplished through extensive and contextual training that showed users not only the “hows” but also the “whys” of the Microsoft 365 transition.
Granger and Xavier emphasized how people played an important role in the change. Cultural transformation is necessary in the replacement of an existing way of working with a new way of working. As such, organizations need employees to accept that new way of working more than to accept the technology itself.
About the author
Romi Mahajan is a marketer, author, investor, and advisor. Romi spent a decade at Microsoft, has been chief marketing officer of five companies, and has advised over 40 companies across the technology, financial services, fintech, media, agency, and marketing spaces. He has authored two books in marketing and over 1,000 articles on the intersection between business and technology.
