Influencing Successful Cloud Transformational Change

By: Ron L'Esteve   |   Updated: 2023-06-12   |   Comments   |   Related: > Cloud Strategy

Problem

As a technology leader, you may face several challenges when influencing successful cloud transformational change within your organization. Obtaining buy-in and support from key stakeholders within your organization may be a challenge due to factors including the need for more understanding and awareness of the benefits of the cloud, concerns about the potential risks or challenges of the transformation, or resistance to change. Another challenge cloud leaders may face is the complexity of the transformation process since the migration efforts involve significant planning, coordination, and execution. These complexities may extend to limited resources, expertise, budget, etc. Market dynamics may also be relevant challenges, such as the need to keep pace with rapidly changing technology and customer needs or to differentiate their offerings in a crowded and competitive market. To overcome these challenges, developing a clear and comprehensive plan focusing on training and communication and leveraging indirect influence and change management strategies is essential.

Solution

One of the keys to selling the cloud and influencing change within an organization is to empower the customer journey to analytics maturity. This involves understanding your customer's needs and goals and helping them understand how the cloud can support their analytics efforts for better data-driven decisions and provide benefits around increased scalability, flexibility, cost savings, and improved security. It can also involve helping customers develop a roadmap for their cloud journey, including identifying key goals, milestones, and the resources and support needed to achieve them. By strategically developing a strong business case, building key relationships with stakeholders, leveraging financial budgeting and forecasting tools, and providing training and support, tech leaders can effectively sell the benefits of the cloud and influence change.

Training and Communication Plans

Comprehensive training and communication will also support the needs and concerns of technical developers and business stakeholders. Ongoing training, support, and monitoring will help employees adapt to new cloud-based tools and technologies. By enabling multiple communication channels, employees can stay informed while having access to the resources and support they need to succeed. Additionally, robust documentation will ensure that all stakeholders are well-educated about topics related to architecture, process flows, basic troubleshooting, and more. Tech leaders will need to personify the role of a Change Agent to facilitate onboarding and ramp-up onto the new cloud transformation initiative. Here are some strategies that a cloud leader can follow to develop effective training and communication plans for selling the cloud and influencing change:

1. Identify the Training Needs of Your Audience: Before developing a training plan, it is important to identify the training needs of your audience. This may involve conducting a needs assessment to understand your employees' or customers' current knowledge and skills and identifying any gaps or areas where additional training may be needed.
2. Develop a Tailored Training Plan: Based on the needs of your audience, develop a tailored training plan that addresses their specific learning objectives and goals. This may involve creating customized training materials or resources or leveraging online learning platforms or other tools.
3. Use a Variety of Training Methods: To remain effective and engaging, explore various training methods such as Wikis, lectures, hands-on exercises, and group discussions which can facilitate a deeper understanding of the material.
4. Leverage Technology: Technology can support facilitating communication and collaboration and may include online platforms such as Teams or Slack to keep employees and customers informed and engaged.
5. Foster Open Communication: Adopt an open and transparent communication culture within the organization, encouraging employees and stakeholders to ask questions and provide feedback about the cloud transformation project to build trust and ensure that any concerns or issues are addressed promptly.
6. Use Multiple Channels: Your broader audience can be reached via multiple channels, such as in-person meetings, emails, newsletters, and social media, to ensure everyone is informed and engaged in the cloud transformation process.
7. Involve Subject Matter Experts: Including subject matter experts in the training and communication process through presentations, webinars, and documentation contributions ensures that the information provided is accurate and relevant.

Indirect Influence

Indirect influence in selling the cloud and driving change is just as critical. It can involve building relationships with industry influencers, such as analysts and industry experts, to help spread the message about the benefits of the cloud and drive adoption. It can also include collaborating with various organizational stakeholders impacted by the transformations the cloud will bring. Indirect leadership can be a powerful tool for influencing peers and driving change within an organization. Below are some practical ways to influence your peers through indirect leadership when selling cloud transformation to your organization, along with examples:

1. Lead by Example: As a technical leader, your actions and behaviors can inspire and motivate your peers to adopt cloud technologies and drive organizational change through your leadership and technical guidance. If you or your team are using or have built a proof of concept on a cloud-based tool or platform that has significantly improved productivity and efficiency, there is value in sharing your experience with your peers and encouraging them to try it out for themselves by scaling and extending the solution to a broader group of peers.
2. Build Relationships and Networks: Regularly collaborating with key stakeholders, including IT leaders, business unit leaders, and finance professionals, can help secure buy-in for the cloud transformation project. It could be beneficial to seek out opportunities to work closely with these stakeholders on projects or initiatives related to the cloud or join industry groups or forums where you can connect with others interested in cloud technologies.
3. Share Knowledge and Insights: Sharing your knowledge and insights about the cloud and its potential impact on the organization can help build understanding and support among your peers. This may include presenting at company-wide meetings or sharing articles and other resources that highlight the benefits of the cloud, or sharing a presentation or infographic that summarizes the key benefits of the cloud and how it can help your organization achieve its goals.
4. Foster Collaboration: Encouraging peer collaboration and communication can help build support and buy-in for the cloud transformation project. This can include setting up regular meetings or forums to discuss the project and gather feedback and input from your peers.
5. Leverage Your Personal Brand: Building and leveraging your personal brand can help to establish credibility and influence within the organization and could include demonstrating your expertise in cloud technologies through industry events, social media, or writing articles or blog posts.
6. Seek Out Opportunities for Growth and Development: By seeking out opportunities for growth and development, such as training programs or professional certifications for your technical team and key stakeholders, you can demonstrate commitment to the cloud transformation project and build credibility and influence in your organization.

Change Management

Cloud adoption change management is the process of planning and executing a transition to the cloud to minimize disruption and maximize the benefits of the new technology. Here are some approaches that can be effective in managing change during a cloud adoption project:

1. Develop a Clear Roadmap: A roadmap is critical to ensure a smooth and successful transition to the cloud. It should include detailed plans for the adoption process, like timelines, budgets, and critical milestones.
2. Engage Key Stakeholders: IT, business units, and finance leaders can support the buy-in for your cloud adoption project, so it is important to keep them informed and involved throughout the process to ensure that their needs and concerns are being addressed.
3. Develop a Comprehensive Change Management Plan: A comprehensive change management plan can support a smooth and successful transition process and should include a clear roadmap for the transition along with detailed plans for training, communication, and ongoing support. It can also include a plan for implementing code management and collaboration and development methodologies and practices to support change management at all levels.
4. Provide Adequate Training and Support: Adequate training and support for employees can be critical for ensuring a successful transition to the cloud and may include training on how to use new cloud-based tools and platforms coupled with ongoing support for any questions or challenges that may arise.
5. Communicate Effectively: Clear and effective communication is critical to managing change during a cloud adoption project. This includes keeping employees informed about the project's progress, addressing any concerns or questions, and being transparent about any challenges or setbacks.
6. Monitor and Measure Progress: Regularly monitoring and measuring progress through feedback gathered from employees and stakeholders and tracking key performance can help to ensure that the adoption process is on track and that any issues are identified and addressed promptly.

Summary

Influencing successful cloud transformational change requires a clear and comprehensive approach that addresses the needs and concerns of employees and stakeholders. Through successful influencing strategies, organizations can effectively manage cloud transformational change while driving meaningful business transformation through training and communication plans and leveraging indirect influence to build relationships and drive change.

Next Steps

• For more information about a successful change management strategy, read Gartner's article: Adopt This New 14x More Successful Change Management Strategy | Gartner
• Read more about How Microsoft used change management best practices to launch a new business intelligence platform - Inside Track Blog
• Read more about The Value of Change Management when Moving to the Cloud | RingCentral UK Blog
• Read more about 5 Tips for Developing Indirect Influence » Community | GovLoop

About the author

Ron L'Esteve is a trusted information technology thought leader and professional Author residing in Illinois. He brings over 20 years of IT experience and is well-known for his impactful books and article publications on Data & AI Architecture, Engineering, and Cloud Leadership. Ron completed his Master’s in Business Administration and Finance from Loyola University in Chicago. Ron brings deep tec

This author pledges the content of this article is based on professional experience and not AI generated.

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