Adoption: The Silver Bullet for Office 365 Transformation Projects

Once Peter Drucker said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” I completely agree with this management guru and add that we need to understand what drives the desire to change today’s people to make it happen.

In early 2017, things started to change in the Microsoft ecosystem. For almost 10 years, organisations around the globe acknowledged and embraced Microsoft’s Office 365 to help their employees improve the way they work. It was the time when we all started the move to “THE CLOUD”.

Many organisations saw Office 365 as just a bundle of different tools and features. This led to an approach where everyone’s work was usually spread across separate silos within Office 365.

CPS immediately recognised the new platform's potential and started using the benefits of bringing Office 365 key tools and features into one place. We expected the business world to understand the potential and start their transformation journeys at the same pace as we did. Until the COVID 19 outbreak, where disruption was so significant that organisations suddenly realised they could not continue in the same old way, using the same old methods and tools, this did not happen.

Companies have started to realise the potential positive impact of re-thinking business processes and work practices, using an approach that will bring the most value to their information or knowledge workers. That approach is Adoption.

What is Adoption? First of all, companies need to work out what adoption is for them. Different people see adoption differently, but we all need to understand what adoption is NOT. So, if you are a technical person or your profession and have been in that role for a long time, you might see adoption as training. Most say that they need to train people to use technology and its functions and functionalities.

When we think about adoption CPS see things differently. It is not just about training; it is so much more than that. Ultimately, adoption must be around one thing and one thing only, and that is creating VALUE. Value for your employees and value for your business. How can we use this great technology within Office 365 to empower our people to do more, do better, and realise value?

If we look at the organisation level, adoption is to help our company realise its core mission and vision, sell more, enter new markets, or improve time spent to respond to the market. There are many different ways people see the value, but ultimately, it can be found in the company data.

At the team level, adoption is related to team structures and what they see as a core value, and it will certainly not be the same in every team.

So, when we think about adoption, we need to consider all these different perspectives and how we are creating values for all of them. Not just one size fits all. And when it comes to the individual, adoption is about how you can help them achieve their goals and KPIs, and secondly, how you help them achieve their objectives.

In the end, when you put your mindset into actual adoption, you can help your organisation realise real and tangible value. That is what makes adoption the silver bullet for all digital transformation projects.