On July 20, we organized a webinar around preparing for the future of cloud. Well attended by CIOs, IT Managers, and Executives alike, we shared the principles and trends driving cloud adoption.
In the course of our webinars, we also ask questions in between transition slides of our attendees to get a gauge on where they are in their cloud journey. One of the questions we asked on our webinar was what these executives consider to be their greatest cloud adoption challenge.
Here were the results:
- Budget allowance – 6%
- Competitive Landscape – 10%
- Culture Adoption – 56%
- Leadership Buy-In – 28%
There’s no doubt that cloud presents a variety of challenges for organizations, from technology investment to leadership buy-in from the top. However, leading the pack for cloud challenges is culture adoption, or the integration of cloud technologies into an organization’s day-to-day activities. Since culture encompasses the members of the organization, being able to get buy-in from everyone is critical.
Culture adoption does not happen overnight, but is progressive. In today’s blog post, we’ll explore some methods that technology should consider when trying to integrate the cloud with the work of their organizational stakeholders.
Method #1: Flexibility for the Organization
Business climate has changed more than ever, with decision makers strategizing on a quarterly basis. For employees, these times are stressful because of employment changes. Adopting cloud creates greater culture adoption because of flexibility in the organization, which includes both productivity and financial advantages.
To communicate this to your organization, offer both status quo and future-driven conversation around how cloud drives organizational flexibility. While sales will dictate survival, a flexible budget doesn’t hurt either.
Method #2: Develop Training Programs
Resistance to business change is often psychological as employees and leaders alike become comfortable with their environments. Cloud can be uncomfortable simply because every piece of technology and business activity is conducted in collaboration as opposed to individually.
Driving culture change starts with engaging and interactive training programs. To ensure your employees are prepared for the changes ahead and to avoid blindsiding, offer regular training programs which also offer employees the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on how your cloud adoption program is going. Doing so will allow you to build trust and clarity for your employees, reducing turnover and doubt. In the work that we do with our clients, we often facilitate the development of Centers of Excellence (CoE) to create and sustain adoption best practices.
Method #3: Lead by Action
Cloud technologies enable the organization to be more collaborative as employees and stakeholders can work from multiple devices and any location. Many times, employees need to see adoption from the top to know they can follow.
One of the ways to lead by action is to create and execute upon use cases that offer real business impact. Create an initiative for executives with the intention of sharing your successes, and then replicate throughout the organization as needed.
Method #4: Transition Slowly
New technologies can mean shiny toys, and your leadership team may be impatient to implement and affect change. However, like every business decision, sometimes actions require increased time for consideration.
To ensure that cloud is adopted by your organization in a way that fits your business needs, put together a strategy with your leadership team. We help our clients discover their best path to the cloud with our Innovation Lab, a 10-16-week program which includes strategy planning, development of a minimum viable product (MVP), and advisory.
Your Turn
As you look to transition your workloads and organization into the cloud, what challenges are you encountering? Do your challenges mirror our results above, or are they different? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
- Missed the webinar? Review it webinar here.
- Discover how you can transform your organization today and download our FREE Hybrid Cloud Guide.
- To learn more about our IBM expertise, click here.
