Partner Article

Cloud Governance: Mitigating Resistance to Change

Creating Organizational Buy-In

Technology can have a significant influence on change within an organization, and even in the best interest of the organization, change can often be met with resistance. The purpose of this article is to highlight why organizations may be resistant to change, specifically when implementing cloud solutions.

1. Vision and Strategy

Without a clearly defined vision and strategy, there is an increased challenge of obtaining stakeholder buy-in, which often results in failed cloud implementations. Nearly 70 percent of significant change initiatives in organizations fail, according to recent research, stressing a clear need for cloud governance.

It is the leadership’s responsibility to ensure there is a clearly defined cloud vision and a unified strategy to implement that vision. In addition, there must be a measurable business value that will be achieved as a result of implementing this strategy. These initial, proactive steps, will aid in mitigating resistance to change.

2. Cultural Barriers

Other forms of organizational resistance can come from cultural barriers, specifically employees’ unwillingness to adapt to a change in technology. This is often caused by fear of the unknown, or complacency with existing procedures. Uncertainty about the impact the cloud could have on the employee’s job function can lead to fears around job security, for example.

Years of habits, and the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality can be difficult to change, especially if employees who are familiar with specific systems are afraid or unwilling to develop new skills needed after implementation. Employees may also be worried about increased performance expectations due to the efficiency gained from the cloud.

3. Personnel Issues

Another challenge faced when implementing a change such as the cloud, is resistance by those who will be directly affected, specifically IT personnel. It is the responsibility of management to help IT staff transition from a tactical to a strategic support role within the organization. This consists of aiding in the training, implementation and support of the cloud solution, according to management and IT researcher Jodine Burchell.

Another common form of resistance by personnel can come from management who may be responsible for implementing the cloud solution. Their resistance may stem from fear of failure of the overall project, which could have negative implications on their status.

4. Education and Communication

The success of any cloud implementation relies on effective communication with the overall organization. As leadership consultant Jennifer Wilson states:

“To successfully manage change, organizational leaders must strategically design, execute, and communicate their change strategy with the same focus and intent that they spend conceiving of the change,” Wilson wrote in a recent article published in the Journal of Accountancy. “If they don’t invest in this effort and carefully coordinate change implementation, they run the risk that the planned change will fail.”

All stakeholders must understand why the change is occurring, and how it will benefit the organization. This is achieved by tailoring the strategy to address specific resistances by extensive communication beforehand, adequate training on the new system, and accessible post-migration support. Sufficient communication with the organization ensures staff is adequately and accurately informed of what will and will not change.

This article was written by Payam Pourkhomami, President and CEO of OSIbeyond, and first appeared on February 2, 2015 on ASAE.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jason Firch .