And how to avoid them in your deployment
Moving to Office 365 isn’t like an old-school technology upgrade. As well as the shift to a cloud-based environment, it’s also about embracing new ways of working and collaborating. Sharing knowledge and breaking down silos will only happen if you effectively plan your Office 365 deployment. Find out how to you can avoid these key Office 365 pitfalls and set your organisation up for success.
Mistake #1: Thinking it’s an IT upgrade
Yes, Office 365 is a technology upgrade. No, it shouldn’t be the responsibility of the IT department.
You see, more than being a shift to the latest technology, Office 365 is a way to completely change your business and its processes. Effectively getting the most from knowledge repositories like SharePoint require input from the business on how to effectively structure information and how to use that system to foster collaboration.
Mistake #2: No clear business goals
Yes, cloud technology is cool and Office 365 has incredible features. But do you know how you’re going to apply these features to your business? If you want people to adopt the new ways of working, you’ll need to be clear on what you’re trying to achieve. Your employees need to understand the role the technology will play in order to know why they need to change how they perform their roles.
Mistake #3: Just migrating your information directly
Spend some time mapping out your content strategy before migrating to Office 365. You don’t want the same quagmire of information that no-one can navigate, just in a different environment! Take the Office 365 deployment as an opportunity to plan what you want your environment to ideally look like and know what changes need to be made. Take the opportunity to eliminate and archive information no-one needs to access and streamline your content.
Mistake #4: Not training users
It’s not the Field of Dreams – you can’t just build it and they will come. A successful Office 365 deployment requires lots of training, across multiple channels. As well as training on the technology itself, there can also be training required on process changes if new ways of operating have been introduced as part of the Office 365 deployment.
Want to make sure you avoid these Office 365 pitfalls? Or need help getting your deployment back on track?
GreenDot Consulting has been working with some of Australia’s largest organisations to manage their Office 365 adoptions. We’ve developed a proven methodology to help streamline technology adoption, effectively create culture and process change, and achieve real results. To find out how we can help you, call us today on 1300 80 11 88.
