Change Management to Help You Win the Battle Against Shadow IT
Shadow IT has plagued IT teams for a while now and employees won’t stop using multiple apps any time soon.
Despite this, change management can help to mitigate and identify risks and help with introducing new technology.
It’s our experience that many companies are actually in the dark about how many apps their staff are using and therefore where the security risks lie. There’s also no real way of stopping employees seeking solutions of their own. After all, they are now working remotely from different devices, so using a variety of apps like Google apps presents a quick solution.
If these apps become entrenched as part of a team’s process – like Google forms for data collection and surveys on the move – then technology change involving implementation of an alternative encounters a difficulty in getting people to adopt another platform.
Many IT teams are now working with the business to ensure appropriate guidelines are in place to ensure company data is as protected as possible. However, change management practices can help the business and IT teams to work together to understand the user landscape and communicate the benefits of any applications and software that they want to be adopted, company-wide.
Discovery
Central to change management is knowing the employee landscape – how people work, team culture, and how this aligns to the business and IT strategy. Interviewing people and having ambassadors for technology change within teams can help IT keep their ears to the ground. For instance, when faced with Office 365 implementation, IT is prepared with the knowledge of the business it needs to persuade people to work in the new way, and where the advantages for teams might lie – all vital to an effective communication strategy. Discovery work will uncover how people are currently working and what they are using – all necessary preparation for introducing something new.
Communications with impact
Once IT knows how people will need to change to adopt new practices it can talk confidently about the comparative benefits of new technology. Crucially, it can also confidently address any areas of concern via communications. We’ve seen security top the bill of IT communications in recent times. High impact awareness campaigns rely on educating people and making it clear what IT policy is. Change management approaches to communication enforce this in a number of ways:
Identity, theme and vision – all made cohesive through a set of branding and core messaging
Use of a change network – the formalised structure of people who can convey the messages from IT within their teams is fundamental to reinforcing behaviours introduced by communication. From line managers setting a practical example, to business leaders confirming company-wide policy with the reasons behind them.
For more ideas on compelling communications take a look at our blog, Compelling Communications – the Key to Successful Business Change
Ongoing measurement
Change management requires that any new IT is measured for adoption and subsequent benefit to the business – as well as identifying shadow IT that poses a threat to business objectives of any change like Office 365 implementation, being achieved. Change management helps IT to align the transition to new technology with an eventual business goal, measuring lag and lead indicators along the way. Benefits realisation is about the end benefits, not deliverables or capability outcomes. A new system might go live successfully, on time, and without technical hitch, but if people continue to use their own applications instead of the new ones offered by the IT team and the business, have you really won the battle against shadow IT? Change management process helps to keep IT and the business focused on whether people have adopted the new to deliver the intended business benefit.
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