Digital workspace projects, large or small, all require a technology enabler and changes in the way in which people work. Software vendors take great care in guiding their customers through the technology rollout, but most underestimate the customers’ need for support with the non-technical side of change.
A resounding 70 percent of IT leaders expect software vendors to be proactive in guiding their customers through the adoption and change management (ACM) aspects of an end-user computing (EUC) project, according to a recent survey conducted in conjunction with Foundry across 560 IT leaders in the United States, Europe, and Australia,
The challenges: IT and end users
Organizations face people and process challenges during digital workspace platform rollouts on two major fronts: in IT and, following deployment, within the user community.
The top three hindrances IT departments face as they design and roll out digital workspace software are lack of IT skills, the IT team’s concerns about roles and responsibilities, and lack of clearly documented IT process changes.
After rolling out the new software, the process of driving end-user adoption can prove equally hard. Survey respondents cited three main reasons for slow end-user adoption: lack of end-user skills (42 percent of respondents), privacy concerns (37 percent), and lack of awareness (32 percent).
How ACM programs can address rollout challenges
Adoption and change management programs help overcome these barriers. Organizations with a people-centric approach to their EUC projects are twice as likely to complete their projects successfully. The survey reveals the most effective strategies adopted by the respondents to overcome change management blockers.
In particular, organizations that run end-user adoption campaigns for their digital workspace platforms reported successfully meeting their goals regarding rates of enrolled devices and onboarded users, the number of features used, and user satisfaction.
ACM programs, however, require planning and resources. Not surprisingly, digital workspace leaders interviewed consider the ACM competencies of their vendors as a differentiating factor. This is how software vendors can and should help, according to the respondents:
VMware has all these aspects covered. Let’s see how in more detail:
- Training for IT support staff. VMware TechZone provides technical articles, reference architectures, activity paths, and utilities for IT admins and IT support staff. VMware Learning provides training and certification programs to grow IT teams’ skills.
- Training for end users. VMware’s User Zone is a website designed for end users to learn about our products’ features, how to get started, and how their privacy is protected.
- End-user support for onboarding and enablement materials. Customers can download Adoption Kits from the VMware TechZone. These include pre-written, pre-designed templates, such as email communications, enrollment guides, FAQ documents, banners, and posters. Our assets can be fully customized and branded on the same webpage with the Adoption Kit Wizard to reflect each organization’s requirements and specifics.
- In-product guidance. When the time to launch an adoption campaign comes, the IT admin will receive a guide triggered by the Workspace ONE UEM console with links to VMware adoption resources.
- Guidance on how to develop an adoption campaign. The Adoption Program Guide provides step-by-step guidance to launch an ACM program and execute an end-user adoption campaign.
The VMware Adoption and Change Management program and its resources are free for all Workspace ONE customers. VMware Professional Services and VMware Partners can further engage with organizations that prefer to have third-party support to customize and launch their ACM program and execute their end-user adoption campaigns.
Visit the Workspace ONE End-User Adoption page to learn more.
