So your organization is adopting a new platform—how can you ensure success?
Adopting a new platform is a significant undertaking and investment for any organization. In addition to planning and executing the technical implementation, one of the biggest challenges is making sure teams are ready to embrace the platform and make the most of its capabilities. Change is hard, especially if you are moving from a model the team knows and understands.
The success of any new technology adoption lies on two critical but often overlooked strategies: Socialization and Change Management.
Socialization: What needs to be socialized?
The first thing that teams, stakeholders, and end-users need to understand is why change at all? Any transformation is likely to face resistance unless the organization understands the rationale behind it. Will it save time and effort? Drive growth? Create a competitive edge? The need for change–and its expected benefits–has to be clearly communicated and socialized.
Once the “why” is understood, the next step is socializing the details of the new platform to generate excitement and foster alignment across all levels. This involves actively engaging impacted teams throughout the process to build a shared vision and gain buy-in along the way. Taking the time to understand the end-to-end process, listen to feedback and concerns, and provide regular updates on progress and decisions is essential to aligning expectations, building momentum, and earning trust. This transparent, inclusive approach helps everyone understand the broader vision and where they fit in the roadmap–enabling organizations to proactively address resistance and better manage cultural shifts as the new technology is rolled out.
What is Change Management?
Change management is what prepares teams to transition smoothly to a new platform. It focuses on equipping teams with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to adapt to new workflows, responsibilities, and capabilities. But driving change isn’t just about process–it also involves helping people emotionally connect to the vision and build new habits, using practical tools and strategies to ease the transition. Many organizations believe that change management happens closer to rollout, which is a critical misstep.
A proactive change management strategy is essential to assess organizational readiness, gauge appetite for change, and identify resistance from a leadership and operational perspective. One effective way to support adoption and head-off resistance is to involve “change champions” at the operational level early in the planning stage. These champions act as role models and serve as trusted sources of input from the teams ultimately tasked with using the new platform–helping to reduce the feeling that the change is being imposed from the top down. This early input is also likely to discover elements not considered by senior leadership. With these insights, leaders can ensure the change plan is realistic, minimally disruptive, and designed to make the new platform a natural part of daily workflows–ultimately driving long-term adoption and success.
Why Are Both Important?
Socialization and change management go hand-in-hand.
Without effective socialization, teams may feel alienated and less motivated to understand the full value of the platform, leading to resistance and underutilization. Failing to involve a stakeholder or team early on can result in significant issues later on, including rework, increased costs, or worse, a questioning of the overall value of the investment and effort.
Without change management, even the best platform can fail if teams aren’t properly prepared to embrace it and integrate it into their daily work.
You can’t ignore the human element that comes with rolling out a new platform. No matter how beneficial in the long-run, it is a cultural shift that has to be managed with empathy and support.
Taking the time to understand the groups and processes you’re building for, set clear expectations, address challenges, and support teams before, during, and after the platform rollout lays a strong technical and operational foundation– and enables teams to fully embrace and leverage the new platform’s capabilities, leading to adoption that is both successful but sustainable.
Real-World Example
Appnovation partnered with a global pharma leader to roll out a new Shared Services Model across regional markets. Getting buy-in from market leads was essential—and that meant shifting a long-held mindset of building every site from scratch.
To drive this shift, we launched a focused change communications program with tailored messaging at the program and executive level, self-serve resources, and change champions who kept teams engaged, celebrated wins, and reinforced the “why” behind the new model.
By aligning stakeholders around the long-term benefits—flexibility, speed-to-market, and scalability—the corporate team successfully shifted the organizational mindset. The result? Platform adoption jumped from 30% to 70% in just six months, driving real momentum for digital transformation across the organization.
At Appnovation, we specialize in guiding organizations through digital transformations. With our expertise in platform socialization and change management, your platform adoption will be seamless, successful, and built for the long term.
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