According to author, Dan Millman, “the secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Nowhere is this wisdom more apropos than in the business world and the ever-evolving technology that drives it. Change will come to every organization and, eventually, every department. Whether you are swapping out key components of your tech stack or upgrading to new systems, it’s essential that you have a plan in place to help navigate the often bumpy road of change.
We, at Evolve IP, believe that “change” doesn’t have to be a bad word, though. Rather, change represents a horizon of new opportunities for business growth. If you’ll commit to it, streamlined change management can be the secret weapon for long-term business success.
Like many of our customers’, Evolve IP has experienced a lot of change in its 14-year history. Here’s a crash course in what we have learned about change management over the years and how to minimize disruption to business operations.
In IT, change management usually centers around tracking and managing software updates, which itself is facilitated by software. While that may sound like a chicken and egg situation, IT leaders understand that having a plan for new software implementation that allows you to manage all resources, communication, data, and more, is invaluable.
A solid change management process should have four key components:
Managing change will be essential across the entire development lifecycle. In software development, change management will include technological tasks, like tracking artifacts, including code and requirements. It’s a critical process for application development.
Tasks that typically take place in change management in software development include:
The goal will be to create repeatable processes for change management. Rather than it being a reinvent-the-wheel scenario, it becomes a “rinse and repeat” process your team can carry out the same way each time.
Change management isn’t exclusive to software or tech departments. It is a common operational or organizational process, executed by all types of teams. There are some important differences, though, when you’re managing a change of a software system.
If you’re on the IT team or in charge, here are some tips to supporting successful change management:
Some business analysts have used the Seven R’s concept to analyze the full process of change management. This can easily be applied in a tech context and may help you identify gaps in your own sequences or tasks:
Key qualifiers in a change management process (i.e., what else will it affect and what should the measurable results be?) will matter greatly to company leaders, and they should be considered at every step of the process.
In a digital age, companies must stay on the cutting edge of the latest tools and technology. Responding to the rate of change may feel like running a sprint all day every day. Creating change management processes, then refining them until they’re instinctive, is the only way to keep up. Whether you’re upgrading to virtual desktop services, a unified communications platform, or any other cutting-edge business tech, Evolve IP is the award-winning team for you. We are experts in change, operating already in the “what’s next” of emerging technology and bringing the best products and services to our clients. By integrating unified communications, collaboration, voice, virtual desktop, and contact center tools from leaders like Microsoft, Cisco, and VMware, and filling in the gaps, we are improving the user experience for both employees and customers, while centralizing technology management. So, no matter how locations, tools, and partners change over time, you have a robust and reliable workplace solution that makes the future of work better for everyone.
Contact Evolve IP today to learn more.