How to Create a Technology Adoption Plan
Everything you do in insurance, or most lines of business, uses technology (there’s probably some exceptions). Therefore, you could agree that it’s important to have the right equipment to get the job done.
The right equipment meaning no outdated hardware, software, etc. Unfortunately, this is hardly the case, but since you are reading this blog on creating a technology adoption plan, I’m going to assume you’ve made the right decision to undergo an upgrade.
Congrats!
New tech can be exciting, however, if not executed well, the adoption strategy can cause some real headaches. Keep reading to learn the why’s and how’s of developing a tech adoption plan.
How to Create A Technology Adoption Plan
Why You Need a Tech Adoption Plan
Just like any other time you do something without a plan something or many things go wrong. There’s failure, frustration, confusion, and just a whole mess you could have avoided if you had made a proper plan in the first place.
You don’t want that for yourself, staff, or business, do you? Especially when implementing any type of new technology with hardware, software, or processes.
Let’s take a look at a few reasons why you need a tech adoption plan:
chaos
confusion
frustration
failure
decreased productivity
security concerns
if not executed correctly it can be a waste of time, money, and/or resources
if people don’t understand they won’t use it or they won’t use properly
people don’t like change and see change as more work
Your Tech Adoption Plan
Identify Problem
Before you can implement a solution, you need to have identified the problem. What does the end-user need now and, in the future, to get the job done? When identifying what the end-user needs, don’t forget to include the technology, people, and processes involved.
Find End-User Solution
Once you have your problem/s identified you can figure out a solution to remedy the problem/s. You should include your staff members who will be directly working with the new equipment to get their input – since at the end of the day they will be the ones using it consistently and it may be hard to put yourself in their shoes to fully understand the problem.
Test
Now that you’ve got your solution you should go ahead and have a few select users test it. By doing this you can limit initial problems that arise. Also, you can evaluate how the process went, what went wrong, what could have been better, and so forth. So, when you are ready to fully deploy the process, it will run smoother for all and you will have worked out some kinks in the test.
Communication Strategy
It’s important to communicate with everyone along the way of what’s going on. Getting your staff excited about the next tech will be important as well! As mentioned earlier, people don’t like change and see change as work, so if they aren’t excited about the new tech, the chances of them understanding and utilizing it properly, or at all, are slim. One way to do this is to communicate the benefits of the new tech to them specifically. How will this positively impact their workflow? How is it better than what they are currently using?
Training
This is quite possibly the most important step aside from selecting the right solution for your business needs. Therefore, training should be done as close to going live as possible. This way the training is fresh in their mind when it comes time to use the new tech. The training should also relate to the real environment that the end-user would be using it in.
Support
Just because the user is “trained” doesn’t mean they are good to go. Problems will arise, questions will be asked, people might not adopt the new tech like you thought they would, and so on. There should be someone available to continually help your staff acclimate to the new tech. It would be foolish to expect everyone to fully understand and not have any questions. So having someone available to them will be beneficial for all.
How An MSP Can Help
Without having an internal department or someone handling your I.T., many tech projects can take very long to complete. Often times the ‘new tech’ can be outdated by the time it has reached deployment.
That’s not something you want at all because now you’ve just wasted time, money, and other resources for nothing really in return. The whole point of adopting new tech was so that it would be new, and up to date, right?
Luckily, you can turn to your Managed Service Provider (MSP), so this doesn’t happen.
How so?
This is a part of what MSPs do – helping you with your technology. From start to finish and then beyond finish you’ll have a skilled team of professionals by your side to help you and your staff with any questions or concerns that arise.
With an MSP, like Omega Computer Services, we do all the heavy lifting for you. From ordering the equipment, installing it, testing it, training the staff, and offering support from there on out, the implementation of new tech is easier than ever.
Conclusion
You’ve made the decision to upgrade your technology, great! That’s just the first step, but a very important decision to make. How you handle the implementation process is even more important to how your staff will respond and react to the new technology.
Handle the situation poorly and your staff may be unreceptive and turned off to using it. But handle the process well and your staff should be happy, using the new tech efficiently, productivity should rise, and processes should be simpler.
