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 In large companies, cloud computing is a transformative shift where the

greatest challenges amay be more about people, process and politics, not

technology integration.

Business and IT leaders are bombarded with cloud computinghype and promotion. Yet very little is said about how the cloudaffects the evolution of the IT organization itself. Enterprisecloud adoption is a transformative shift where the greatestimplementation challenges are often more about people andprocess than technology integration.

 Agents of change, especially in large enterprises, mustovercome various forms of resistance. This includesorganizational fiefdoms and the IT silos that evolved withthem. These four organizational change strategies can help ITdepartments fight fear and inertia as they move to cloudcomputing

IT Change Strategy #1: Use Tiger Teams To

Break Down IT Fiefdoms

 !hile no one is shoc"ed that IT silos can hinder cloudadoption, you may be surprised how #uic"ly you$ll encounterresistance. %or e&ample, setting up Iaa' (Infrastructure)as)a)'ervice* offerings for your first private cloud will li"ely involveseparate groups responsible for storage, computing,

networ"ing, platforms and security. +oordination among thesegroups is already difficult and youll #uic"ly find that manycloud vendors have product interoperability issues that causedocumentation gaps, integration problems andincompatibilities. Teams will have to escalate issues throughmultiple vendors, causing long delays and strains between ITfiefdoms not accustomed to relying on each other.

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The "ey is for siloed groups to share activities acrosstraditional boundaries. To encourage this, leading companieshave created Tiger Teams small cross)functional groups of

s"illed, respected and entrepreneurial)minded wor"ers. Theyshould be e&perienced enough to navigate their homedepartments to accomplish needed tas"s, politically astuteenough to marshal resources and enterprising enough to pushpro-ects to completion. And they need a strong sponsor whocan provide political cover and help brea" through entrenchedresistance.

IT Change Strategy #2: SWAT Away Ana!ysis

"ara!ysis

ne large financial institution implemented a cloud strategy with an incumbent vendor that claimed to offer the rightstrategy and products. The firm waited too long for proofpoints and had vastly disappointing results. !hen it tried to

 bring in other cloud vendors, they merely added confusion tothe e&isting failed effort ) leading to analysis paralysis and theinability to decide on the proper ne&t steps.

/nfortunately, this scenario is being played out in many largeenterprises. If you can$t afford a year of paralysis, create a'!AT team.

'maller and more discreet than a Tiger Team, a '!AT team is#uietly let loose to 0get something done.1 It emerges only when it has a concrete wor"ing model to integrate with the ITecosystem for evaluation. Because it runs 0small, fast anddar",1 a '!AT team can be easier to initiate than a TigerTeam. A '!AT team$s goal is to brea" the paralysis and createa tangible model that everyone can improve. Building a '!ATteam is relatively cost effective, especially compared to the

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opportunity cost of spending a year -ust trying to decide whatto do.

IT Change Strategy #$: Cha!!enge %ega&y

'(stina&y

2any organizations cling stubbornly to legacy applicationsand platforms, often including proprietary applicationsrunning on no longer supported platforms. !hile some groupsmay propose porting those applications to a modern,standardized, platform and as)a)'ervice offering, legacyzealots may claim thats too ris"y.

But there are many different techni#ues for cloud migration,including some re#uire little to no re)architecture efforts. nesize does not fit all when it comes to migrating applications tothe cloud.

Thats critical, because the benefits of eliminating non)standard platforms and infrastructure in favor of lower cost,cloud)based service offerings are too important to ignore.Because cloud computing promises automated processes thatlower costs and speed cycle times for application provisioning,maintenance, patching and updating, cloud)based IT servicecosts will almost certainly decrease over time. 3egacy systemcosts, meanwhile, typically continue to creep up. 2any times,simply running numbers can help overcome emotionalob-ections to changing the legacy status #uo.

IT Change Strategy #): Cha!!enge *a(it+a!

Ineffi&ien&y

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2ost organizations e&isting IT processes and governanceapproaches are the result of years of layering of systems,technologies and process e&ceptions. Today$s cloud initiatives

present a significant new opportunity to improve processautomation and implement new governance best practices.That will li"ely breed resistance based on the idea of, 0if it isn$t bro"en, don$t fi& it.1 4ont buy it. The process has li"ely been bro"en for years.

5art of the resistance is political, as people within the ITorganization understandably worry about positions being

eliminated or particular fiefdoms losing prestige and power.The misperception may also e&ist that automation is fraught with ris".

But the real ris" lies in not doing anything.

 !hile some positions may in fact be eliminated and otherroles may change with a move to the cloud, this is far better

than the alternative. 'ub)optimal IT efficiency can lead tolower enterprise productivity, a loss of competitiveness, lowerprofits and ultimately the ris" of wholesale outsourcing of IToperations.

S+&&essf+! 'rgani,ationa! Change -anagement

 Addressing organizational change is vital to ensure the successof enterprise cloud)computing initiatives. By incorporating theright approach and building strong arguments to overcomeresistance, you can help your organization ma"e the changesnecessary for successful implementation of enterprise cloudstrategies.