This is part 3 of 5 in our change management research series. Data presented here was collected via a commissioned market research survey of 320 global IT leaders.
Introducing a new software into your organization can be a hefty project, especially if you’re rolling it out to a variety of user groups across the company.
In fact, our market research survey on change management revealed that the challenge most frequently faced by IT leaders during new software implementations is the strain the process puts on IT time and resources (67%).
Coordinating with vendors, deciding which users get the new software and when, replacing old tools and installing new ones, and—most importantly—onboarding and training users all take an immense amount of time and effort to plan and execute successfully.
It’s no surprise, then, that IT leaders place significant importance on the level of change management support provided by the software vendors they work with. In fact, 75% said that this offering has played a key role in whether or not they’ve decided to sign an agreement with a vendor.
The disconnect
The survey data shows that the majority of our IT respondents feel the pinch of a new software implementation, and indicate change management support could be a deal-breaker (or sealer) for vendor relationships.
But an interesting disconnect arises if we take a look at what’s actually going on inside organizations where such initiatives are underway: 73% of participants say their organization manages change management in-house, rather than tasking their software vendors to lead the charge. Why would this be?
Require accountability
At the end of the day, buyers aren’t requiring vendors to lend the change management support they’re capable of providing; and few vendors (if any) are proactively stepping up to seize responsibility for the initiatives as a whole. To reduce the burden on IT and help software rollouts progress more smoothly, it’s important that IT leaders hold vendors accountable for leveraging their product expertise and playing a larger role in managing the changes brought on by the implementation of their software. Having software testing done in your business is very important to keep your systems running smoothly and the way you need them to.
