a person sitting in front of a laptop computer

The ‘Big Bang’ approach to digital transformation – and how to make it work

Johanna Winqvist

Johanna Winqvist

Microsoft, Modern Workplace

Read Time, 3 min.

These days there’s no such thing as ‘business as usual’. Change and disruption are the new normal. Just think of the changes affecting your organization right now, with new technology and techniques driving new attitudes and expectations from employees and customers alike. Everything is changing.

And the one thing all those changes have in common is speed. It’s happening exceptionally fast. Which is why, for a business to survive and thrive in a fiercely competitive market, it must react with equal alacrity. Especially when making a technological response to a transformational need.

Meeting the need for rapid innovation

‘When change is the new normal’, a 2019 study by Microsoft in partnership with Dr. Michael Parke of the London Business School, corroborates this view. The research shows that 92% of companies have recently faced technological disruption and concludes that now is the time “to double down on workplace innovation to drive growth”. Specifically, it finds that the most pioneering businesses today are actively building bridges across organizational and operational silos. And that empowerment in the workplace continues to be critical for innovation.

So, what is the best way for a business to successfully introduce a new technology or platform?

The 48-hour rollout: Coloplast’s success story

Arguably, there is no right or wrong way. Every organization is different. But Coloplast, a leading life science company famous for introducing the life-changing ostomy bag, decided to do it with a ‘bang’. A big innovative, organizational bang that – just like the scientific theory of the same name – happened incredibly fast. In short, to get everyone in Coloplast working better together they got 8,000 employees worldwide to use Microsoft Teams – in a mere 48 hours.

Microsoft Teams brings together workplace chat, video meetings and file storage in a single, unified platform. Which is exactly what Coloplast required: “What we needed was a solution that would allow our teams to be agile and to collaborate instantly,” explains René Rasmussen, Coloplast’s Vice President of IT Operations & Support. “That’s why Teams seemed like a such a good fit for us.”

What’s more, by achieving this feat of deployment, Coloplast managed to tick the two boxes that the ‘When change is the new normal’ study found to be the hallmark of an innovative business: breaking down silos and empowering employees, all in double-fast time.

How did they do it? There were four key stages…

  • The pilot programme

200 employees from all 43 of the countries in Coloplast’s network started to use Teams and fed back in detail on their e

  • A structured and detailed migration plan

Starting on a Friday evening, the plan was so meticulously thought out that migration ran ahead of schedule and was complete by Sunday afternoon. On Monday morning when 8,000 people returned to work, the IT team waited nervously by their helpline. Hours passed. The first call was at 11.30: it was an amazed support manager asking if the feedback was correct that no-one had called the helpline. There were only six other calls that week.

  • Migration ambassadors

To help their colleagues adapt to Teams, the 200 participants of the pilot became ambassadors during the wider migration process.

  • An official feedback loop

Feedback was encouraged – urging employees to share their thoughts about features that could be added or improved. This helped established a culture of continuous improvement.

Conclusion

What Coloplast proved so convincingly was that even a global operation with thousands of employees can complete a rapid roll-out if all the right processes are in place. Proper planning really works, but only if it fully considers the human as well as the technical implications of change. Read the full Coloplast story.

Free eBook: Crash course in Microsoft 365 Business

Microsoft 365 Business can make your technology more manageable while improving productivity

Discover more related articles per industry:

Education

  • Cloud

    A guide to GDPR for universities

    With the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation coming into effect on May 25, understand how universities like yours can take the right steps towards compliance with this free eBook – and other useful resources. Your university on a journey on a journey Your university is on a journey with lots of ‘data subjects’. They’re […]

  • Pencil

    Hybrid learning and GDPR: maintaining security and compliance in disruptive times

    Like most areas of society, over the past six months the education sector has had to face challenges unlike any before. Students thrive when they have access to personalized learning. As schools have moved quickly to adapt to remote learning, using technology to create new experiences that meet students’ needs has become more important than […]

Government

  • How VR Group is using automation to secure Finland’s railways

    How VR Group is using automation to secure Finland’s railways

    “Being at the helm of a critical piece of infrastructure, we have a huge responsibility towards our partners and clients. That’s why safety and security are crucial elements of what we do and how we operate.” Mikke Maronen, CISO at Finnish railway company VR Group, is talking about the importance of protecting his business from […]

  • a large old building with many windows

    Raad van State: Creating a virtual courtroom through a remote-working solution

    “This situation has proven that with the right means, support and trust, you can remove half of the desks in your building – and in that sense, I don’t think we’ll ever see 700 people at the same time in the office again.” Ron Lamers, Project Manager at Raad van State, is talking about the […]

Healthcare

  • a woman sitting at a table

    Empowering care teams with new tools in Microsoft 365

    Discover the new Microsoft 365 collaboration and communication capabilities – improving the efficiency of clinicians and administrators.

  • Two female nurses having a virtual conversation through Microsoft Teams

    Belfast Trust: Reimagining patient care

    “There have been many heroic actions by our staff but we’re not heroes for what we’ve done – I’m just glad we could do our bit to help.” Paul Duffy, Co-Director of IT and Telecommunications at Belfast Trust, is talking about the monumental impact COVID-19 has had on the healthcare sector and how virtual consultations […]

Manufacturing

Retail

Discover more related articles per dossier:

Customer Stories

  • Helping Swedish leaders succeed with modern workplace solutions

    Helping Swedish leaders succeed with modern workplace solutions

    A lack of consistency will always make business more difficult. Ledarna, a trade union serving executives across Sweden, discovered this as its employee numbers swelled to over 170. Shifting from legacy tools and systems helped the company to streamline its processes and enhance collaboration, not to mention boosting security and opening up new opportunities for […]

Digital Transformation

  • NorthWest Clinics building

    Northwest Clinics: A new era in virtual healthcare

    “I am generally quite modest – I don’t like to brag about my achievements too much. But in this case, I want to make an exception. I want to tell the world what we have done.” For Ed de Myttenaere, CIO at Northwest Clinics hospital (Noordwest Ziekenhuisgroep) in the Netherlands, breaking with tradition is becoming increasingly normal. In responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, his team have implemented a virtual consultation solution that has the potential to redefine […]

Security & Privacy

  • 2 women working on a Microsoft Surface

    Why data governance matters in going beyond GDPR compliance

    For organisations that are impacted by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), protecting the privacy of individuals is no longer just good business practice; it’s a legal obligation. So, how do you implement an effective data governance program that is proactive, reactive and future-proofs data security? Data governance is not only about GDPR Data is […]

Tips

  • a person sitting at a table in front of a window

    Are you making the most of Microsoft Teams while working remotely?

    There are many reasons and requirements for remote work, and meeting those requirements flexibly is why we created Microsoft Teams: to help you stay connected with your teams and ensure you can continue working collaboratively and efficiently, wherever you are. Here are a couple of tips to help you get the best from Microsoft Teams […]