Editor's Note: This episode is sponsored by Pendo.

Change is hard when it's not predictable. But replacing or adding to a worker's business applications can also be a comfortable experience when the organization provides adequate preparation and support. 

Our guests on this episode, Hannah Whiteside and John Dorrian of Pendo, discuss some of the ways in which change management is impacting technology adoption today. We discuss some of the typical symptoms of a failed software deployment, including ways to prevent them. And our guests share their views on the different kinds of change management that organizations must contend with, whether human, systems-driven, or even compliance-driven.

And we frame some of those challenges in the context of Microsoft's business software offerings. As Hannah and John explain, apps like Microsoft Power Apps and Teams pose their own unique challenges and patterns of adoption.

Show Notes:

• 2:00 - How to position the role of organizational change management in today's business applications landscape
• 4:45 - The risk of too many tools, both official and rogue acquisition
• 8:45 - How to look at adopting Microsoft's commercial software from a change management perspective
• 11:45 - The danger of gut feeling vs data-driven decisions with organizational change
• 15:00 - Is Power Platform's flexibility an added challenge for adoption principles?
• 19:15 - How to measure for process efficiency according to app usage
• 22:30 - How to gently guide users away from their legacy systems with user-driven analytics
• 28:15 - The role of system integrators in advising on app usage and adoption
• 30:00 - How one Power Platform champion's team and dev group is changing from gut feel to data-driven evaluation of apps
• 32:00 - Why discovery work ought to become a thing of the past in service engagements
• 35:30 - Where compliance needs fit into Pendo's story
• 39:30 - Other scenarios in which change management becomes critical, like M&A

For more information on how to overcome user adoption challenges on your employee-facing applications, https://pendo.io/digital-adoption.

More information:

• Pendo's MSDW webcast

This episode is sponsored by Stratos Cloud Alliance, Velosio’s Microsoft partner program. Visit www.dynamics365partner.com to learn more about their partner offerings.

What does Microsoft want from partners in their fiscal 2022? If July's Inspire 2021 was any indication, partners will have to re-commit to priorities ranging from continued opportunities in remote work and data management to co-selling industry-focused solutions.

Stratos Cloud's Scott May and Jeff DeMaria join us to sort through the announcements from July and to offer some guidance on how partners can prepare for the opportunities of the new year.

Show Notes:

• 2:00 - What are partners experiencing as Microsoft's FY 2021 ends and they watch for new messaging at Inspire in July
• 3:30 - Takeaways from Satya Nadella's Inspire keynote
• 7:00 - Microsoft's cloud platform strength
• 10:00 - How to get aligned with Microsoft and finding the gaps
• 13:00 - Real world opportunities: security, next phases of remote work, employee experience,
• 18:30 - Dynamics 365 themes like skilling, verticals, and growth
• 24:00 - Partner interests: industry, SKU updates to Business Central, and D365 green field opportunities
• 28:00 - What the new "world of work" really means for partners
• 32:00 - Important Microsoft programs in FY22
• 36:00 - What's next at Stratos Cloud Alliance

About: Stratos Cloud Alliance is the Microsoft CSP Indirect Provider that provides all the sales support, enablement, and services a partner needs to build a profitable cloud solutions business with Microsoft Dynamics 365. With over 33 years’ experience implementing Dynamics business management solutions, Stratos Cloud offers partners a comprehensive portfolio of Microsoft Cloud Business and Productivity Solutions, ISV Products and Tools, Customer Services, and flexible Partner Programs supporting transformation at the pace and investment level that is right for you.