See how change management helps your team adopt Atlassian Cloud
Learn how effective change management aligns people, process, and tools to accelerate your cloud transformation.Introduction
If you’re reading this, your organization has decided to make the move to Atlassian Cloud to reduce overhead, reallocate infrastructure costs, accelerate productivity, and gain peace of mind with built-in security and compliance.
Now, you need to help everyone adopt the new Atlassian Cloud app(s) while making sure work continues to move forward.
Building an effective change management plan is the best way to support your teams as they upgrade, helping them build a consistent routine with the new app(s). Over time, these routines will turn into habits that strengthen teamwork and realize long-term value from Atlassian Cloud. Let’s dive in.
Make sure change sticks
We get it: change fatigue is real. Whether it’s a new app or a process we need to follow, it feels like something is always changing. It’s important to take this into account when building a plan to roll out any new change to any team, not just for changes in technology or software.
To minimize the friction caused by change, it helps to have all components moving in the same direction. That means the people, the processes, and the tools all need to work in harmony to achieve change and ensure it lasts.
Lasting adoption depends on how change is felt day to day. When users experience tangible benefits, like faster results, reduced manual work, and new possibilities unlocked, they're far more likely to embrace the shift. Strive to create an environment where your users genuinely want to engage with cloud apps because they make work easier and deliver stronger outcomes.
Explore the benefits of a change management program
A strategic adoption and change management program delivers three critical outcomes:
1. Increases productivity
Proper change management with targeted training and support helps users to operate successfully on day one. Instead of hunting for login credentials or documentation, teams stay focused on business objectives that drive results.
2. Reduces shadow IT
Deploying Atlassian apps strategically ensures teams understand when and how to use each app for their specific needs. When technology requirements are met through proper training and feedback channels, teams won't seek unauthorized alternatives that create technical, billing, and security risks.
TIP: Use automatic product discovery (available with Atlassian Guard or Cloud Enterprise) to identify unauthorized cloud instances, identify their admins, and consolidate them under your official organization.
3. Saves time and money
A comprehensive plan with a thoughtful rollout reduces support tickets and prevents costly do-overs. Teams that don't adapt to changes often require expensive re-implementations.
Be aware of common adoption barriers
Despite the benefits, change rarely happens organically. The most frequent roadblocks include:
- Inertia and resistance to new processes
- Misaligned objectives between business and IT teams
- Weak leadership sponsorship from key decision-makers
- Timeline confusion around rollout phases
- Unclear value proposition for users
- App overload without usage guidelines
Introducing a change management plan ensures teams understand what's changing, how it will happen, why it matters, and when it will occur. It also provides the knowledge and resources needed for success. The following guides outline proven steps to prepare for change and drive long-term adoption.
TIP: Download our change management plan template to organize your digital transformation and apply the strategies covered in this guide. The template guides you through planning and executing your cloud migration while keeping all stakeholders informed and engaged.