Managing the business change of becoming a SaaS organization

**Here’s what you need to know about the planning and change management processes inherent in making the move to the cloud.**

Align your organization

Cloud migration needs well-informed, skilled teams behind it to organize and manage alignment according to clearly defined business objectives.

Organizational alignment doesn’t happen overnight, but it is important to start the process and manage it well so that it establishes over the long term. Here we look at the best practices that will help you to develop your alignment plan and make sure your teams are prepared for cloud migration.

You can establish the organizational structure you’ll need to deliver an effective cloud adoption model with the following 4-step process.

1.	^{Structure –}^{Define the right structure for your operating model} Your operating model doesn’t need to reflect the organization’s hierarchical structure; it needs to reflect roles and responsibilities and the alignment to objectives. This may take the form of virtual teams.
2.	^{Functions –}^{Define the functionalities you need for cloud adoption} This should include functions that deliver technical solutions, strategies that align with business needs, operation functions that support the adopted solutions, functions that look to improve agility and resiliency, and that can manage risks and capture opportunities for innovation.
3.	^{Team –}^{Define the teams that will provide these functions} Aligning the people who will make the cloud migration plan a reality is paramount. (You’ll also need to align your business and IT cultures and objectives.)
4.	^{Responsibilities –}^{Assign roles and responsibilities to each team} Each team should have a cleat idea of their responsibilities and how they’ll be held accountable – including the outcomes they need to achieve, how they’ll need to collaborate with others, and which teams they’ll need to share information with.

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Developing your cloud adoption strategy

Most IT enterprises use public cloud to satisfy their needs for flexibility and scalability. But to deliver the results you want, you’ll need to build an optimized cloud strategy.

1. Define and document your motivations

Meet with key stakeholders and executives to document the motivations behind
cloud adoption.

2. Document business outcomes

Engage motivated stakeholders
and executives to document
specific business outcomes.

3. Evaluate financial considerations

Learn how to use the cloud to
make your IT cost structure more flexible. Then, build a business
case to adopt the cloud.

4. Understand technical considerations

Discover the technical flexibility, efficiencies, and capabilities that help you build a business case
to adopt the cloud.

You can learn more about how to share your strategy throughout your organization – as well as the kinds
of outcomes you can expect – in our infographic on this subject below.

Learn more in this executive brief

Establishing common ground

To ensure your strategy’s success, you’ll have to establish the common goals, drivers, and expected outcomes across your CTO, CIO, and CFO organizations. Microsoft has developed to help you anticipate likely points of friction and synergy.

You can learn more about how to share your strategy throughout your organization – as well as the kinds of outcomes you can expect – in our infographic on this subject below.

Download the factsheet