4 Tips to Accelerate Adoption of SaaS

by Katy Beloof on May 29, 2018 - Smartsheet Blog

Identifying the right technology platform to help your business speed up operations takes a lot of work. But ensuring the adoption of that platform across the organization is a challenge in itself.

Here are four tips on how to accelerate the adoption of your new SaaS platform. You’ll want to consider taking action on some of these before you invest in new technology, to make sure your business users are set up for success.
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1. Reduce the Burden on IT

Whenever possible, select software that will reduce the burden on IT, rather than adding tasks to your backlog. During your purchasing process, consider what implementation will look like and what the onboarding process entails for business users.
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Look for user-friendly interfaces and no-code solutions that empower business users to get started on their own, rather than waiting on IT to build a custom solution for them.

2. Run Pilots Ahead of Time

Before you roll out a new platform to your entire organization, run pilots for different scenarios and diverse teams. Then, gather feedback from multiple business users for a wide range of use cases.

Pay attention to the adoption of the platform, and listen to how users experienced the onboarding process, and how they assess ease-of-use across each group.

From their feedback, you can learn more about what works and what doesn’t, and highlight potential areas you’ll need to address when rolling out the platform to the entire organization.
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3. Connect Key Systems

Before you buy, make sure that the platform you’ve selected enables you to connect your key systems, so you can create a single source of truth for your users, rather than another silo.   Simply adding one more tool to the approved list, without making sure it works with other core apps, results in manual, inefficient processes.

Ensure that your platform can integrate with core business systems and software, and make sure that integrations will automatically sync in real-time, so that everyone has access to the most up-to-date information.

4.  Get the Word Out

Once you’re ready to roll out your new SaaS platform to the entire business, kick off a campaign to get the word out. In addition to any provisioning notifications you need to send out, consider sending out a few onboarding emails and holding onboarding sessions to help business users get started.
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You might also think about putting up posters around the office. You could even go so far as to have a launch party to kick off a new software in order to help drive awareness.

Another great way to get the word out about a new platform is to create a user group for the platform. This could be composed of super users from your pilot, or just enthusiasts of this specific technology.
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A user group can champion the platform across the organization, roll out the tool to their teams, and encourage other departments to get on board. This group can also help answer questions, so IT doesn’t bear the brunt.

SaaS Adoption Isn’t Just One and Done

Even if you follow the above tips, rolling out a SaaS platform across your organization doesn’t just happen overnight. As adoption for your new SaaS platform grows, document and highlight successes from across the organization to encourage usage.

Encourage and listen to feedback from business users to understand what’s working for them and areas where they could still use some help, and connect them with the right resources. Depending on the depth and breadth of the platform, you may also want to invest in other training resources for teams across the business.
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Looking to Accelerate Adoption of Smartsheet?

Curious about the onboarding and resources Smartsheet has to offer? Our help center has great resources for users just getting started. We also have individual, group, and self-paced learning for all experience levels and multiple learning styles run by experts in Smartsheet, so you can make the most out of our platform. 

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