Top 5 tips before you go live in the cloud

1. Establish a cloud support model

Take a look at the support model you have in place (or will have in place) and evaluate its current state. Do you have the appropriate means prepared? How will you review its effectiveness early on? Are there measurable goals you have instituted to evaluate your progress? By establishing a solid support model up-front and early on, it provides the solid foundation your deployment process needs to ultimately deliver success.

2. Establish a cloud governance structure

​Review the roles and responsibilities of the project team involved in deployment and distinguish who does what. Are there specific people assigned to approve tasks or changes? Who has the power to make decisions? By specifically identifying those roles from project inception, there will be less room for confusion and will allow your team the ability to get things done effectively. 

3. Identify a post-deployment transition plan

Once live, you’ll need to figure out how to transition from the initial project phase to a post-deployment phase. Things like data catch-up and switching from having a project team on call to provide internal support to moving to a third-party AMS provider can get overwhelming if a plan hasn’t been thought through. Take the time to discuss how you will ease into new processes and protocols once deployment has taken place.  

4. Solidify your change management techniques

Change management can be a daunting task to think about, no matter the size of your organization. Getting user buy-in and effectively promoting utilization is essential to the success of your overall deployment. Identify what qualifies as success in terms of adoption for your business. How will you get there? What are your short-term and long-term plans to ensure the new system is utilized effectively? It’s impossible to over-plan when it comes to organizational change.  

5. Have a plan for your cloud configuration changes

​After working with your deployment partner to design how you will use Workday in your organization you may find that you want to adjust the configuration and processes once you are live and actively using Workday. Be sure to have a plan for how you will address the immediate needs around configuration changes or to tackle any inefficient or over engineered processes.