Unexpected User Acceptance

This post is not about a technical pitfall regarding Power Platform. Maybe, it could be considered a pitfall, but a positive one - at least for many organizations.

This is what happened. An organization started to evaluate PowerApps and Power Automate because they were looking to create custom forms, that employees use to file tickets with their IT helpdesk. Their current solution was an outdated web form, which needed urgent replacement as it wasn't up-to-date anymore and hosted on a server that was about to be decommissioned.

An internal evaluation was started and after a few weeks, the evaluating team came to the conclusion, that the combination of PowerApps and Power Automate was suitable to meet their requirements. They presented the outcome of the evaluation at a meeting of the executive board. Unfortunately, the evaluation team wasn't able to fully convince the board, but at least they got the green light to utilize Power Apps and Power Automate to create the IT helpdesk forms - and to retire the old webform!

After some weeks of hard, but creative work, the first set of forms was published and employees were very excited regarding the easy-to-use nice-looking forms. The feedback the IT helpdesk received was overwhelmingly positive.

It didn't take long until other departments started to ask for Power Platform as well. The board of executives still reacted very reluctant and asked for use-cases and expected improvements. Basically, they asked for an individual cost/benefits analysis. The departments agreed and provided the requested information. It turned out, that there was a significant potential for improvements which were justified by substantial savings. Suddenly, the reluctant board was confronted with the justified demands of many departments and teams for Power Platform usage. Their only option was to roll out Power Platform for the entire organization, which resulted in a bumpy roll-out and a lot of hands-on work - far from what I would call a successful rollout. Governance policies got updated and adjusted multiple times after the rollout and the same was true regarding the configuration of Power Platform (incl. allowed connectors). Users, stakeholders and developers were faced with constant changes and policy updates for months, which resulted in a decreasing user acceptance and huge dissatisfaction. It took a lot of effort to get everything back on track!

If you think, this is a fictitious story, you are wrong! Things like this happened and will happen again. Let's have a look at what went wrong and how this rollout disaster could have been avoided.

Think Big

Although this is admittedly a kind of corny phrase, it's still true. What I am trying to say is this: if you plan to roll out Power Platform in your organization, don't roll it out to a small team only. In most organizations, there always is a demand for automation and if departments or teams can create their own artifacts to automate their processes, they will very much embrace this opportunity. If you want to roll out Power Platform in your organization, plan a "global" rollout. Do it right the first time - a halfheartedly rollout will most certainly backfire!

Don't reinvent the wheel

Rolling out Power Platform requires some additional work, like updating corporate Governance, providing training and support, Change Management activities or managing the platform. If organizations look at Power Platform as a tool for a few users only, but high demand from other departments requires a change of plan, a lot of preparation work needs to be repeated an/or adjusted. In the end, it would have been much more efficient and less costly, to plan a global roll-out, rather than being forced to what I like to call "salami tactics".

It's OK to roll out in phases

Don't get me wrong - for sure you can roll out Power Platform in phases or waves. I would even say that this is best practice for many organizations. However, there is a big difference. Rolling out in waves means, that organizations have the big picture in mind and everything is prepared properly. Training sessions are available and can be reused as needed, the corporate Governance document is updated and Change Management activities can be coordinated and adjusted. Bascially, everything you need for a successful rollout is readily available and can be reused as needed. My recommendation is to start with the more tech-savvy departments and utilize them as trailblazers.

Don't squander euphoria

Let's be honest - what could be better than a euphoric and excited staff when it comes to rolling out new technology? Isn't that what we usually want to achieve with tailored Change Management activities? I think it is much better to utilize this kind of anticipation as it helps with Change Management and likely results in much higher user adoption. In other words: the more reluctant a board of executives (or the stakeholders) is regarding a Power Platform rollout, the more the Change Management team has to work to ensure good user adoption.

Recommendations

I don't think it makes sense to enable a small group of users to use Power Platform and see, if and how it is adopted and depending on the outcome continue from there. As I mentioned before, there is always a demand for automation and in most cases, creativity is spurred by two factors: a platform that allows users to be creative and build things on their own and a community where users can (proudly) showcase what they have created and how they did it. This momentum really calls to be utilized as it is an important milestone towards user acceptance.

My recommendation is to perform a thorough analysis with at least the key departments regarding a potential Power Platform usage. Plan a roll-out in phases (or waves) for the entire organization, but start with departments that could act as role models (trailblazers) for others. Prepare guidelines, policies and documentation prior to the rollout and avoid significant changes to how Power Platform should be used in your organization after the rollout!

Other articles of this series

1. Centre of Excellence - Part 1
2. Centre of Excellence - Part 2
3. Managing Environments
4. Power Platform Connectors
5. When to use and when not to use
6. Connectors and Connections
7. Insufficient Change Management
8. Unexpected User Acceptance