There’s an important interplay between organizational culture and change management when it comes to technology adoption and digital transformation. Early this year, a Microsoft UK news article highlighted this interplay with a telecommunication provider TalkTalk. In my interactions with members of the TalkTalk team when we worked together last year at Microsoft Ignite, one thing was clear: this is a company that cares about its people! But its traditional work culture, complete with office-bound staff and limited technology tools, was holding both the organization and its employees back. Focusing on its employees’ needs led the company to leverage Microsoft 365 Enterprise to create an open, inclusive, vibrant workplace that fosters ingenuity and empowers its staff to anticipate customer needs and develop new services.
Microsoft 365 is the cornerstone of TalkTalk’s initiative to fully empower staff outside the office with flexible work options. Employees can get things done from any location—collaborating and innovating together every day from London and Manchester, at home and on the road. Working with FastTrack, the company initially concentrated on just a few key Microsoft 365 services. The FastTrack team migrated email to Microsoft Exchange Online, set up Office 365 ProPlus, moved thousands of documents into OneDrive for Business, got everyone up and running on Skype for Business Online for conferencing, and connected thousands of devices to Microsoft Intune. With the FastTrack team’s help, TalkTalk was better positioned to roll out other Microsoft 365 capabilities that could benefit the organization.
TalkTalk’s transformation is remarkable. In my recent conversations with @Andrew Dacombe, he shared with me the exciting collaboration stats related to Office 365 uptake. At the end of 2017, email usage was down 28 percent, while Skype for Business usage was up 27 percent. It looks like people are moving from email to more real-time communication, like instant messaging (IM). And with so much enthusiasm about Office 365 among TalkTalk employees, @Sharon Liu on my team engaged with @John Gaskell to explore getting them started on Microsoft Teams. With all of these positive results, everyone can focus their passion on increasing TalkTalk’s competitive advantage.
Find out more about FastTrack engagements.
Listen to the Proven Office 365 Customer Deployment and Adoption Strategies Panel Presentation, which includes TalkTalk Telecom participants.