PREPARING FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

When word of the [on-demand access] project started to spread across the company, a flood of requests for new PCs came in. The requests for new systems were threefold higher than the previous year. Some folks figured we wouldn't ask them to discard a brand new system. A letter from our CFO to all controllers in all divisions reminded them that this project was not optional and that all PC purchases would be subject to heightened scrutiny.

Anthony Lackey, Vice President of MIS, Chief Technology Officer, ABM Industries

 

In most organizations, it is difficult to successfully migrate to an on-demand access environment through mandate alone. An edict from top management is essential, but the planning team needs to supplement it with a strategy for internally selling the project as part of their overall change management plan. IT will probably have ultimate project ownership, and an IT member will probably have to take the initiative in promoting on-demand access throughout the organization. For purposes of this chapter, we will assume that the IT person leading the initiative is the CIO.

Tip 

IT people often underestimate the resistance that a paradigm shift to on-demand access nearly always generates.

Implementing an enterprise Citrix Access Suite environment does not involve a major alteration in an organization's mission statement or culture. It does, however, change to some extent the way in which employees accomplish their daily work. Planning for organizational change can address these concerns and help minimize project road blocks. These are the steps for managing the change process:

1. Establish a need and sense of urgency for implementing on-demand access.

2. Create a compelling vision of the Citrix access platform.

3. Recruit executive support.

4. Carefully plan the process.

5. Communicate to all stakeholders.

6. Build access momentum and remove obstacles.

7. Monitor the progress.

8. Publicize early successes.

9. Expand the Citrix environment.

10. Prepare for future access platform capabilities.

Establish a Need for Implementing an Access Platform

The project definition document discussed in Chapter 4 should include the justifications for an enterprise deployment of Citrix Access Suite. A sense of urgency should now be included in order to generate support. A letter from the CEO, for example, can explain the financial benefits that will accrue from on-demand access and consequently make it clear that this is a course of action that the organization is undertaking.

Create a Compelling Vision of the Access Environment

While the CIO may have a vision for an organization-wide Citrix deployment, the actual implementation often unfolds over various stages. It is important to develop a vision that can be shared with management and users alike of daily life under an access platform. The pilot and beta can be very useful in this regard. A particularly attractive advantage that can be demonstrated to both users and management alike is the ability to work seamlessly from home through the Internet. Users tend to get very excited by this capability because of the vastly increased flexibility it affords them. They no longer need to be constrained by physical location. Management is naturally enthusiastic as well because the productivity of their employees can significantly rise, since they are no longer unable to work due to a cold or car troubles.

Recruit Executive Support

In Chapter 4, we discussed the importance of obtaining executive sponsorship for the project. Inevitably, conflicts will arise in terms of resource availability, and even outright opposition to the project can surface. The executive sponsor must be able to step in and resolve these issues in order to keep the project on track.

In order to better facilitate organizational change, promotion of the project should be expanded to enlist the support of other top managers. The CIO should meet with the appropriate executives either in a group or individually. She should take the time to explain the on-demand access philosophy to them along with the financial and other benefits that they can expect. She should also be realistic about the challenges they can expect to face during the project implementation and the results they will see upon its completion. Her team should customize an appropriate excerpt from the project plan to hand out to these executives.

If a subscription model for on-demand billing will be adopted, the CIO should explain to the executives how the program works and how it will impact their departmental budgets . She can emphasize that the IT department will utilize this model to break even but do so in a manner that enables departments to operate far more efficiently and with greater accountability than under a PC-based computing environment. The subscription-billing model for an access platform is discussed in Appendix C.

Carefully Plan the Process

Chapter 4 discusses the intricate technical planning recommended for an access platform deployment. It is also important to plan for handling the organizational issues identified by the feasibility committee during the organizational assessment.

IT Staff Assessment

Is the IT staff ready for on-demand access? They should be early users of the technology during the pilot phase and be convinced enough about the benefits that they are advocates themselves .

If the IT staff is used to operating in the ad hoc manner normally associated with network administration, they need to understand that on-demand access requires the rigors of mainframe shop methodology, including limited access, change control, and planning and procedures. Controls must be put into place to ensure that the IT staff will help, and not hinder, the Citrix Access Suite implementation. If certain staff members are unwilling or unable to support the project, they should be reassigned to another support area.

Skill Levels Does the IT staff have the necessary skills to install and manage a Citrix access platform? They must have Windows 2003 Server expertise and experience, including the ability to do Registry edits. Scripting capabilities are also a requirement for large implementations . A router expert must be available to manage large wide area networks. A skills assessment should be part of the initial project planning, and training or additional personnel obtained in order to cover the skill areas that are lacking.

IT Training Building and maintaining an access platform requires that an enterprise train, hire, or outsource strong Microsoft, Citrix, networking, and server skill sets. Although there are many overlapping skill set requirements to what most organizations already have on staff, such as Active Directory, server backup, and application installation and configuration, there are some new and unique requirements. We strongly recommend that staff who will be administering the infrastructure attend at least a week of Microsoft Server 2003 training and two weeks of Citrix Access Suite training (separated by a month or two of experience). Because there are a large number of new features, even experienced staff should attend a week of update training on Access Suite 4.

Cultural Assessment

How will an enterprise deployment of Citrix Access Suite be received in the organization? The design plan should be modified, where necessary, in order to ensure that the organization's cultural norms will not be a roadblock to success.

Working Environment In an environment where users commonly run similar applications and work as part of a unit, such as a bank, Citrix is likely to be very well accepted. Users will immediately appreciate the higher reliability and increased flexibility that the Citrix Access Suite enables. An engineering firm, on the other hand, with independent users accustomed to purchasing and loading their own software, will likely run into severe resistance if they try to force employees to operate only in the thin-client mode.

Remote Users Remote users tend to be very enthusiastic toward Citrix because they receive access to the corporate databases and networking services they need in order to do their jobs more productively. It is crucial to provide both adequate and redundant bandwidth to prevent problems with reliability and performance that can quickly turn remote users hostile toward on-demand access.

Managers Managers, in general, tend to resist the idea of an access platform until they actually use one; then they quickly become converts. They are usually impressed by the increased productivity they witness among their employees, as well as the capability for their employees to work from home. The project management team can help foster enthusiasm among the managers for on-demand access by showing them when the reduced corporate IT costs should be reflected on departmental bottom lines.

Political Assessment

Politics usually comes down to allocation of resources, money, power, or all three. How will the access platform project impact the profit-and-loss statements of the different departments involved? What happens to a regional IT division when the computing model switches to an on-demand centralized architecture? It is important to be aware of these issues in order to take actions to minimize potential disruption to the project. Some scenarios and resolutions are described later in this chapter, under the section "Stakeholder Buy-In."

Communicate to All Stakeholders

Communication is perhaps the biggest key to successfully managing organizational change. In addition to the executive communications already mentioned, it is also important to educate and inform both internal IT staff and middle management as well as PC users.

IT Staff

Migrating to an access platform invokes a fear on the part of IT that often significantly supersedes that of end users. PC fix-it technicians, for example, may see Citrix as a threat to their job security. Regional IT staff will also be wary, since the need for remote office support personnel usually is eliminated. The CIO must come up with a strategy that presents the project's advantages, including fewer user complaints, elimination of the majority of help desk calls, much more efficient troubleshooting, and more time for IT staff to learn new and challenging technologies to help the organization move forward.

Middle Management and PC Users

Videos can be more effective internal marketing tools than white papers. A video that presents the technology from the user's perspective can be prepared for all PC users in the company. The CEO can add legitimacy by starting the video off with a supportive introduction. The video can help with the orientation process by including footage of the Windows terminal that will be utilized and how the new desktops will look, the applications that will be available via Citrix Presentation Server, and the process for migrating users' existing data.

Large companies may wish to create a separate video targeted specifically toward middle management. This video can focus on the high-level benefits of on-demand access. It should emphasize how removing the frustrations of client-centric computing leaves employees with more time to concentrate on their business.

Other techniques to help market the concept can include rainbow packets, at-a-glance documents for frequently asked questions, e-mail messages, and phone calls.

Caution 

Do not oversell the access platform concept. Set realistic expectations. Make sure users know the benefits, but also let them know about any problems or limitations they can expect to encounter, particularly in terms of performance and reliability, during the implementation period.

Build Access Momentum and Remove Obstacles

The goal of IT should be to create a buzz about the project. This can be accomplished by keeping the pilot program small and controlled, and by making sure that the beta is a resounding success. Including capabilities either not possible, or much more difficult to accomplish, in the client-centric environment such as effective logon from home, document collaboration and single sign-on helps make an access platform particularly attractive. Improved help desk support is another access platform attribute often highly valued by users. It is important to limit the size and scope of the beta not only to ensure control, but also to help create an atmosphere of scarcity and exclusivity. The objective is to have users clamoring to be included as part of the Citrix project. Limiting PC purchases before an enterprise rollout also makes users more eager to get on the on-demand access bandwagon.

Users and department heads must buy into the goals of the Citrix project and understand its powerful positive implications for the organization.

Management Meetings

Hold group meetings with managers from different departments or divisions. Give them a chance to air their concerns and perspectives. Emphasize the benefits to the entire organization of implementing on-demand access. Stress that, although they may perceive that their employees have less control over their environment within an access platform, managers actually now can devote their time to their business rather than to managing their computing infrastructure.

While the goal for these meetings should be to provide a forum for managers to ask questions and air concerns, it should be clear that the project is going to take place. It is important to emphasize the positive benefits and to develop a spirit of cooperation and enthusiasm.

Entitlement Issues

Department staff may feel that because the money for the new system is coming out of their budget, they are entitled to their own servers. Employees may feel that they are entitled to their own PCs to run in client-centric mode. These perceptions need to be changed. Users need to understand the benefits that on-demand access provides to the organization as a whole. Some former capabilities, such as the ability to operate CD-ROMs, might be limited if they run 100 percent of applications from Citrix Presentation Server. On the other hand, users will gain computing advantages such as the ability to see their desktop from any PC or Windows terminal. Another powerful user incentive is the potential for telecommuting . Many users discover that they prefer an on-demand environment because they experience increased reliability and performance. They also do not have to worry about causing problems by inadvertently changing their desktop. A properly configured Citrix environment will limit their ability to delete icons or INI files or create other mischief.

Problems with Perception of Central IT

If the corporate network has a history of performance or reliability problems, department managers are going to be very reluctant to put all of their eggs in the corporate data center basket . To reassure them, explain the elaborate steps that are being taken to upgrade the network infrastructure and describe the policies and procedures that will result in a far more reliable network environment. Explaining the redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities of the access platform can help further mitigate any fears.

It is often productive to define an SLA in cooperation with the department managers in order to clarify expectations. If IT fails to meet the SLAs, the managers should have recourse, such as credits in a bill-back situation.

Budgetary Concerns

An access platform incorporates centralized computing. Individual computing fiefdoms will disappear. You may wish to implement a billing model that charges departments for actual system usage in order to alleviate fears of arbitrary budgetary impacts. An example of such a subscription-billing model is presented in Appendix C.

Disposition Issues

If the project design plan calls for replacing certain PCs with Windows terminals, department heads may not be happy about the impact on their budgets. During this preliminary stage, discuss disposition issues and how they will impact book value. If possible, incorporate charitable deductions in order to lower the burden .

Monitor the Progress

Constantly solicit and measure user feedback. IT can then make any adjustments necessary in order to ensure user satisfaction. This will add a great deal to the process of building a very successful enterprise Citrix environment.

Publicize Early Successes

Internal success stories should be generated about the attributes of the Citrix environment. The idea is to create a buzz around the organization where people are excited about, rather than resistant to, the upcoming changes. At the VA Medical Center, for example, we had a doctor thank our implementation team for making his life better because he could now access so much more of the data he needed, and he could do it much more quickly and far more easily than he could in the previous distributed PC environment.

Expand the Citrix Environment

Most organizations choose to roll out to an access platform in phases. The original scope of the project is often less than a complete enterprise deployment. As the Citrix phases are successfully implemented, and the user surveys show improved satisfaction with IT, the scope of the on-demand environment can be expanded. Providing feedback to management about the existing and expected financial savings can help to further promote Citrix expansion.

Prepare for Future Access Enabled Opportunities

Once the Citrix environment has been expanded throughout the enterprise, the organization's IT infrastructure department should run exceptionally well. Employees will have more computing capabilities than before at a much lower IT budget and with fewer IT personnel. The organization will also have opportunities that go beyond those that are realistic in a distributed PC environment. We discuss some of those opportunities in this book, such as business continuity, more efficient centralized storage devices, and greatly enhanced security and virus protection. But other possibilities are now potentially available as well. For instance, a large janitorial organization might decide to have a Windows terminal manufacturer make their terminals look like time clocks in order to enable janitors to enter data right into the ERP application. A construction company might outfit foreman and inspectors with wireless tablet devices in order to have real-time information flow back and forth from the job sites. An organization concerned about ramifications from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act might introduce third-party products that will enable them to track and categorize all e-mail documents for quick and simple discovery.