96 V I EWPO I NT CAR L A GRANG E R : K YNDR Y L After carrying out a complete transition to the Microsoft 365 platform, Kyndryl is ready to support customers as they embark on their own transformations Organisational change of any size is rarely easy. Now, imagine having to transform the way a highly distributed workforce of 90,000 employees communicates, collaborates and ideates. For good measure, factor in the challenge of serving current and prospective customers while establishing your company as an independent enterprise. This was what Kyndryl faced when it launched as an independent company after separating from IBM in 2021. We emerged as the world’s largest people driven services company with a unique vision for delivering signature employee experiences. To support our fresh approach to doing business, Kyndryl needed to transition off existing technology platforms and exit temporary licensing agreements we had negotiated. We gave ourselves nine months or less to do it. We analysed numerous vendors and solutions before ultimately partnering with Microsoft, whose technologies could power our digital-first vision and sustain our hybrid workplace model. Today, all Kyndryl employees use the Microsoft 365 platform and its suite of fully integrated applications to be productive and collaborative anywhere their work takes them. Our digital toolbox includes Exchange, Office, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Planner, Power Apps, Power BI, and other applications, all supported by Microsoft and Kyndryl security products. Perhaps as importantly, we’ve garnered valuable lessons that others can use when plotting their course for transformation. So, if your company is thinking about embarking on a campaign of comparable size and scope, Kyndryl’s Digital Workplace Services practice has the experience and expertise to support your transition. Here are five tips we believe are crucial to success: 1. Focus on your employees If you subscribe to the idea that the employee experience is inextricably linked to the customer experience, you must keep the overall well-being of your team at the core of all you do. This was key to our Microsoft 365 strategy. For example, we opted to retain our existing technology stack in the near term. We felt it would be easier to begin serving clients with the tools our employees were accustomed to and then plan for a more comprehensive transition in the future. 2. Create a change management strategy Long before initiating any sizeable transformation, you must plot a detailed course for your journey. Our chief information officers worked in tandem with key Microsoft advisors to map, refine and solidify a threephase strategy for platform migration. In phase one, we began activating tools in the Microsoft 365 technology stack. The first applications we brought online were SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive, with a soft launch in April 2022, followed by staggered activations of Whiteboard, Yammer and other 365 tools. In June, we also started sunsetting the tools in our previous tech stack based on the expiration dates of their respective licensing agreements. Initially, phase two will focus on finishing the migration of all Kyndryl data on our Work experience transformation
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