The implementation of a Cloud PLM system is far more than a technical upgrade. It is a strategic transformation that significantly shapes your organizational culture. As our Fast Forward approach and customer success stories demonstrate, structured onboarding ensures rapid technical proficiency and efficient system usage.
However, the true lever for sustainable success does not lie in the software alone. Without organizational change management, even the most powerful system risks falling short of its full potential. The goal is not merely to provide a tool, but to actively shape processes and bring people along on the journey.
Integrating Cloud PLM: three key focus areas for change management
A Cloud PLM system centralizes data, standardizes processes, and enables cross-functional collaboration. This is an enormous opportunity, but also a challenge that is far beyond learning new software features.
A robust organizational change management strategy must address the following core aspects:
1. Rethinking and optimizing processes
Every organization has established ways of working. Many of these processes have evolved historically – often optimized within individual departments, but rarely considered holistically across the entire product lifecycle. The introduction of Cloud PLM software offers the ideal opportunity to rethink existing processes.
- Identifying inefficiencies: Where do media breaks, duplicate data entry, or manual steps exist that the system could automate?
- Standardization: Cloud PLM systems are typically based on best practices. Instead of merely mapping these technically, organizations should critically assess where internal processes can be aligned with system logic to fully benefit from these standards.
- Cross-departmental alignment: PLM breaks down silos. This requires redefining responsibilities and interfaces, often involving stakeholders from engineering, procurement, manufacturing, sales, and service.
2. Establishing new ways of working
Adapting to the system involves much more than learning where to click. It requires a fundamental shift in how people work:
- Data-centric thinking: Employees must understand that the Cloud PLM system is the single source of truth for product data. This means entering data consistently and responsibly rather than relying on local or informal solutions.
- Transparency and collaboration: Cloud PLM software enables transparent workflows across the entire product lifecycle. This requires employees to take a holistic view of their work and be open to collaborating across departments.
- Responsibility and ownership: Centralized data brings new responsibilities for data maintenance and quality. Change management helps define and assign these new roles clearly.
3. Cultural change, acceptance, and employee enablement
Every software implementation has a cultural dimension. Fear of the unknown, resistance to change, or skepticism about benefits can jeopardize system adoption. Effective organizational change management must address these factors:
- Transparent communication: Why is the system being introduced? What benefits does it bring to individuals and the organization as a whole? These messages must be clear and communicated continuously from the start.
- Active involvement: Employees – especially key users – should be actively involved early in the process. This turns them into ambassadors and multipliers for the new system.
- Targeted enablement: Beyond technical training, employees need support in navigating the new process landscape and recognizing personal benefits. Creating early success experiences and providing ongoing support are critical.
- Leadership as a driver: Management must lead by example, communicate the vision, and provide the necessary resources. Without leadership commitment, sustainable change is unlikely.
Conclusion
The true foundation for organizational adaptation to Cloud PLM – rethinking legacy processes and aligning the organization culturally with the system – must be designed and actively driven by the company itself.
Successful Cloud PLM implementation combines technology with the necessary human adaptability. While our Customer Success Management team supports you throughout onboarding and the long-term operation of your Cloud PLM system, the key to lasting success lies in a well-designed and actively lived organizational change management approach.
Only organizations willing to transform their ways of working and their culture can unlock the full potential of cloud-based PLM.