According to Priit Luik, the project manager of RIT’s consolidation team, the migration of SOM was a much faster process compared to, for example, the migration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM). "Our internal experience in organising migrations has grown," he explained. "The SOM team was very understanding and aware that integrating programs and adapting to them takes time. Expectations were well managed, which contributed to a quicker transition. A large portion of employees were able to start using the new service the same day," Luik noted.
As with MKM, SOM also selected 12 employees who were the first to test the service and were called cloud ambassadors. They had the opportunity to try the service initially and provide feedback before the rest of the organisation was transitioned. The feedback from the cloud ambassadors was generally positive, especially highlighting the convenience of the new service and the smooth integration of Teams tools.
A smoother process thanks to lessons learned
Learning from past experiences, RIT made several changes to the processes, making SOM’s migration smoother. "We were able to avoid situations where people gathered on the same floor, and the migration was better organised," added Erik-Joosep Reinholm, head of RIT’s migration team. "Additionally, the immediate activation of critical business applications was much better planned for SOM, ensuring that employees could continue their work the same day."
Although SOM’s migration took place at the end of August, when many employees were on vacation, the collaboration went smoothly. "SOM has its internal IT superuser who manages their intranet and other applications, which significantly simplified the migration," explained Luik.
According to Reinholm, the migration also affected employees working remotely. "For instance, employees based in the UK and Spain found it more challenging than expected to access their work tools and adopt the new service, but we were able to provide the necessary support," he explained.
Initial feedback is positive
SOM employees highly valued the collaboration tools introduced with the new service, especially the integration of Teams and SharePoint. "The synchronisation of SharePoint to the desktop and the ease of file sharing are some of the most praised features of the new computer workstation services," noted Reinholm. Additionally, the accessibility of SharePoint from mobile devices was seen as a significant and valuable benefit of the new service. The improved interaction between MS365 applications, particularly the smooth integration of Teams and the Outlook calendar, was also commended, as it simplifies daily work processes and enhances collaboration, especially between different units.
Although there were some minor challenges during the process, RIT has now developed guidelines and information sheets to help users adapt to the new service more quickly. "We also organised training to introduce collaborative tools and new work techniques. It turned out that employees are increasingly successful in using them, and old habits are being phased out," confirmed Luik.
