Why Your Tactical Adobe Workfront Implementation is Destined to Fail
Quick and easy is often the name of the game in today’s fast-paced business world. It’s for this reason that organizations rush to implement the “next best technology” without giving the necessary attention to the bigger picture. However, this approach typically leads to siloed, tactical implementations where teams end up frustrated with the tool and are unable to gain the desired efficiencies, insights, or advancements. And worst-case scenario? They completely abandon the tool altogether, resulting in increased technical debt and yet another instance of “shelfware.”
The success rate of a technology implementation is much higher when organizations embrace a strategic approach from the get-go. This is especially true when implementing enterprise-grade applications like Adobe Workfront. Achieving optimal results requires engaging in deep process and strategy work prior to implementing a single product feature. In this blog post, we’ll show you why this process work is essential, and how taking the time to think strategically can make all the difference.
Defining the Status Quo
The first step to a successful Adobe Workfront implementation comes before the technology itself. Before you get to where you’re going, you need to have a thorough understanding of where you are today. You can do this by analyzing your current processes, workflows, and overall team structure. Where do requests come from? What does the intake process look like? How is your team organized? Which teams or departments need to collaborate with each other (and how, when, and why)? What are the major pain points or roadblocks teams are facing? What is the work maturity level of your team and individual contributors?
By answering these types of questions first, you can better identify what needs to change in order to work more effectively (regardless of the technology you implement). This step is critical because work happens in repeatable processes, patterns, and structures. And when those are out of alignment with each other:
- Staff feel confused and frustrated
- Meaningful reporting is difficult, manual, and sometimes not even possible
- Objective and revenue impact is limited
- Effort and impact are diluted across the organization
- There is a lot of activity for little outcome
And the above isn’t something technology alone can fix.
Define What Success Means to You
Once you’ve identified the status quo, it is time to start defining what success looks like. It’s vital to create clear, measurable, and holistic goals. Repeating that statement for impact: you need to create clear, measurable, and holistic goals.
Sure, your distinct team may have an immediate need to better manage its heavy workload, but are others across the marketing department (or even the organization) struggling with the same challenges? If yes, bringing them into the fold from the beginning will be far more impactful and effective than trying to adjust midstream.
KPIs and benchmarks should also be established to track your progress. This will help you find the right balance when defining roles and responsibilities for the implementation process, making sure that everyone involved in the roll-out is aware of the organization’s expectations.
Craft a Long-term Roadmap
With your end goals clearly defined, you can then move on to creating a comprehensive roadmap of what the Adobe Workfront implementation should look like—not just on day one, but months (and even years) down the road.
The roadmap should include the different stages that the implementation process will go through, who will be involved, the expected timeframe, milestones, and checkpoints, and how you will measure your overall progress.
It should also consider:
- Integrations with other tools inside and outside your MarTech ecosystem that can drive greater efficiencies—like your digital asset management (DAM) platform, CRM, digital experience platform, etc.
- Who will govern the system? Your processes? Your data?
- How will you support the system long-term? Will you have dedicated resources than are responsible for enhancements and optimizations or will this be added to someone’s existing role and responsibilities.
This is tough step to do alone. Having third-party insight and perspective can help you to think through the bigger picture versus rushing to that “quick fix.”
Bringing it All Together
The key takeaway here is that when implementing Adobe Workfront (or any other software for that matter), it’s important to think strategically from the get-go.
You need to start by understanding your organizational processes, identifying pain points, defining goals, and creating a realistic roadmap. In doing so, you’ll be better equipped to ensure that the technology will “stick”, and that teams can work efficiently and effectively towards achieving the desired results.
Working with an experienced partner (like LeapPoint) provides the added benefit of having someone guide you through the whole process, and support for adopting the necessary changes, especially in the context of larger transformations impacting your organization.
Finally, a successful Adobe Workfront implementation shouldn’t just lead to short-term benefits, but also contribute to a more focused approach to future implementation and transformation projects and be continuously evaluated to ensure it remains up-to-date with necessary adjustments.
Megan Cacioppo, Director of Marketing
