AWS Prescriptive Guidance
Accelerating cloud transformation
Guidance and resources to help you accelerate your cloud technology implementation and increase change adoption
Migrating servers, operationalizing contact centers, using generative AI, and exiting data centers all have substantive effects on businesses, workforces, finances, and ways of working. Organizations are accelerating their business outcomes by driving changes in how they operationalize the value of the cloud through the alignment of their people and operating model to business objectives. The AWS Prescriptive Guidance publications on this page help you apply the correct enterprise transformation strategy and best practices from the outset to optimize your cloud journey, with a focus on the most critical pillars.
Cloud transformation strategies
AWS Enterprise Transformation strategies provide prescriptive, business-led approaches for end-to-end digital transformation, address the top blockers to transformation success, and accelerate speed to value. They provide prescriptive guidance on how to operationalize the value of the cloud by aligning leaders, workforce, culture, cloud operating model, and FinOps to business strategy and objectives, in alignment with the Business, People, Governance, and Operations perspectives of the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (AWS CAF).
Strategy and best practices for AWS Enterprise Transformation
AWS Change Acceleration 6-Point Framework and OCM Toolkit
Building your Cloud Operating Model
AWS OCA 6-Point Framework
The AWS Organizational Change Acceleration (OCA) 6-Point Framework helps cloud leaders and their teams implement an end-to-end process that focuses on organizational culture, operating model, workforce, and change leadership, which are key to successful cloud adoption. This evidence-based framework is part of the AWS Enterprise Transformation program and includes templates, guidelines, and supporting tools that are designed to accelerate change adoption and organizational transformation. The Framework consists of six points that align to an agile sprint cadence―from program kick-off through stakeholder alignment, business readiness, awareness building, and capability development, to create sustainable long-term change.
Align and mobilize teams
Technology does not transform a company on its own. Transformation occurs when leaders agree to reprioritize their people’s objectives and when they lead cross-functionally with a programmatic approach to organizational alignment.
OCA Framework points 1 and 2 focus on preparing your organization, standing up and enabling your cross-functional cloud leadership team of IT and business leaders to drive change, and promoting experiential learning to shift workforce mindsets and behaviors. Key mechanisms are:
- Setting your change charter
- Designing a change impact plan
- Applying experiential learning
- Developing your roadmap
1. Mobilize team
- OCA program charter
- Value driver analysis
- Program governance
- Program team structure
- Project goals and objectives
- Future state
- Change adoption metrics
- Program budget
2. Align leaders
- IT and business leader alignment
- Stakeholder assessment
- Change impact assessment
- Organization readiness assessment
- Business case for change
Enable capability and build capacity
OCA Framework points 3 and 4 focus on operationalizing new cloud ways of working by developing your workforce cloud skills rapidly and efficiently across roles and addressing the people impact of organizational changes relating to mindset, behaviors, roles, and skills. Key mechanisms include:
- Implementing detailed plans for communications, training strategy, ramp-up plans by role, and leadership, sponsorship, and culture sustainability action plans
- Standing up a change ambassador network
3. Envision the future
- Change strategy and plan
- Communications strategy and plan
- Engagement strategy and plan
- Training strategy and plan
- Risk mitigation strategy and plan
- Sponsor roadmap
- Sustainability plan
4. Engage the organization
- Change acceleration implementation
- Communications implementation
- Engagement plan implementation
- Training implementation
- Risk mitigation implementation
Sustain culture changes
OCA Framework points 5 and 6 focus on sustaining culture changes over time, evolving your culture to a single shared reality of digital fluency, continuous learning, and innovation, and reinforcing these new ways of working for the long term. Key mechanisms are:
- Risk mitigation
- Performance management with new KPIs
- Knowledge transfer for autonomous decision-making
5. Enable capacity
- Rewards and recognition
- Workstream and role design
- Gaps and resistance management
6. Make culture change stick
- Feedback loops
- Adoption management
- Sustainability plan refinement
additional resources
Links to additional information about accelerating your cloud business outcomes and increasing change adoption, including services, tools, and resources.
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