Why Change Management Is the Most Important Driver for Tech ROI

Organizations undertaking large-scale technology transformation often make the same mistake: over-indexing on strategy and implementation, while underestimating the people side of change.

Technology and tools are just half the equation. Without activation, alignment and adoption, even the most advanced systems can fall short of delivering business value. Change management — the structured discipline of enabling people to succeed through transitions — is absolutely essential to ensuring that transformation actually transforms.

It’s not a soft skill. It’s a measurable contributor to ROI.

There’s a well-known statistic in the industry: Nearly 70% of enterprise transformations fail to deliver their expected value, according to McKinsey Transformation. The reason usually isn’t because of bad strategy or poor technology. Often, it’s because of a lack of stakeholder alignment, ineffective communication and employee resistance.

When your teams aren’t engaged early on or don’t understand what’s changing and why, they’re less likely to adopt new ways of working. And when change management is treated as a “side task” or absorbed by teams without the right skills, it loses momentum fast.

A strong change management strategy brings structure to the people side of transformation. This includes:

• Defining the right roles across business and IT to champion the change.
• Building stakeholder alignment at every level — not just the top.
• Measuring readiness and adoption before, during and after implementation.
• Equipping users with the training and tools they need to be proficient on day one.

Organizations that invest in structured change will ultimately experience faster ramp-up times and less disruption.

Large-scale change often comes with a cost: a temporary dip in productivity. For larger organizations, that dip can feel steep. The goal of effective change management is to reduce that disruption, shorten the recovery curve, and help employees become confident and capable in the new way of working.

It starts with building end-user proficiency before launch. This means developing targeted training programs tailored to specific roles and workflows — not just generic overviews. Instructor-led sessions, knowledge checks and hands-on practice can all help to ensure that teams are ready for change.

Knowledge alone isn’t enough. Change sticks best when it’s driven from within.

That’s why empowering champions within each business unit is so important. These individuals act as trusted messengers, translating the change into local context and helping their peers understand the “why” behind it. Often, they’re also the first to spot friction points or flag questions leadership may have overlooked.

Feedback must also be continuous — not just a one-time survey. Listening to employees’ concerns early and often allows leaders to detect resistance before it snowballs, adjust rollout plans in real time and course-correct communication strategies as needed.

Lasting transformation is not a launch event. It’s an ongoing shift in how people think, work and deliver.

CDW helps organizations plan, manage and sustain transformation with a structured approach to organizational change management. That includes readiness assessments, stakeholder alignment, training programs and change enablement strategies designed to meet your organization where it is.

Our team can help assess the impact of upcoming change, build an adoption roadmap and provide the scalable playbooks needed to ensure lasting success — without disrupting daily operations.