Ensuring User Adoption of IT Asset Management Tools

Want to know the real secret to IAM success? I'll skip the usual tech talk about features and architectures. It's adoption. Plain and simple. I noticed this pattern across dozens of IAM implementations. Organizations that focus heavily on technical capabilities while treating adoption as an afterthought often struggle to realize value from their investment. Consider the typical scenario - an organization implements a comprehensive IAM solution with all the modern capabilities. Yet a few months in, the signs of poor adoption start showing. Access reviews become checkbox exercises. Self-service features go unused. Automated processes get bypassed for familiar manual workflows. This isn't unique. Most of us in IAM have seen similar patterns. The most sophisticated solution delivers zero value if users reject it or find ways around it. One organization got it right. Their approach? They obsessed over user experience before technology. Every feature was vetted by actual users. They identified pain points by shadowing help desk calls. Their champions program wasn't just a checkbox - it was a continuous feedback loop. The results spoke for themselves. High adoption rates. Reduced help desk tickets. Positive user feedback. Not because they had better technology, but because people actually used what was implemented. Worth considering: When was the last time your IAM metrics included user adoption data? How many features in your IAM suite are actually being utilized as intended? These are the questions that often reveal the true state of an IAM program. Thoughts? Have you seen adoption make or break an IAM initiative?

Let's stop treating bad adoption as a product problem 🤦♂️ It's a problem with DEMONSTRATING VALUE. And it might be silently killing your growth. Your product team is building amazing features. But they can't force users to embrace them. Adoption is the ultimate cross-functional challenge. When marketing positions the product one way... When sales sets different expectations... When customer success struggles to demonstrate value... When product builds features without clear use cases... Users fall through the cracks, and adoption suffers. Here are eight things that CAN really move the needle on adoption: 🟢 **Demonstrating value early and clearly.** I've seen adoption rates vary from 40% to 85% based on how quickly users experience their "aha moment." Don't bury your value proposition under complex features or lengthy setup processes. 🟢 **Not overwhelming users on day one.** Start smaller, introduce core features first, and you'll be setting the stage for broader adoption opportunities in the future. Each new feature should solve a clear problem for the user. 🟢 **Moving from feature-focused to outcome-focused demos.** One company spent months trying to improve adoption by showcasing every feature. The most important lever was shifting to demonstrations that showed outcomes that users actually cared about. 🟢 **Educating beyond the initial onboarding.** Users need to know about new features, learn best practices, and feel connected to a bigger community. They also need to grok why it's worth investing time in the product so they can defend the business value to leadership. 🟢 **Nailing contextual guidance.** Seeing value in the right context is critical for a user staying engaged. Don't make users hunt for help or figure things out on their own—bring information to them when and where they need it. 🟢 **Integrations, integrations, integrations.** The more your product is embedded in a customer's workflow and systems of record, the more likely they'll adopt it fully. There are three aspects to this: connected data, streamlined workflows, and expanded use cases. 🟢 **Broadening the use cases for your product.** The more problems you solve for your customer, the more champions you'll have. Expanding horizontally within an organization builds resilience against churn. 🟢 **Measuring the right adoption indicators.** Do you know what features are predictive of long-term success? Focus on tracking meaningful engagement, not vanity metrics. The companies that win don't silo adoption responsibility—they make it everyone's mission. #productadoption #customersuccess #productmanagement #saas

𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 > 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 As CSMs, we often focus on rational value—proving ROI, showcasing features, and providing data-driven insights yet we struggle with driving adoption and consumption. The problem is — 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔. Let's consider this simple thought experiment: if you're on a subway and overhear two strangers raving about a restaurant, you might trust their excitement more than Yelp reviews when choosing where to eat that evening ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 𝐖𝐡𝐲? Because humans are wired to trust people over statistics. Natural tendencies often win over rational reasoning. So how does this apply to Customer Success? 💡 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 Instead of waiting for customers to “realize” value through metrics, create experiences that feel natural. Gamify engagement, make onboarding frictionless, and reinforce micro-wins to trigger a sense of progress and success. 💡 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 Humans trust humans (especially their co-workers or industry peers). Instead of just mechanically relying only on documentation or training videos, create internal customer communities, user groups, or champion-led showcases where customers or prospective users learn from peers. 💡 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 Start by understanding how customers have adopted similar products—what worked, what didn’t. Use those insights to shape your approach, aligning adoption strategies with familiar workflows, communication styles, and past successes. Give them pre-built templates, code, workflows, accelerators that come close to what they want to achieve or looks familiar (uses/shows products or processes or terminology they use in their work). When adoption feels intuitive, it happens faster. 💡 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐔𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 Showcase customer success stories in a way that sparks FOMO. “𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘟 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘠 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴” is more compelling than listing product features and benefits. The best adoption strategies don’t just make rational sense—they feel instinctively right. CSMs who align with natural human behavior, accelerate adoption without waiting for customers to “get it.” Don't get me wrong- the value & RoI, the "numbers" are also important but in a different context and stage (eg: a Renewal or Expansion conversation). How are you designing for natural adoption in your CS motion? Please share below 👇

The Biggest Mistake IT Leaders Still Make It’s not about budget. It’s not about tools. It’s this: Assuming technology alone is the solution. We’ve all seen it, great system, solid plan… completely flops. Because no one built support around it. Here’s where things go wrong (and how to fix them): 1. Users aren’t involved early enough ↳ The tool gets built for them, but not with them. ➜ Fix: Invite key users into early planning. Let them help shape the rollout, and they’ll help carry it too. 2.Training is treated like an afterthought ↳ “One session and a PDF” won’t change habits. ➜ Fix: Train to solve real problems. Use scenarios they recognize. Focus on “how it helps,” not just “how it works.” 3. The rollout feels like punishment ↳ “Here’s your new system, good luck!” ➜ Fix: Position changes as relief, not burden. Show what it replaces or improves. Share quick wins early to build momentum. 4. Success isn’t measured in people terms ↳ Dashboards look great… but no one’s using the tool. ➜ Fix: Add adoption and experience metrics. Track usage, survey confidence, and listen to feedback loops, just like you would for performance. Technology doesn’t transform anything by itself. People do. With the right support. Where have you seen this go wrong, or surprisingly right? I'll go first : An IT team I worked with picked a tool without talking to customers first. It promised big savings and smoother workflows. On paper? It looked like a win. In practice? Users hated it. It didn’t solve real problems, adoption tanked, and they had to start over—this time with users involved from day one. ♻️ Repost if you’ve learned that change only works when people are part of the plan. 🔔 Follow Bob Roark for human-centered IT strategy that actually works.

Adoption Isn’t a Stage — It’s a Culture Too often in SaaS, we treat adoption as a box to check. Onboard → Train → Launch → Done. But real adoption doesn’t happen on a timeline. It happens when a product becomes part of how a company works. Adoption isn’t a stage. It’s a culture. And if we want to drive durable customer value—and retention—we need to stop thinking of adoption as a milestone and start thinking of it as a mindset. Many teams celebrate when a customer hits first login or completes onboarding. And those are important signals. But usage ≠ value. Clicking ≠ change. If we stop there, we risk mistaking activity for impact. We've delivered "Check-the-Box" Adoption. What happens next? – Usage flattens. – Executive sponsors disengage. – Value conversations at renewal feel strained. Adoption isn’t one CSM-led push. It’s an ongoing, cross-functional commitment, owned with your customer to make sure the product sticks—and stays central to that customer’s goals. A company with adoption culture doesn’t just ask, “Are users logging in?” They ask: - Are the right people using it? - Are they using it in the right ways? - Is it tied to their workflows, KPIs, and outcomes? - Does leadership see its strategic value? This requires more than training. It requires: - Customer maturity assessments to identify what success looks like for them - Executive alignment early and often—not just at kickoff or renewal - Ongoing sustainable enablement, not just onboarding - Success plans that tie product use to business objectives The best companies embed adoption thinking into every customer touchpoint—because they know that usage without purpose is noise, and purpose without usage is risk. Instead of asking, “Have they adopted?” Ask, “Are we helping this customer build a culture of adoption?” Because when customers adopt your product as part of how they work, you don’t just win renewals—you earn relationships.