Session Abstract

70 percent of digital transformation projects fail — not because of technology, but because of people. A SharePoint migration can be technically flawless, a Copilot rollout perfectly deployed, and still fall apart if users don't understand why things are changing, don't want to change, or simply don't know how. Adoption isn't a training email sent on go-live day. It's a structured discipline that needs to be built into your project from day one. This session introduces the ADKAR model — Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement — as a practical framework for driving adoption in SharePoint migrations and new feature rollouts, including AI and Copilot. We'll walk through each stage with concrete examples: how to build awareness before a migration, how to create genuine desire rather than compliance, how to deliver knowledge that actually sticks, how to enable ability through champion networks and sandbox environments, and how to reinforce change so that new behaviours become habits. You'll leave with a clear, actionable model you can apply to your next project — whether that's a file server migration, a Teams rollout, or an organisation-wide Copilot deployment. You will leave this session having: Discovered why most technology rollouts fail and what the research tells us about the real causes of low adoption Learned how to apply each stage of the ADKAR model to SharePoint migrations and AI feature rollouts with concrete, real-world examples Understood how to build an adoption champion programme that creates peer-driven momentum rather than top-down mandates Uncovered practical techniques for measuring adoption progress and reinforcing new behaviours over the long term Out of scope: This session will not cover technical migration tooling, licensing, or governance frameworks. We will not go deep into specific Microsoft Viva or Microsoft 365 learning platforms, though these are briefly mentioned as reinforcement tools. Assumed knowledge: No specific technical knowledge is required. This session is relevant for anyone involved in planning or executing a SharePoint migration or Microsoft 365 feature rollout — from project managers and IT leads to HR business partners and change managers. Audience: IT Professionals, Consultants, Business Decision Makers | Level: 200

Note to event organizers

Poor user adoption is the number one reason SharePoint migrations and Microsoft 365 rollouts underdeliver — and yet it remains chronically underfunded and underplanned in most projects. As a Prosci-certified ADKAR practitioner and Microsoft SharePoint MVP, I bring both formal change management expertise and deep hands-on experience with SharePoint migrations and Microsoft 365 rollouts — a combination that is relatively rare in the Microsoft community. I have delivered this session at Collabdays

Pieter Kops

Pieter is the teamlead of the Business Productivity team at ACA IT-Solutions. He has been working with SharePoint solutions from 2007. All this time his focus has been on getting companies on board with the ever changing platform, increase their productivity whilst maintaining a secure and safe environment. He has proficient knowledge of creating Intranets, building a great search environment, automating processes using both the Power Platform and Nintex. One of the most important questions he asks his customer is: "What is your optimal outcome?". He then will think of and build the best suitable solution. Implementing these solutions require adoption. Therefore Pieter also has certified adoption skills in his backpocket. Pieter is a Microsoft MVP for Copilot and SharePoint and has been speaking at customer events and user groups.

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