Challenges And Solutions For Initiating Change In Cloud Data Base For Sunoco Inc

Challenges of initiating cloud data base change

In the extremely volatile business environment, change is highly required in order to attain competitive advantage. With the assistance of change, the uncertainty of business can be mitigated. This is the way, through which changing demand of the customers can also be motivated (Carnall, 2018). However, there are certain challenges, which can make it difficult for the management of an organization to initiate change that is highly required for coping up with the ever changing business environment. The challenges of initiating cloud data base is as follows:

• Challenge 1: Lack of knowledge

This is the greatest challenge towards initiating change in an organization. Lack of sufficient knowledge among the staffs can make it difficult for them to adapt the new system of working (Hayes, 2018). As per the case study, Sunoco Inc. is aiming to execute cloud data base in order to store their valuable information. However, this quite challenging for the higher authority of Sunoco Inc. to introduce cloud as the staffs are not expertise in adapting the new technology. Without right direction and skill, the employees face challenges in the way of delivering the information in the right cloud. As business intelligence is also a major way of running business in an effective manner (Cameron & Green, 2015). Thus, Sunoco Inc. is aiming to implement this strategy. In this case also lack of expertise among the staffs is a major challenge.  

In order to overcome the issue, it is recommended for the HR department of Sunoco Inc. to initiate training and development program. It is imperative to teach the staffs regarding the process and tools that are required in order to record valuable information in the cloud data base. Detailed information regarding the significance of storing the data in cloud must also be provided to the staffs.

Planning is the greatest challenge to execute change in an organization. This hampers consistency of the new process. Doppelt (2017) commented that at the same time, lack of prior planning also creates restrictions for the staffs to understand the benefits of change. Such inconsistency in the process can result in loss of information which is the greatest challenge of cloud computing. This is the reason, the organization may lack valuable information and restrict their ability to cope up with the ever changing business environment (Doppelt, 2017).

In order to mitigate the issue related to keeping the data safe, it is suggested for Sunoco Inc. to introduce a strong backup policy. This can serve them with the ability to recover the data in a timely and cost effectiveness manner. In addition, it is the prime responsibility of the IT department of Sunoco Inc. to set an appropriate infrastructure which is the key of dealing with sudden breakdown of server.   

• Challenge 3: Not having appropriate organizational structure

Overcoming lack of expertise among staffs

This is also a major challenge in the way of executing change in the conventional business process. Pugh (2016) observed that as the uncertainty in the business environment is rapidly increasing, it has become the matter of utmost importance to integrate proficient method for promoting speed in the internal functionality of a company. Still, lack of appropriate organizational structure can raise the issue like cultural obstacles, which too is a greatest challenge in the management of cloud based data. This also generates reluctant attitude among the staffs to cope up with the new system (Lozano, Ceulemans & Seatter, 2015). Absence of proper organization can also generate miscommunication in the organization.

It is suggested for the higher authority of Sunoco Inc. to take special care towards implementing effective organizational structure. A strong chain of command must be introduced for the sake of aligning all the employees within a single platform. This can support in generating positive attitude among them towards working in the new system.     

Being the fuel company, it is imperative for Sunoco Inc. to initiate change in the organization, which is the key of sustaining in the intense competitive business environment of UK. There are both internal and external stakeholder, which is affecting the internal functionality of Sunoco Inc. 

According to Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016 the customers are the main internal stakeholder of the company, who hold the responsibility of running the main functionality of business. Government is the major external stakeholder of Sunoco Inc. who can have a firm control over the process of running business. The sponsors are also valuable stakeholder of Sunoco Inc. who hold the authority to offer the organization with all the valuable resources that can have a firm impact on initiating the change in a systematic manner (Matos Marques Simoes, & Esposito, 2014).  

  A strong culture of improvement is being followed in Sunoco Inc. Due to the sudden outbreak of fire, the company has lost some of the valuable information. At the same time, the inclusion of multiple records within a single file drawer has also made it difficult for Sunoco Inc. to perceive most valuable information. There lies the reason, for which they are aiming to implement cloud data base in terms of storing valuable information (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). This can be considered as word retention strategy, which has been implemented by Sunoco Inc. in order to keep the organization informed. The legal staffs are the vital external stakeholder of the company, as they hold the responsibility of redesigning the record management system (Geppert, Matten & Williams, 2016). A change management team must be executed in the company in order to implement new system of working.

Planning as a challenge to execute change

The change management team holds the responsibility of implementing the change management strategy and represent multiple functionality for the sake of completing the entire process of change in a timely and cost effective manner (Thiry, 2016). The change management team also holds excellent communication skill, which is the key of influencing the business process. It is the prime responsibility of the members of change management to be committed towards initiating change, which is the key of coping up with the uncertainty of business. The project of implementing cloud data base system must be complicated in a systematic manner.  

Change management can be regarded the way of dealing with the transformation of existing business process, which is very much needed in order to cope up with the existing business process. As Sunoco Inc. is aiming to change their existing record management system, which is the key of keeping valuable information in an effective manner. Therefore, it is imperative for them to follow certain framework, in terms of running the process in a comprehensive manner. Lewin’s Change Management Model is one of the most popular frameworks, which needs to be implemented by Sunoco Inc. This model shows that structural changes play a significant role in initiating any kind of change in an organization (Smollan, 2015). There are three different stages of Lewin’s Change Management Model, which must be followed by Sunoco Inc. in terms of changing their existing data storage system in an effective manner.

Unfreeze is the initial phase, which can be considered as the process of making preparations for change. In this step, it is important for Sunoco Inc. to undertake certain actions such as building skill among the staffs, aligning all the valuable resources and modifying the existing organizational structure for making the changes effectively. Change is the second and most important phase of Lewin’s Change Management Model, where the ultimate process of modifying the existing system takes place. This is a time consuming process, as in this phase, it is vital for Sunoco Inc. to allow the employees to embrace new system. In this stage, Sunoco Inc, should introduce proactive leadership strategy, which can have a firm impact on guiding the staffs to proper direction, so that they can cope up with the new system (Bradley, 2016). Refreeze is the final step of Lewin’s Change Management Model, which can be regarded as the stage, when the change has been accepted and implemented in the organization. This framework is to be followed by Sunoco Inc. as it can help them to attain stability in their business by generating positive perception among the staffs.

Importance of organizational structure in change management

Flexibility plays a significant role in modifying any kind of business process. There lies the significance of agile change management method, which can serve Sunoco Inc. with the ability to explore new direction of changing the existing business process. As the organization is aiming to make technological modifications, agile change management method is needed to be implemented. This is regarded as the process of uncovering strong ways of developing high-end software and thereby enable the staffs to cope up with the new process.  Agile method is the way of streamlining the business process, which can have a firm impact on keeping all the employees within single platform (Hickman & Silva, 2018). Agile change management process requires in-depth testing. Therefore, application of this method can help Sunoco Inc. to test the proposed cloud data base before its final application. In the testing phase, the change management team can also raise any kind of issue. As conventional data storage system was creating problem for Sunoco Inc. to store their most valuable information, implementing of agile change management method can help them to maintain transparency in the new system. The risk of losing the data can also be mitigated through this agile method of change management.                                                               

The action plan for initiating change is as follows

{For new Editor.}

Actions	Responsible person	Time frame
IT activities	The IT department of an organization plays a significant role in initiating any kind of technological change. AWS S3 is the major hardware, which are extremely significant for introducing cloud database. Platform as a Service is one of the most significant platform based software for executing cloud data base.	The working professionals of IT department holds the responsibility of executing both hardware and software.	30th September to 5th October
Training activities	Training must also be provided to the staffs in order to enable them to adapt with the new system. Therefore, Sunoco Inc. must conduct in-depth software training to the staffs. This can help in enabling the staffs to cope up with cloud based data management system.	Representatives from the company, from which Sunoco Inc. is going to source the software.	6th October to 20th October

Table 1: Action Plan for managing change

(Source: Author)

The proposed change is needed to be conveyed throughout the organization in order to keep the staffs informed about the new system. A comprehensive communication plan is as follows:

Audience	Key messages	Delivery method	Date	Location
Higher authority	The significance of changing the conventional data storage system.	Email will be sent to the management	2nd October	As the message will be sent through mail, hence no location is required.
Team leader	Information will be provided to the team leaders in order to guide the staffs to cope up with the new system.	Meeting will be conducted with the team leaders.	5th October	In office
Staffs	In-depth information regarding the new cloud based data management system.	The team leaders will conduct a meeting.	6th October	In office
Supervisor	The information related to the training that are required for helping the staffs to cope up with the new system.	Mail will be sent by the technical department.	8th October	As the message will be sent through mail, hence no location is required.

Table 2: Communication Plan

(Source: As created by author) 

Session module	Learning outcome	Objective	Length of training	Target audience	Delivery mode	Facilitator
Data base	This training will help in gaining insight regarding the way, through which data can be stored in cloud based system.	To enable the IT department to handle the new data base effectively.	15 days	IT manager	Online training module	The representative from the company, from which Sunoco Inc. is sourcing the new software
Linux	This kind of training will support in maintain Linux server in a cloud based data management system.	To enable the staffs from IT department to handle Linux	10 days	Staffs from the IT department	Online training module and power point presentation.	IT project manager

Table 3: Training plan

(Source: Author)

Activity	Objective	Time frame
Stakeholder analysis	To explore the vendors, from which Sunoco Inc. can source the cloud based data management system.	10th to 14th October
Information sharing	To convey the information regarding the significance of executing cloud based software for the sake of dealing with the data in an appropriate manner.	15th to 20th October
Cost of change	To make a budget to assess the monetary resources for introducing the new system.	12th to 14th October
Risk assessment	To analyses the possible challenge of cloud computing	17th to 20th October

Table 4: Business system plan

(Source: Author)

Areas of resistance	Actions	Responsible person
Lack of knowledge among the staffs	Providing training to them.	IT manager
Inconsistency in the process due to lack of planning	Execution of strong backup policy for retrieving data as required.	UT department

Table 4: Resistance plan

(Source: Author)

Reference List:

Belias, D., & Koustelios, A. (2014). The impact of leadership and change management strategy on organizational culture. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 10(7), 89-120

Bradley, G. (2016). Benefit Realisation Management: A practical guide to achieving benefits through change. Routledge.

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Carnall, C. (2018). Managing change. Routledge.

Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. human relations, 69(1), 33-60.

Doppelt, B. (2017). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.

Doppelt, B. (2017). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.

Geppert, M., Matten, D., & Williams, K. (Eds.). (2016). Challenges for European management in a global context: Experiences from Britain and Germany. Springer.

Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. CRC Press

Hickman, C. R., & Silva, M. A. (2018). Creating excellence: Managing corporate culture, strategy, and change in the new age. Routledge.

Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K., & Seatter, C. S. (2015). Teaching organisational change management for sustainability: designing and delivering a course at the University of Leeds to better prepare future sustainability change agents. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 205-215.

Matos Marques Simoes, P., & Esposito, M. (2014). Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), 324-341.

Pugh, L. (2016). Change management in information services. Routledge.

Smollan, R. K. (2015). Causes of stress before, during and after organizational change: a qualitative study. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 301-314.

Thiry, M. (2016). Program management. Routledge.