Title: The Human Side of IT: Why Adoption Is the Real Challenge Author: Reyna Monson, President Date: June 8, 2026 Category: IT Strategy / Operations

Companies invest in new technology and expect results. But months later, usage is inconsistent, workarounds appear, and the value never fully shows up. The issue usually isn’t the technology. It’s adoption.

I saw this firsthand earlier in my career. A former boss was constantly drawn to what I’d call “shiny object syndrome.” A vendor would pitch a new tool — something that promised to make everything easier, faster, more profitable — and he’d bring it back to the team and tell us to start using it.

The problem was, we didn’t really understand what the tool did or why we needed it. It wasn’t solving a clear problem. No one owned it, no one was responsible for rolling it out properly, and there were no expectations around how it should be used. So it sat there — unused — until the subscription expired and we quietly moved on.

That’s not a technology failure. That’s an adoption failure.

We see the same pattern from the other side as well. One client was preparing to hire a developer to build a custom intranet for sharing company news, calendars, and internal communication. It would have cost tens of thousands of dollars to build and maintain. But they already had Microsoft 365.

Instead of building something new, we helped them implement Viva — something already included in their environment. It met their needs, integrated with the tools their team already used, and was simple enough for their staff to manage without ongoing development costs. No new platform. No unnecessary complexity. Just better use of what they already had — and far better adoption as a result.

That’s the difference.

Buying software doesn’t solve a problem — changing behavior does. If your team doesn’t consistently use a system the way it’s intended, the investment doesn’t deliver. And when multiple tools overlap or compete, people default to what’s familiar, not what’s new.

The impact shows up quickly: wasted spend, duplicated work, and slower execution. What looks like an IT issue is really an operational problem.

The fix isn’t complicated, but it does require discipline. Be clear about why a tool exists and what problem it solves. Define when and how it should be used. Eliminate competing options. Most importantly, assign ownership and reinforce expectations over time.

Technology is easy to buy. Adoption is harder — and that’s where the real value is won or lost.