Early Adopter
Program Guide

Microsoft 365 Adoption Guide | Supplemental Resources

Date 01-22-19© Copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

WHAT IS AN EARLY ADOPTER PROGRAM?
An Early Adopter Program gives your organization early insights andlearnings that will help you bring Microsoft 365 to life for all users. Think of it
as a dry run of your organization-wide rollout, amongst a representative
group of your users, that will help prepare you for the full scale launch. It is an
opportunity to test your ideas and understanding with a group of end users
who, with their constructive feedback and insights, will help the project teambring that “WOW” factor to the full launch across your organization.
WHAT AN EAP IS NOT:
A referendum on whether Microsoft 365 is deployed, or user acceptanceprogram. As your organization has committed to Microsoft 365 the focus in
the EAP should be about making the rollout of Microsoft 365 in yourorganization successful. An EAP is entirely about making the rollout ofMicrosoft 365 go more smoothly for everyone.

WHY DO AN EAP?
• Gather initial feedback and identify potential stumbling blocks to help
shape your final launch plan• Get feedback from users on the identified goals and scenarios for yourMicrosoft 365 implementation• Solve any potential problems with a much smaller group of users, prior toan organization wide launch• Develop a pool of potential Microsoft 365 Champions to recruit from, whowill help evangelize and help colleagues adopt Microsoft 365 once the fullrollout takes place

WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THE EAPUSER GROUP?
• People who want the project to be successful. Your program participants
are important influencers and they will share with their colleagues theexperience they have with the rollout. They will need to be willing tospend the time in training and in providing feedback to allow the EAP toachieve its goals.
• Users from across different lines of business and departments, preferably
those that work together on a project or business processes.
• Users who are likely to be involved in the Microsoft 365 Champions
Program. Leveraging your Microsoft 365 Champions within yourorganization is an important stakeholder group. They are knowledgeable,committed to furthering their expertise and willing to provide peer
coaching and assistance.
• Leaders who will become advocates during the broad launch to theentire organization.
• Users who typically struggle with technology. It’s important you
understand their needs and address these needs during the launch.

WHO SHOULD NOT BE INVOLVED IN THE EAP USER GROUP?

• IT/help desk team members who will be supporting users during thepilot and post-launch.

how successful the Microsoft 365 rollout is, rather than involve them in the nitty-

CEO and other key members of the executive team. You want to wow them withgritty, dry run of the process. However, their sponsorship of the Microsoft 365
implementation should be secured from the onset of the project.

MICROSOFT 365 PROJECT PLAN

LAUNCHINITIATE
ONBOARDING
WORKSTREAMASSESSREMEDIATEENABLE

MIGRATION
WORKSTREAM

MAIL MIGRATION* (As applicable)
FILE MIGRATION* (As applicable)

BATCH 1

BATCH 2

BATCH 3

BATCH 4EAP & LAUNCH PLANNINGEARLY ADOPTION PROGRAMADOPTION
WORKSTREAM

HELP DESK READINESSCHAMPIONS PROGRAMONGOING >COMMUNICATIONSONGOING >TRAINING

ONGOING >MEASURE & ITERATEONGOING >MIGRATIONONBOARDINGINITIATE• Start onboarding process with FastTrack• Review your goals and plans to drive business buy-in

ASSESS• FastTrack will provide assessment, guidance andtroubleshooting tools for Active Directory and Network• FastTrack will share best practices and resources to plan
launch and end-user adoption
REMEDIATE• Complete your remediation tasks to meet requirementsfor onboarding, adopting and migrating each service• FastTrack will review the outcomes of the remediation
activities with you to ensure you are ready to proceed

ENABLE• FastTrack will provide guidance:• to enable tenant setup, network configuration andDNS configuration• to setup account, online or federated• to enable Exchange Online, Skype for Business,
OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online, Yammer
Enterprise, Microsoft 365 ProPlus and MicrosoftTeams• Complete your service onboarding, plus tenant andidentity integration

ADOPTION• FastTrack will provide mail migration services*to Exchange Online• FastTrack will provide file migration services* toSharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business• Identify stakeholders, identify and prioritize
scenarios, create success plan (inclusive ofcommunication and training plans)• Early Adopter Program: Planning,communications and deployment and surveyand measure• Execute success plan: Champions program,communications, training and help deskreadiness• Boost user engagement and adoption, manageand prepare for change, measure, share successand iterate* FastTrack mail and migration services are available to eligible customers
Visit https://aka.ms/fasttrackdatamigration for more information

PRE EAPACTIVITIES
Early Adopter Program Planning
These planning activities can happen during the technical onboarding as aparallel workstream. Customize the EAP plan template to suit yourorganization’s needs and include assigning timelines to the plan.
Capture these elements in your Success Plan on FastTrack:• Communications Plan
• Training Plan
• Success Criteria
How to create your Success Plan:
1.

Log into the FastTrack site (www.microsoft.com/en-us/fasttrack/) using
your Microsoft 365 login credentials

2.

Click “Start a new plan” to get going on your Success Plan

3.

Click the “Business Case” tile on the Success Plan home page4.

Select Business Scenarios

5.

Enter Success Criteria under “Benefits”

6.

Add project stakeholders to the plan on the “Team” tab

RESOURCESACTIVITIESCONFIRM TECHNICAL PRE-REQUISITES ARE ESTABLISHED
The following technical tasks are important to running a smooth EAP. They
should all be completed during the technical onboarding workstream, withguidance from FastTrack.¹
https://fasttrack.microsoft.com
If some of these technical pre-requisites can’t be adequately completed,request assistance from FastTrack* to provide your IT team guidance on how
to successfully execute these necessary technical tasks.

TECHNICAL PRE-REQUISITES• Download the IdFix DirSync Error Remediation Tool to perform discovery
and remediation of identity objects and their attributes in an Active
Directory environment in preparation for Scenario• Install and setup ADFS for Single Sign-on• Install AD Connect for a Hybrid Configuration• Setup O365 tenant• Make sure Firewall Ports for ADFS are configured• Have your mail flow configured• Make sure mail flow is tested• Make sure DNS records are createdNote: If you are on legacy Exchange servers (before 2010) then you need
minimum one Exchange 2013 to make your environment hybrid.

* To get help through the FastTrack site, sign in using your Microsoft 365 credentials, clickServices and complete the Request Assistance for Microsoft 365 form.

Note: If you have a partner listed in your Microsoft 365 tenant, you won’t see this option.
Please consult your partner for assistance.

¹ Microsoft FastTrack is available for customers with 50+ licenses of an eligible Microsoft 365 plan.
See https://aka.ms/fasttrackdatamigration for more information on eligibility criteria

ACTIVITIESIDENTIFY BUSINESS SCENARIOS
Identifying and defining your Business Scenarios is an important step inensuring your organization both realizes full value from its investment inMicrosoft 365 and also achieves a smooth adoption. Business Scenarios cover
the ways your people will use Microsoft 365 to address business challenges orachieve defined goals.
Train EAP participants around your organizations prioritized Microsoft 365
Business Scenarios. Be careful not to overwhelm your EAP participants with too
many scenarios – instead focus on two or three scenarios that will likely bepractical for them no matter what their role is. Use the available scenarios
communication assets and training resources available on Productivity Library.
http://aka.ms/productivitylibrary

Of particular use is likely to be “Provide a chat based workspace”,“Meet and collaborate with ease” and “Work in email, solo, or as a group”– but organization should chose scenarios that are most relevant.

RESOURCESACTIVITIESDEFINE SUCCESS CRITERIA AND MEASUREMENT APPROACH
When you develop your ideal Business Scenarios, it’s critical to come up with aformal set of success criteria to measure the impact of your Microsoft 365 rollout.
IT SETUP VALIDATION
Where possible, have experienced IT staff members run through a Microsoft 365
sign-in and install process and provide feedback on updates required to EAPmaterials before launching the EAP.

BEST PRACTICESHOW TO DEFINE YOUR SUCCESS CRITERIA:

You’ll need to determine what should be measured and how you will go about collecting bothquantitative and qualitative data. Think about the following to help when determining yoursuccess criteria:•Identify business Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that may improve based on yourorganization adopting various Business Scenarios (e.g. reduced costs, increased customer
satisfaction, improved employee engagement, decreased time to process an order)•Evaluate where you are before implementing Microsoft 365. Establish your KPI benchmarks
and baseline your user’s current knowledge of Microsoft 365

To help gather feedback and data to measure the success of your EAP, prepare
your EAP participant surveys using our sample Microsoft 365 user satisfaction
surveys here:•

https://aka.ms/usersurveys

Choose criteria that will help you showcase the impact Microsoft 365 is having on yourorganization to the leadership team•

Use the Measuring Success Guide for more information on defining your successcriteria:

http://aka.ms/measuringsuccess

ACTIVITIESRESOURCESDEVELOP COMMUNICATION MATERIALS
Develop your communications materials by using and customizing theMicrosoft provided templates for use in your EAP and launch. Find more
information, media, email templates and awareness materials that can becustomized for your implementation:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/fasttrack/resources

Establish a Microsoft 365 EAP Yammer or Teams group for participants todiscuss the program.
Email 1
Recruitment

Email 2
Welcome

Email 3
Close out

Email templates for your EAP communications are provided by Microsoft andcan be customised for your business. They can then be reused on a wider scale
during your full rollout, so these shouldn’t be just rough and ready.
• Baseline survey – collect baseline feedback on what participants are using
now and their current levels of knowledge with a baseline survey. A Microsoft
365 User Satisfaction survey template is available to collect baseline data:
https://aka.ms/usersurveys• Recruit participants – your communication should discuss the purpose of
the EAP, how the EAP will benefit participants as well as the entire organizationand how their participation will help shape the full organizational rollout. Arecruitment email template is available to help shape your communications
here: https://aka.ms/eaprecruitmentemail• Welcome – this should welcome EAP participants to the program andprovide them with the details to get started. A welcome email template isavailable to help shape your communications here:
https://aka.ms/eapwelcomeemail• Close out – this should thank your EAP participants and ask them for
feedback. A thank you email template is available to help shape yourcommunications here: https://aka.ms/eapthankyouemail

ACTIVITIESBEST PRACTICESSUPPORT & TRAINING PREPARATION
Train your help desk along with IT or the learning specialist who is conducting
EAP participant training; gather training materials to share with your Early
Adopter users.
Train your help desk to support your EAP participants through the program if
they have any difficulties. Learn more here:
http://aka.ms/helpdeskready
SEND COMMUNICATIONS
Send prepared communications to increase awareness of program. This is agood point at which to use the program sponsor to engage with the EAPparticipants to create a sense of excitement. Have the welcome email sent by thesponsor and include the baseline survey as part of the email package.
SHARING WITH THOSE NOT IN EAP

It's important for those within the EAP program to have access to work and collaborate with theircolleagues as they normally would. They can still share and collaborate on documents with thosethat are not in the program. Please see the links below to understand how:Calendar

Exchange / People

One Drive for Business

One Note

SharePoint
Sway

SkypeYammer

PREPARE SUPPORT AND TRAINING
When you are putting together your training program there are some thingsto take into consideration:• The current productivity system you are running. If you are currently
running a productivity system, you may need to spend more effort at thetraining stage, as the EAP will require a change in behaviour fromparticipants.
• Other initiatives that are running in the business: It is important to beaware of what else is going on in the business to ensure that you are notoverwhelming your staff and there isn’t any confusion around learning new
ways to work.
• The best way of delivery: It is important to understand how to bestdeliver specific training for your EAP participants and organization, whether
that is microlearning, in-person training, or through assisted or unassisted
online tutorials.

WEEK 1
EAP LAUNCHACTIVITIESDEPLOY Microsoft 365 TO PARTICIPANTS
Deploy Microsoft 365 apps and services to the EAP group.

RESOURCES
Quick Start Guides

Product Based Training

http://aka.ms/quickstart

http://aka.ms/o365producttraining

Scenario Based Training

Help in Choosing Training Materials

TRAIN EAP PARTICIPANTS
Depending on the size and culture of your organization, how you carry out
training will differ. It may involve more self-directed learning, webinars, in-person
seminars, or on-demand videos and question-and-answer sessions.
Use your Training Assessment and understanding of your organization to develop
a custom training plan.

http://aka.ms/productivitytraining

Help Desk Guide

http://aka.ms/helpdeskready

http://aka.ms/officebom

WEEKS 2 & 3
EAP RUN STATEACTIVITIESINFORMAL CHECK-INS WITH PARTICIPANTS
In weeks two and three, check in with your Microsoft 365 EAP participants forfeedback. Rather than a full survey, this can be an informal check-in using preidentified channels to get quick feedback on crucial aspects.
Understanding how your users are using Microsoft 365 is an extremely important
aspect of your EAP. You can utilize the new reporting portal in the Microsoft 365
admin center to get an overview. Monitor usage of the various apps and services
to see what your EAP participants are using and use this information to shape
your informal check-ins. Ask why some apps or services are not being adopted aswell as others.

BEST PRACTICES

Set up channels for feedback during the EAP•

Get real-time feedback from EAP participants and adjust your Adoption Plan
based on this feedback. Try creating a Yammer or Teams group for yourprogram participants, that way others in the program will be able to see any
feedback that is posted and feel encouraged to add on any of their own
thoughts•

Proactively reach out to your program participants for feedback. Drop by
their desk, send an IM, or give them a call. Remember, if no one is giving any
feedback, your program isn’t reaching its potential.

For more information on how to use the Activity Reports in the Microsoft 365
admin portal find more information here:https://aka.ms/activityreports

WEEK 4
EAP CLOSE OUTACTIVITIESCOLLECT FEEDBACK USING SURVEY AND INFORMAL MEETINGS
Check in with your Microsoft 365 EAP participants for feedback. Release a finalsurvey (https://aka.ms/usersurveys) to gather data about their experiences withMicrosoft 365, along with their experience with the EAP – Microsoft 365 scenarios,communications and training. Hold informal meetings with the participants toconnect them and gather unfiltered feedback. As you collect your survey results,
ensure that you evaluate your results against your success criteria.
Understanding how your EAP participants are using Microsoft 365 is important inassessing your success and identifying areas for improvement.
UPDATE LAUNCH PLAN AND MATERIALS FOR FULL ROLLOUT
Use the results from the survey, informal meetings, usage insights andperformance against your success criteria to make any adjustments to your planand materials prior to a general rollout.
RECRUIT EAP PARTICIPANTS FOR CHAMPIONS PROGRAM
Encourage EAP participants to become Microsoft 365 Champions to assist theircolleagues after the full rollout. Use the final EAP email(https://aka.ms/eapthankyouemail) to close out the program and provide
information about the Champions program and opportunities to sign up.

BEST PRACTICES•

Look for program success stories that can be used in your launch communications to getpeople excited about Microsoft 365. Success stories are often just as valuable asquantitative measures when demonstrating Microsoft 365 success. Throughout your EAP,
have your program participants identify examples that demonstrate collaboration andteamwork and share them as part of your organization launch.
•Build your Champions program. Recruit EAP participants that you think will make goodChampions. You’ll need support from Microsoft 365 Champions to scale Microsoft 365 to allusers.

•Champions can be found in unlikely places so leverage your networks and look forpeople who aren’t just interested in technology but also in new ways of working
and collaborating.

To assist you in building your Champions program see here:
http://aka.ms/championsguide