Winning over team members resistant to innovative cloud solutions requires a strategic approach. Start by understanding their concerns, whether related to security, cost, or complexity. Address these by providing clear evidence of the benefits, such as enhanced scalability, reduced operational overhead, and improved security postures. Involve them early in the decision-making process, encouraging their input to promote a sense of ownership. Demonstrate quick wins with pilot projects that showcase the solution’s effectiveness. Offer hand-holding and support to build confidence. Set the long-term vision, highlight how these innovations align with business goals, ensure the team sees the broader value and potential for career growth.

Innovative solutions always get pushed back based on my experience. Here are steps that I recommend to take: 1. Do deep problem analysis and market research. 2. Prepare a comprehensive proposal (problem statement, problem analysis, suggested solution, comparison with alternative solutions, solution costs, implementation time...). Then send it to all authorized approvers. 3. Organize the first meeting with authorized approvers. Make sure they scan through your proposal in advance. You can also put a short summary in the invite just in case. 4. Collect feedback and pushback from attendees in the meeting. 5. Find solutions/workarounds for the feedback and pushback -> revise the proposal. 6. Create a follow up meeting to address their concerns.

Innovation can often disrupt existing solutions, creating a barrier to acceptance. When introducing a new solution, it's crucial to demonstrate its value by thoroughly addressing key aspects: outline the specific needs it meets, weigh the pros and cons, assess the risks, and calculate the full costs involved—not just the cloud expenses, but also the team’s effort to implement it in production. Additionally, a practical demonstration and prepare a comprehensive presentation that summarizes all the information, and remain open to feedback and suggestions from your audience. This approach will not only help in gaining buy-in but also foster a collaborative environment for refining the solution.

To get your team excited about new cloud solutions,try this: 1. Explain the Benefits: Clearly show how the new solution will solve existing problems and make things better, like saving money or speeding up processes. Additionally, Show examples of other companies that have successfully used similar solutions and how it helped them. 2. Try out the new solution with a small project first and Explain how the new tech can give the company an advantage over competitors 3. Involve the Team: Get their feedback and concerns from the start. When they feel part of the process and receive training on the new tech, they’re more likely to support the change.