You can have a flawless, on-time, and on-budget Veeva implementation, but if your users are not prepared for that change, was it really a success? In this piece, we outline considerations for successful user adoption when it comes to a Veeva implementation.  

The Importance of User Adoption 

Most projects fail, not because of poor technology, but due to poor user adoption. You’ve done your due diligence, you’ve received recommendations about what software is the best in the industry, and you’ve even deemed your latest Veeva implementation a success – but you notice that your user community is not actively engaging with or using the new software. They’re still using their paper forms and Excel sheets and the old workarounds, but why?  

You learn the users aren’t comfortable with the new system and feel as though there are gaps in the processes. In the world of competing priorities during the Veeva implementation itself, users didn’t understand how this would impact them or their day-to-day responsibilities, and the communications, surveys, testing, and overall implementation-related items fell to the bottom of their priority list.  

Considerations for Successful User Adoption for Veeva

So here you are with a fully implemented Veeva system, and your users aren’t interested.  What can you do now – or what could you have done – to ensure user adoption and engagement and ultimately get the most out of your Veeva implementation? 

1. Educate and engage all stakeholders, and involve them at the start, middle, and end of the project. Throughout each stage, you have the opportunity to educate users on the challenges that led to this point and to clearly and concisely instill in them why this new system will be important. This can include virtual information sessions, newsletters, “ask the expert” sessions, or in-person road shows.  Depending on the project and the resource allotment, sometimes giveaways and contests are an effective strategy to get the users’ attention. Ultimately, engaging all stakeholders (think: IT, operations, business users, and cross-functional team members, too) from start to finish can help ensure that understanding and accepting the new technology needs to remain at the top of their competing priorities list. 
2. Consider your end users’ Veeva experience. Is this your organization’s first Veeva implementation? If it’s not, make sure you engage users from other modules to speak and showcase the capability of the system. By the end of 2025, all Veeva Vaults will be on the same platform, and one of the significant benefits of this is that the user interface will always work similarly. This makes Veeva easily adoptable, meaning you can repurpose training materials and muscle memory takes over, so users should know how to navigate the system already.
3. Provide hands-on training opportunities for new users. If this is your first Veeva implementation, or you have new users, give them the opportunity to have hands-on learning experiences. You can host in-person or virtual expos, where users can walk through their most-used processes with the support of their Business Leads. This has multiple benefits, as you are allowing users to familiarize themselves with the system in a live environment, ask questions, and also get to know their Business Leads, who will be their point of contact going forward. This type of relationship-building is also important for a good post-implementation experience. If you haven’t yet, you might consider a Digital Adoption Platform to enhance the user experience and provide immediate support for your users, too. 
4. Don’t neglect post-go-live requirements. Project teams are sometimes so focused on executing the implementation that they unintentionally neglect the post-go-live requirements. Oftentimes, the seemingly simple act of just announcing who your lead stakeholders are is forgotten, leaving end users unaware or confused about the change. Be sure to build out and announce the Business Leads and Change Network for each module you’ve implemented. Additionally, if you have users across the globe, be sure to include someone in as many time zones as possible. The last thing you want is a user having an issue waiting 12 hours to get a response because the support team is sleeping.  

Ensuring User Adoption Post-Veeva Implementation  

Engaged and informed users adopt changes. Too often we see clients implementing Veeva and forgetting that the number of users who are focused on the implementation is much smaller than the number of users who will be impacted by the change. Putting in the necessary effort to prepare the user community can make the difference for successful adoption. Veeva is a user-friendly and versatile technology that can be a powerful tool for your company if your user community understands not just how, but why, to use it. 

No matter where you are on your Veeva journey, Clarkston can help. Reach out to our team to learn more about our Veeva consulting services.