Telecommunications Change Management for Network Transformation Training Course

Course overview

Network transformation programmes introduce more than new radio, transport, cloud and automation technologies: they alter operating models, supplier responsibilities, field workflows, service assurance processes and customer-facing commitments. When 5G, fibre, cloud-native core, Open RAN or network automation initiatives are treated as purely technical deployments, resistance, unclear ownership and poorly controlled cutovers can delay benefits and increase service risk. This course equips telecommunications professionals to lead the people, process and adoption work required alongside network change.

Participants learn to build a practical change approach for telecom transformation, from identifying operational impacts across NOC, field operations, engineering, IT, care and enterprise sales through to mobilising sponsors and measuring adoption. The course applies Prosci ADKAR, stakeholder mapping, change-impact assessment, communications planning, readiness assessment and resistance management to network scenarios. Participants also connect change-management activities to ITIL 4 change enablement, ServiceNow workflows and TM Forum-aligned operating processes.

Instructor-led sessions use a realistic operator transformation case involving cloud-native network functions, automated assurance and revised incident escalation. Teams analyse affected roles, create a stakeholder map, develop an impact and readiness assessment, define communications and training interventions, and plan adoption measures for a controlled rollout. Each participant leaves with a network-transformation change management pack: a reusable stakeholder plan, impact assessment, communications calendar, resistance log, adoption dashboard and 90-day implementation roadmap.

The course is designed for professionals who must bridge technical delivery and operational adoption, including network transformation leaders, programme managers, service operations managers and change practitioners working in telecoms. It is suitable for foundation to intermediate participants who need an applied, sector-specific method rather than a generic organisational-change course.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Conduct a telecom change-impact assessment across network engineering, NOC, field operations, IT, customer care and supplier teams
• Create a stakeholder map and influence plan for 5G, fibre, cloud-native core or network automation initiatives
• Apply the Prosci ADKAR model to diagnose adoption barriers and define targeted change interventions
• Build a role-based communications plan for network cutovers, operating-model changes and new digital workflows
• Design readiness assessments that test process, capability, tool access, support coverage and leadership alignment
• Develop a resistance-management log with ownership, mitigation actions, escalation routes and review dates
• Define adoption KPIs and a dashboard linking behavioural measures to operational service outcomes
• Produce a 90-day change-management roadmap aligned to ITIL 4 change enablement and deployment milestones

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Network Transformation Managers — who must secure operational adoption of new network architectures and automation capabilities
• Telecommunications Programme Managers — who need to integrate people and process work into technical delivery plans
• Change Managers — who require telecom-specific methods for network, service operations and field-workforce change
• NOC and Service Operations Managers — who must prepare teams for revised monitoring, incident and escalation workflows
• Network Engineering Managers — who lead technical teams through platform migrations, cutovers and new operating models
• Digital Transformation and PMO Leads — who need measurable adoption governance across multi-vendor telecom programmes

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand the basic structure of a telecommunications operator or service provider, including the distinction between network engineering, service operations, field teams and customer-facing functions. Experience working on a network deployment, IT transformation, operational improvement or programme environment is helpful, but formal change-management certification is not required. Familiarity with terms such as cutover, incident management, service assurance, rollout and stakeholder is assumed. Participants do not need to be network architects, ServiceNow administrators, data analysts or Prosci-certified practitioners. Complete beginners should expect to work with practical templates and telecom case material from the first day.

Training methodology

The five-day programme combines instructor-led telecom transformation briefings with guided use of change-management templates. Participants work in teams on an operator case covering cloud-native network functions, automated assurance and altered NOC-to-field escalation processes. Short demonstrations show how ITIL 4 change enablement, ServiceNow Change Management and TM Forum process concepts inform governance. Workshops produce stakeholder, impact, readiness and adoption artefacts, while peer reviews test their practicality. The final session converts the case work into an individual 90-day application plan for a live or anticipated transformation initiative.

Course outline

Day 1: Telecom transformation and the change challenge

• Network transformation patterns: 5G, fibre, cloud-native core, Open RAN and automation
• Technical deployment versus operational adoption
• Telecom operating-model dependencies across engineering, NOC, field and customer operations
• Service-risk implications of unmanaged process and role change
• Change-management lifecycle for network transformation programmes
• Sponsor roles, programme governance and decision rights
• Baseline assessment of organisational change maturity

Workshop: Participants analyse a cloud-native network-function rollout and produce an initial change case identifying affected functions, risks and expected operational benefits.

Day 2: Impact analysis and stakeholder mobilisation

• Telecom change-impact assessment methodology
• Process mapping for incident, assurance, fulfilment and field-dispatch changes
• Role-impact analysis for NOC analysts, engineers, technicians and service managers
• Stakeholder segmentation by influence, impact and support level
• Sponsor coalition design for multi-vendor transformation programmes
• RACI development for technical, operational and change decisions
• Supplier and managed-service partner engagement planning

Workshop: Participants create a stakeholder map, role-impact matrix and RACI for an automated service-assurance implementation.

Day 3: Building adoption through communications and capability

• Prosci ADKAR diagnosis for telecom workforce adoption
• Audience-specific communications for network operations and field teams
• Message architecture for service continuity, new workflows and role accountability
• Training-needs analysis for new tools, processes and escalation paths
• Performance-support design using runbooks, job aids and knowledge articles
• Manager enablement for shift-based and geographically distributed teams
• Resistance identification, logging and intervention selection

Workshop: Participants develop an ADKAR-based communications and capability plan, including a resistance log, for a revised NOC operating model.

Day 4: Readiness, deployment and service transition

• Readiness criteria for network releases and operational handover
• ITIL 4 change enablement and change-authority decision points
• ServiceNow Change Management workflow and approval evidence
• Cutover communications, hypercare and command-centre arrangements
• Operational acceptance testing for process and people readiness
• Business continuity and rollback communications planning
• TM Forum-aligned process handoffs and service-management interfaces

Workshop: Participants run a readiness review for a network automation deployment and produce a go-live recommendation with conditions, risks and mitigations.

Day 5: Measuring adoption and sustaining transformation

• Adoption KPI selection for network and service-operations change
• Leading and lagging indicators for behavioural and operational adoption
• Dashboard design using workflow compliance, incident and resolution data
• Benefits-realisation tracking for automation and operating-model change
• Post-implementation review and lessons-learned facilitation
• Reinforcement mechanisms for leaders, teams and suppliers
• Ninety-day change-management roadmap development

Workshop: Participants assemble and present a network-transformation change management pack containing an adoption dashboard, governance cadence and 90-day roadmap.

Tools & standards covered

ServiceNow Change Management, Prosci ADKAR Model, ITIL 4 Change Enablement, TM Forum Open APIs

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions