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From Chaos to Collaboration: How an italian War Museum Digitized its legacy with Google Workspace
A triumphant digital transformation isn’t about the technology; it’s about the people and processes. For many organizations, particularly those steeped in tradition, the path to modernization is paved with unused software, fragmented workflows, and a healthy dose of resistance to change. This was the reality at MITAG,the Italian War Museum of Rovereto,before a strategic overhaul unlocked the potential of its existing Google Workspace investment.
Imagine an organization spanning six locations, where employees relied on a patchwork of tools – Outlook for email, WhatsApp for quick updates, and a costly, on-premise server for file storage. Coordinating activities,managing a rich historical collection,and even simply knowing who was in the office proved to be a significant challenge. As one senior official stated, the museum found itself in a situation where they “have it, but we don’t use it.”
The museum’s struggle isn’t unique. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) find themselves in a similar predicament, having invested in technology without a clear plan for adoption.The core issue, experts say, isn’t a lack of tools, but a lack of guidance and support during the transition.Habits, it turns out, are powerful forces.
The Pain Points of a disconnected System
The consequences of this fragmented approach were multifaceted.MITAG faced escalating costs associated with maintaining its local server infrastructure, including backups and reliance on external IT support. Limited access to files outside the internal network hampered remote work and collaboration. Crucially, essential processes were inefficient and prone to errors: donations were tracked using Excel spreadsheets, loan details were scattered across emails, and maintainance reports were handwritten and filed physically. Coordinating staff across six locations was,according to sources,a “feat” in itself.
This scenario perfectly illustrates that digitization is not simply about buying technology, but about fundamentally changing the way people work together.
A Co-Planning Approach: Four Tables, One Goal
Rather than imposing a top-down solution, the team adopted a collaborative approach, dividing the project into four key areas, each with a dedicated working group:
- Operational and Space Management: Addressing questions like attendance tracking, room and vehicle booking, and fault reporting.
- internal Interaction and Policy: Defining appropriate channels for different types of communication and
