Why a formal event?
Section titled “Why a formal event?”The approval meeting is not a status update. It is the founding event of the Adoption phase — the moment when the organisation collectively decides: “We are ready. We are committing. We are starting.”
Without this formal event, the Adoption phase lacks:
- A clear mandate (who authorised the transformation?)
- A budget commitment (when was the budget released?)
- A defined baseline (what was the starting point?)
Meeting agenda: the approval event
Section titled “Meeting agenda: the approval event”Duration: 2–3 hours
Location: Physical meeting recommended (not a virtual checkbox exercise)
| Time block | Agenda item | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 15 min | Welcome and purpose of the meeting | CIO |
| 30 min | Readiness scorecard: results of all 5 dimensions | CCoE Lead |
| 20 min | Open items and risk assessment | CCoE Lead |
| 20 min | Adoption roadmap: first migration waves, resource plan | CCoE Lead |
| 15 min | Questions and discussion | All |
| 15 min | Formal approval: signatures | Cloud Strategy Board |
| 5 min | Communication kick-off | CIO |
Participants
Section titled “Participants”Signatories (mandatory):
- CIO (chair and lead signatory)
- CTO
- CFO
- CISO
Advisory attendance:
- CCoE Lead (presenting)
- First workload team leads (as ambassadors)
- Data Protection Officer
The approval document
Section titled “The approval document”The approval document is the binding output of the meeting:
ADOPTION PHASE APPROVAL DOCUMENT
Section titled “ADOPTION PHASE APPROVAL DOCUMENT”Date: [Date]
Organisation: [Name]
The following is hereby confirmed:
-
The Advisory phase of the cloud transformation has been completed successfully. All defined deliverables (Cloud Strategy, Business Case, CCoE establishment, FinOps framework, change management programme, governance framework, readiness assessment) are in place.
-
The 5-dimension readiness assessment has been conducted. All dimensions have reached the “Ready” criterion or will do so by [Date] (open items: [list]).
-
The annual cloud budget for the Adoption phase in the amount of [TEUR X] is approved.
-
The Adoption roadmap with the following first migration waves is approved:
- Wave 1 (Month 1–3): [Workloads]
- Wave 2 (Month 4–6): [Workloads]
-
The CCoE is fully staffed with [N] FTE and operational.
Escalation paths and governance:
- Technical escalation: CCoE Lead → CIO
- Budget escalation: CCoE Lead → CFO
- Security escalation: CCoE Lead → CISO
- Quarterly review: Cloud Strategy Board
| Role | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CIO | |||
| CTO | |||
| CFO | |||
| CISO |
Why signatures matter
Section titled “Why signatures matter”A digital approval by email is not the same as a personal signature in a shared meeting. Signatures create:
Commitment: Every signatory has publicly committed. This makes it harder to distance oneself from the transformation later.
Simultaneity: All four C-level functions commit together — no later claim that “this was just an IT project”.
Documented budget commitment: The CFO has approved the budget in the document — no later “this wasn’t in the budget plan”.
Historical reference: In later governance conflicts, there is a document that shows: this decision was made consciously and collectively.
After the approval event: communication
Section titled “After the approval event: communication”The CIO communicates the start of the Adoption phase to the organisation within 24 hours:
- All-hands email or intranet post: “We are starting the Adoption phase”
- Clear message: what this means, for whom, what changes
- First visible action (e.g. kick-off meeting with first workload teams announced)