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Top 5 Windows 7 Migration Lessons to Know for the Future!

IntroductionCorporate IT departments, often face the difficult yet necessary balancing act of elevating the end-user experience while maintaining security, control, and reducing back-end complexity. Key to these ideals is migrating client operating systems to Windows® 7 or soon to-be Windows® 8 within enterprise desktop and laptop environments. Accomplishing an OS upgrade need not be a daunting task riddled with uncertainties. Nor must it consume massive time investments from already taxed IT staffers.

The end-of-life inevitability of both aged hardware and software, like Windows XP™, presents a financial liability as installing patch fixes and funding additional support will continue to up the ante. Also, enterprises are eager to take advantage of the many new benefits and features now available in Microsoft's latest operating systems.

Pragmatically put, many PCs are now over four years old and drives, power supplies, and other components are reaching MTBF (Mean Time between Failures) metrics – as is the case for much of the software inventory on older systems. A progressive approach of migrating to the Windows 7 operating system now, effectively addresses and thwarts the issues surrounding lingering reliance on the retiring Windows XP operating system

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The Top 5 Lessons Learned for Windows MigrationAs a result, most IT organisations are looking at how best to make migrate today. The following five tips are the result of many organisations' experiences with their Windows 7 migrations, and will help us as we move to coming versions of this key OS.

1. Providing new systems with the migration to Windows 7 is a best practice Evidence shows that upgrading existing PCs will work against in-place migration via higher costs and problems. Although uncommon in practice, there are a few organisations now taking delivery of new PCs with XP, and while these systems will be Windows 7 capable, this is uncommon at this point. However, this is a small percentage of the PC installed base. Therefore, the base of new machines that are Windows 7 (or future version) capable, are smaller in number.

Providing new systems is nearly always the best way to go. For comparison, a successful in-place migration typically runs to almost $200 for IT staff time alone, assuming no problems arise. This cost is arrived at using a figure of $80-$100 per hour for technical

professionals. Snags vary -- sometimes a printer driver for an old personal ink jet causes a problem, sometimes an employee's personal applications that should not be installed cannot migrate -- and they all add up. When multiple issues compound an in-place migration, it can take four hours or more of staff time to remediate the issues, and the cost of a new system is now easy to justify. The time needed for data and “personality” migration is not included here, but much of this can be automated and done at a very low cost.

IT professionals report that buying new PCs that are pre-loaded with the latest version of Windows, is an approach which helps them eliminate the cost burden of support for unstable, older machines. There is a corollary issue. Many systems capable of supporting Windows 7 have already been in place two or more years, and in that case they will only have a useful life of approximately two more years. This further reduces the return on the costs of in place migration versus deploying new systems.

Customer satisfaction and productivity also wane when IT staff install new operating systems on older PCs. If the end user’s productivity is impacted due to lost productivity when they lose their system for up to two

IT departments tasked to balance the issues of hardware and software migrations:

BUSINESS PAIN POINT USER WANTS IT WANTS

Embracing the consumerisation of ITFlexibility to access applications, data, and desktops across locations and devices

A secure corporate environment with a consistent end user experience

Securing the corporate IT environmentProblem-free access to work computing environments

Simplified compliance and secured corporate data

Migration to a newer OS while maintaining efficient IT operations

The full desktop experience with all needed applications

To efficiently deploy and manage applications and desktops

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days for OS migration, the cost of that lost productivity far surpasses a new system. Further, it is likely to have ongoing problems, hidden during initial migration, that spark a chain reaction of ongoing IT support calls after rollout.

2. Have a well-defined strategy for the application approach.

The single biggest issue in Windows OS migrations centres on managing the application library. As major application issues now stem from internally developed applications, organisations must address the need for a standing set of policies and procedures. Application assessment addresses a host of issues including: application discovery, application rationalisation, application compatibility testing and remediation, application packaging – all must be dealt with before the full deployment at the end user computing environment.

Application discovery is the starting point. Even in organisations that have strong controls, it’s common to find many applications that are not standard throughout the organisation and are not visible to IT. Some of these applications are essential to discrete tasks or workflow in groups or departments and IT cannot ignore them. Discovering these apps, putting them into the testing and, if necessary, remediation stream is very important.

Document the policy and process for how to handle application rationalisation and for how to remediate issues. Service providers, such as Dell ProConsult services, often provide guidance and application assessment tools along with the skills necessary during the transition period. Further, their broad experience in Windows migrations provides tested and proven processes for the task which also speeds up the application discovery process.

For IT, the next step of application remediation removes much of the software bloat and many of the support challenges resulting from many years under the same aged OS. In some cases, replacing an application or supporting the business process with features in a more standard tool handles the problem. For internally developed applications, the key is to “re-host” the application in another tool that is native to Windows 7 and forthcoming versions. IT and the business unit must first determine whether the application is still necessary. The business unit may consider other tools, while IT can address the application's security and management issues. Security is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for these older, often in-house developed apps. The key is to work from policy and process, not from a position of unique exceptions that IT must approve on a case-by-case basis. It’s worth noting that these policies can also help you jumpstart a policy to deal with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).

3. The Positive Windows 7 end user experience helps drive migration

While IT benefits greatly from Windows migration with improved security and much better manageability, employees also benefit from an improved end-user experience.

Among the most noticeable is the stability of Windows 7 and upcoming versions that create seamless work experiences. The dreaded “blue screen” or system interruption that required a reboot are now elements of a less productive past. Windows 7 often runs for months without needing a restart, resulting in fewer hours of work lost to system freezes. The performance boost impacts simple system aspects too, such as having a more dependable “sleep mode” for laptops. IT staffers find the driver issues that seemed to have plagued previous OS versions and caused unstable systems are dramatically reduced and often eliminated with the migration to Windows 7.

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Moreover, the user interface post-migration displays a cleaner, and in many cases, more intuitive look and feel. The improved plug-and-play level means less time spent dealing with technical system issues. During the infrequent times where a user needs to handle a technical issue, the screens and dialogue are much improved-- and with a greater number of suggested resolutions, end users enjoy a renewed sense of capability on their systems. For mobile users, the substantial improvement in start up and shutdown times for notebook PCs is an additional feature that speeds-up user access and productivity.

4. Windows Migration offers an unprecedented opportunity to reduce complexity

Simplifying service issues not only creates happier and more confident users, but also quiets the roar of break-fix incidents taxing the time of IT professionals. When an OS migration reduces complexities, overall costs also improve and IT staffers return to more strategic tasks. Mixed antiquated operating systems and aged hardware result in increased complexity due to a lack of standard configurations and images. In short, systems require a great deal more human intervention for regular management tasks and support.

After standardising on Windows 7, removing administrator rights from end users reduces the complexity of system images and mitigates support issues by limiting changes. Furthermore, during the application assessment process, it’s possible to decrease the quantity and breadth of disparate applications and images in use making updates, support, and management far simpler.

Windows 7 migration delivers superior management tools and innate system capabilities with better cohesive remote management that provides system updates more consistently. The increased capability to interact with PCs reduces complexity in tech support by allowing IT

to identify and proactively address which systems are compromised or marginally operational.

5. Working with a service provider partner makes sense

As organisations scale-back the resources for IT projects due to cost-cutting and tight budgets, many IT organisations have opted to work with service providers for specific and highly contained projects such as client OS migrations. For the first time in recent Windows migrations, the majority of projects have benefited from the partnership talent of service providers, based on research from Ziff Davis Enterprise, and there are some excellent reasons why.

One primary reason IT organisations engage with migration service providers is their need to complete deployments quickly. Bringing in additional proven and knowledgeable resources that have already gone through the migration learning curve drives a shorter project timeframe. This issue weighs more heavily now with the pending end of XP support triggering increases in cost if a company has to use XP beyond its cut-off date. Speeding up migration to completion matters to most IT departments, as the costs are too high for not having a plan and resources in place.

Service providers solidly address migration issues in a holistic manner via proven tools and processes that run the gamut from pre-migration assessments, to remediation skills, then deployment tools, with the entire implementation completed using documented project management. IT organisations often find different “attach” points for service providers, to complement where IT can leverage their internal skills and knowledge. Using internal IT expertise where it is most useful, and engaging outside resources where appropriate, makes the use of service provider expertise more efficient. The ability to customise the services provided to the needs of each distinct

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IT staff is a hallmark of Dell ProConsult services as they have successfully and efficiently completed numerous corporate Windows 7 migrations. For many organisations, the deadline of XP's end-of-life, coupled with the speed gains from engaging a service provider, is the optimal solution in a time where change looms evident. Based upon experience, tools, and resources, service providers build both a more accurate project timeline and offer acute visibility into the actual migration process.

SummaryThere has never been a better time for Windows 7 migration than now, when the proof and tangible successes lay the groundwork for success and the pain of doing nothing forecasts only heightened complications and loss of productivity in the present and future.

Savvy IT departments know the compelling drivers for change, such as: improved end-user security and the need to reduce ongoing operating expenses. The benefits of making a move now enable organisations to more immediately take advantage of the latest features available in Windows 7. The five key points in this whitepaper highlight the most important lessons that learned so far.

Based on current market data indicating a lingering prevalence of Windows XP systems in use, the need for hardware and software migration requires immediate attention before the costs of staying with this antiquated OS become even greater. For those undertaking or completing this initiative now, the benefits of a more productive end user and IT environment equate to dollars saved and possibly earned via a more productive workforce overall.

Through strategy, planning, and the use of service providers like Dell, IT departments can now effectively address and mitigate the key challenges of client operating system upgrades for an efficient and seamless migration across the enterprise, regardless of company size or industry. By applying automated tools and solutions your organisation can leverage these processes and create an appropriate approach to plan, execute, and implement infrastructure upgrades that not only keep pace with technology but also become part of your continuous improvement initiatives.