Organizations looking to make the move to Microsoft Windows 7 are faced with a lengthy and potentially complicated migration. With the majority of organizations moving from Windows XP (most skipped Vista), Microsoft promises that enhancements in Windows 7 will make it a much more secure and reliable OS. And one thing everyone can agree on when embarking on such an assignment, is that you need to know where you are and what you have in your environment before you can even begin to think about planning such a major migration project. If you do decide to move forward with an upgrade, it's imperative you have the right tools in place to plan, deploy, track and report on the effort.
White Paper
How NOT to Wreck Your
Windows 7 Migration
Guidelines for Planning and
Executing a Successful Windows 7
Migration
Umesh Shah Senior Manager, Product Marketing Adrienne McAninch Senior Product Marketing Manager
Numara Software January 8, 2010White Paper
How NOT to Wreck Your Windows 7 MigrationGuidelines for Planning and Executing a Successful Windows 7 MigrationExecutive Summary Upgrading to Windows 7®For most IT departments, a Windows 7 migration is inevitable. Arguments For Arguments Against Like many consumers, a healthy percentage of businesses never . Making the Business Case . Seven Reasons to Skip ®migrated from Windows XP to Windows Vista , and now the days for Windows 7 Upgrading to Windows 7for XP are numbered. IT must ensure Windows 7 is fully in the door and XP is fully out well before the 2014 cut-off for extended . Good Reasons to Switch to . 7 Reasons to Avoid 1support arrives. Windows 7 Windows 7®According to Annette Jump of Gartner : "The negative image . 10 Reasons to Love . SMBs Should Wait to of Windows Vista among many business companies due to Windows 7 Migrate to Windows 7application and hardware compatibility issues will result in many companies that have not started deploying Vista, will skip it Gartner's "Five issues that enterprises should 4and move straight to Windows 7. The delay in Windows Vista examine before they move to Windows 7"deployments in 2009/10 and increase in number of companies ®1. Plan to be off Windows XP by Year-End 2012 - Microsoft will planning to skip Windows Vista will lead to a major boost in support Windows XP with security fixes into April of 2014, but 2Windows 7 enterprise deployments from middle of 2011." past experience has shown that independent software vendors For those who did make the leap to Vista, Windows 7 offers (ISVs) will stop testing much earlier. "New releases of critical the highly-desired "polishing" features that complement business software will require Windows 7 long before Microsoft Vista's "plumbing" upgrades. Greatly improved usability, easier support for Windows XP ends," said Steve Kleynhans, research manageability, and increased security are just a few of the vice president at Gartner. "Organizations that get all of their reasons Vista users will also move to the new version. users off Windows XP by the end of 2012 will avoid significant potential problems."There is an unending list of opinions about whether and when organizations should upgrade to Windows 7. For every favorable 2. Start Working on Migration Projects Now - The typical perspective on the new system, there seems to be a counterargument. organization requires 12 to 18 months waiting, testing, and planning before it can start deploying a new client OS. There is If you decide Windows 7 is right for your organization, industry a lot of work to be done in preparation, and delays in getting experts and analysts advise starting migration preparations 12-18 started will only result in added costs later.®months in advance. According to Forrester Research, it typically takes larger organizations a year or more to test all of their 3. Don't Wait for Windows 7 SP1 to Begin Testing and applications to ensure they'll work with a new operating system. Deployment - Many organizations say they plan to wait 3They recommend taking the following steps now: until SP1 ships to begin testing and deploying a new client OS. Gartner analysts suggest starting work now (especially if . Start or accelerate application compatibility testing against the companies have skipped Windows Vista), but are planning to Windows 7 RTM code. switch to SP1 before their actual rollout.. Plan for rolling out Windows 7 in small batches starting with 4. Don't Skip Windows 7 - Gartner categorizes Windows 7 as a new hardware. "polishing" release on top of the architectural change that the . Weigh the costs and benefits of upgrading existing machines Windows Vista "plumbing" release delivered. Gartner analysts with at least 2 GB of memory. said polishing releases should never be skipped. Per Michael . Start developing training sessions and tips and tricks guidance for users. Silver, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, "While organizations that skipped Windows 2000 and waited . Prepare for - and embrace - empowered users who want to for XP had some problems spanning the gap, organizati... [download for more]
