Top Five Best Practices for Streamlining a Windows 7 Migration - Page 2

2.  Prepare for the Entire Organization to be Affected

Application compatibility challenges will affect desktop, server, virtual and web-based platforms; and organizations must go through a rationalization process to reduce the number of applications and decide which ones will go forward, and which will not. In addition, most organizations are expected to have multiple virtualization platforms to manage due to the practice of employing the best technology for each type of application. Organizations will have to determine the best virtual environment for each type of application, and then convert the application to the optimal environment. To address all of these challenges, you must be able to discover, assess, fix, and manage the entire lot.

3.  The Best Fix is a Complete Fix

It’s not enough to just know which apps will be affected by the migration, but also how to fix the issues – quickly. And, even though the fix must be quick, it has to be a smart fix, as well. You can save the most time by fixing batches of similar apps all at the same time, and to do this, you need an automated assessment and remediation tool. These tools, which test and fix application compatibility issues, are regulated by industry standards. You will eliminate a costly and time-intensive process of testing application packages by taking an automated approach to migration, which also will give you consistent results, full documentation and an audit trail for all changes.

4.  Use the Migration as an Opportunity to Improve

It’s likely your applications and desktops could benefit from virtualization, but organizations simply don’t have the ability to analyze how and where this technology should be deployed for maximum business value. The same automated tools that test and fix application compatibility issues for a Windows 7 migration project also can test applications to determine readiness for desktop virtualization. Desktop virtualization is not a one-size-fits-all, so automating the application analysis, testing, remediation, and conversion process frees up time and resources to enable IT to adopt desktop virtualization (terminal services or VDI) simultaneously with a Windows 7 migration. The benefits of this approach are easier manageability, improved user productivity, and better scalability to accommodate organizational growth.

5.  Turn a Time Bomb into Competitive Advantage

Simply completing your Windows 7 migration by April 2014 should not be the only measure of your success. The next new wave of technology is approaching, bringing with it a whole new set of challenges, so planning and management should be ongoing. To stay ahead of competitive pressures while keeping users satisfied, organizations must use an automated tool that provides dynamic updates of the application compatibility rules, as well as monthly updates of OS patches. This continuous support of your applications will keep your environment up to date so you can adapt easily to Windows 8 and beyond.