res win7 migration

8/3/2019 RES Win7 Migration

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Research Brief

©2011 RES Software and TechTarget

Windows 7 Migration:Inevitable and Necessary forMost IT Shops, but Time and Tools

are Essential Ingredients for SuccessContents

Overview 1

State of Windows 7 Migration 3

Taking Time to Prepare for Migration 4

Overcoming Challenges With New Tools 6

Turning For Help in Windows 7 Migration 8

Conclusion 8 About RES Software 9

Brought to you compliments of:Overview

For millions of PC users who questioned the necessity or wisdom of migrating from Windows

XP to Vista in 2006, Microsoft’s 2009 introduction of Windows 7 represented an opportunity

for important computing benefits. Without question, the new operating system is a big improve-

ment over XP, so it makes sense to make the migration — especially since the end to XP

support is on the horizon. But whether IT organizations are upgrading to Windows 7 from

XP or Vista, there are some key issues that must be addressed and overcome in order to smooth

the migration and make their users’ experience a positive one.

Of course, for IT decision-makers, moving to Windows 7 is a matter of “how” rather than “if.”

Even many of the most hard-core XP adherents understand that Windows 7 is a significant up-

grade in such important areas as security, performance and design. And, if those benefits aren’t

compelling enough, there’s the harsh reality that XP will no longer be supported come 2014,

so you should already be deep into the process of at least planning your migration strategy.



2 ©2011 RES Software and TechTarget

Research Brief

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That means that many millions of PCs running XP or even Vista will be upgraded to Windows 7

over the coming months; research firm Gartner Inc. has predicted that about 250 million PCs in

midsized and large enterprises will be migrated from XP to Windows 7 by the time XP reaches

its end-of-support date. Since the lion’s share of installed PCs remained XP-based after Vista’sintroduction, there’s a lot of work ahead for IT organizations for the Windows 7 migration.

Keep in mind that the migration brings with it a number of important challenges, including:

• Migrationcostsrelatedtoinfrastructure,suchassoftwarelicensesandupgradedhardware.

• Workloadstrainsonanalready-overworkedandundersizedITstaff,allwhileusersneed

access to their systems in order to conduct business as usual.

• Time necessary to properly analyze, design, test and actually implement the new operating

system before it even goes on users’ desktops.

• Thepotentialforerrors,rangingfromaninabilitytoproperlytransferpersonalizedend-

user settings to possible loss of business-critical data.

• Thepossibilityofsecurityloopholesduringthemigrationprocess,suchasidentity

management and confusion over rights and privileges.

• Unhappy users forced to give up their machines even for short periods of times, only to dis-

cover that personal features such as bookmarks, user names, passwords, document folders

and even screensavers haven’t been properly transferred to the new operating system.

• A potential influx in help-desk calls from users unfamiliar or uncomfortable with Windows 7.

To help understand the challenges IT organizations are facing and will continue to face in their

migration efforts, RES Software commissioned research that asked IT professionals to detail

their experiences, expectations and concerns over Windows 7 migration. More than 1,500 IT

professionals, across a wide variety of industries and job functions, responded to the survey.

Those respondents were employed in companies located in the United States, United Kingdom,

France, Germany and the Netherlands. Among the key findings of the report were:

• MostofthosesurveyedhavealreadybeguntakingsomestepsintheWindows7

migration for their organization.

• The typical organization will roll out the new operating system for their users in mid-2011,

although more than 40 percent say that won’t take place until at least the end of 201

or at some still-to-be-determined future time.

• Respondentshaveseriousconcernsthattheylackthepropertoolstoautomateoraid

in the process of operating system migration.

• Eventhoughtheyclaimtobeconfidentthattheirmigrationwillgowell,mostrespon-

dents have a backup plan to revert to a previous operating system if the Windows 7

migration hits a brick wall.

• SpecialconfigurationsanduniqueusersettingsareasignificantconcernforITorganiza-

tions in the migration process, and a high percentage of IT decision-makers are worried

that they lack the proper tools to make the migration as automated and efficient as possible.




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State of Windows 7 Migration

Survey respondents reported that, for the most part, their Windows 7 migrations are underway

to at least some degree. Nearly two-thirds (65.3 percent) of the IT professionals surveyed

indicated that their organizations had purchased Windows 7 l icenses, while more than one-half

(58.4 percent) said they either had begun the implementation process or are planning to do

so in the near future.

Clearly, the fact that the vast majority of IT organizations that have already purchased Windows 7

licenses have either begun rolling out the implementation or are preparing to do so indicates that

— unlike with Vista — companies are committed to making the move to the new operating

system. Whatever the reasons — improved performance, tightened security, the need for

compatibility with a new generation of applications and productivity tools or just the inevitability

of the end of Windows XP support — companies are preparing for the retrofitting of many

millions of legacy PCs with older versions of Windows.

The trend held largely true across the geographic regions surveyed, although with some

variations. For instance, respondents in the Netherlands noted the lowest rollout rates in the

survey, with just 55 percent indicating that their organizations had either begun Windows 7

implementations or are planning to do so in the near future. In the U.S. and the United Kingdom,

58 percent affirmed their Windows 7 status, but respondents in Germany hit 65 percent, while

those in France reached 67 percent.

The “sweet spot” of Windows 7 implementation looks like it will hit around mid-2011, with

57 percent of the respondents saying they intend to have an organizational-wide rollout betweenOctober 2010 (when the survey was initially fielded) and October 2011. Still, that means 43 percent

of the respondents indicated that their rollout wouldn’t be complete until 2012 or beyond.

Have you implemented Windows 7 or are you planning to implement Windows 7 company-wide?




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Considering the size of the PC inventory for which respondents say they are responsible, lengthy

rollouts aren’t surprising at all. On average, IT decision-makers manage more than 1,300 desktops

(and perhaps even more notebooks in many cases), so migrating to a new operating system often

is a time-consuming and expensive task, especially without tools that help to transfer unique

user settings and profiles. The challenge of dealing with migrating user profiles from XP-based

environments is particularly troublesome, since user profiles of XP are completely incompatible

with those of Windows 7.

Taking Time to Prepare for Migration

Obviously, you don’t just wake up one morning and begin moving every PC to a new operating

system. It takes months of planning, testing, validating — and then adapting what you’ve

learned in the pre-implementation stage before you move over to a live environment. Thatwould be difficult enough when business was conducted mostly in traditional business hours

— 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week. Of course, few businesses operate that way today,

especially with the advent of e-commerce, global trading partners, far-flung supply chains

and 24/7/365 industries such as hospitality, health care, financial services and the like.

IT organizations consistently point out that one of the biggest challenges in pulling out the

migration of a workforce to a new operating system is being able to do so without jeopardizing

or interrupting normal daily business operations. So, taking time to plot out your migration

process is essential to minimize disruption on employees and to maximize the efficiency

of your migration team.

More than 40 percent of the respondents say they are setting aside more than 3 months to

do pre-rollout analysis and design, while another 20 percent aren’t even sure how much time

they’ll need for those critical functions. Interestingly, respondents in Germany and the Nether-

lands appear to be taking less time than their counterparts in the U.S., UK and France for this

phase of the deployment.

What is your timeframe for rolling out Windows 7?




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On average, respondents say they are allocating about 4.5 months to properly analyze and

design all elements of their Windows 7 migration strategy. That’s smart, in large part to the

reality that IT organizations simply don’t have the manpower and budget to simply “brute-

force” their way through an operating system upgrade. Taking time in this pre-deployment

phase allows IT organizations to evaluate, test and select the best migration tools before

actually putting the wheels in motion for the Windows 7 implementation.

Another important set of steps IT organizations should be accounting for in their Windows 7

rollouts is application testing, functionality testing and map/terrain matching analysis. In this

phase, IT organizations get an even sharper picture to determine exactly what’s likely to occur

when the implementation goes live and users have to begin interacting with the operating system— and see which of their preferences, settings and profiles have been lost in the translation.

How much time do you plan to allocate to analysis and designbefore you migrate to the new Windows 7 platform?

How much time do you plan to allocate to application testing, functionality testing andmap/terrain matching analysis before you migrate to the new Windows 7 platform?




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Again, respondents point out that they are taking some important time to properly test their

environments before doing a full rollout of the new operating system. Respondents say that,

on average, they are allocating 4.2 months for these important steps, and in this timeframe,

one of the key requirements is likely to be shaking down all available migration tools to ensurethat all key data, settings and profiles are properly transferred and located by end users.

IT organizations would be well-served to evaluate and test migration tools that do these important

steps in an automated manner, saving time, money, administrative effort and user aggravation.

Overcoming Challenges With New Tools

The good news is that many IT professionals understand that this is a challenge that they have

to address and overcome. As with most things, the key is admitting that you have a problem or

challenge in the first place, and more than 40 percent of the respondents indicate that they are

either not confident or are not sure they have the right tools in place to make their Windows 7

migration as manageable as possible.

Keeping in mind that the respondent base for this survey could be considered among the most

technically astute in their profession, it’s telling that 43 percent still harbor doubts about the

availability of the right tools to make the job easier. The implications of this are huge, because

without the right tools, organizations are going to run into some major challenges that add

complexity, cost and time to their migration, while also increasing the likelihood of error, security

gaps and user dissatisfaction.

What are the key challenges where respondents need better tools to properly enable the

migration? Undoubtedly, accounting for special configurations and unique settings are at or near

the top of the list. Whether it’s a simple setting within an application like an email signature,

personalized screensavers, the layout of the latest version of Microsoft Office or unique configu-

rations within Office applications, these are the kinds of issues that keep IT professionals up at

night when they plan and then undertake a major operating system upgrade.

Do you have or are you confident you have the right tools to automate/helpwith operating system migrations?




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Well more than one-half of the respondents (54 percent) say they have special configurations

or adjustments that will need to be accounted for during the migration. And, presumably, most

of those who say they are “not sure” fall into this category as well.

Respondents make this even clearer when asked about challenges they typically face when

migrating to a new operating system. The number-one challenge: Difficulty in migrating user

profiles from one operating system to another, followed by difficulties in knowing what per-

missions and applications need to be migrated.

Finally, it’s important to take note of an important reality: IT organizations have to have a “Plan B”

in case their migration goes awry. Most respondents (56 percent) say they have a plan or tools

that can help them revert to a previous operating system should the Windows 7 migration project

fail. IT professionals in France were the least likely (49 percent) to have a plan or tools to help

them revert to a previous operating system, while those in Germany were the most likely

(61 percent) to have this backup plan.

Do you have many special configurations and/or adjustments that need to be performed in the user environment that may require extra attention

when migrating to the new operating system?

Challenge

Difficulty migrating user profiles from one OS to the next

Difficulty knowing what permissions and applications need to be migrated

End-user down time and lost productivity

Inundated with help-desk calls, user complaints

Too many redundant, manual processes

Working additional hours/overtime

Lack of knowledge regarding the individual user environment

Difficulty implementing on time and within budget

Inability to focus on more strategic projects

Percentage

45%

43%

37%

35%

32%

27%

24%

19%

15%

What typical challenges are you faced with when migrating

to new operating systems?




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Turning For Help in Windows 7 Migration

Before a Windows 7 migration can take place, IT organizations have numerous tasks — big and

small, routine and complex, but all essential — that must be undertaken. But with tight budgets,

undermanned staffs and a lack of hands-on experience with the new operating system, it’s critical

for IT to explore new approaches to migrations that will help them complete migrations on time,

on budget and with minimal disruption to users’ familiar routines.

RES Software helps organizations future-proof their desktops, so major changes like operating

system migrations don’t negatively impact users. Using RES Software before migrating to

Windows 7, IT is able to sample and analyze their users’ existing desktop environments. The

actual data collected allows IT to create a managed workspace for each user based on the ap-

plications, data, devices and printers they need to perform their job. This information is stored

outside of the Windows profile. RES Software separates that user workspace, including each

user’s settings and personalization, from the underlying OS and hardware. IT can then centrally

manage what is offered to users and in what context without the use of profiles, a concept

referred to as ‘user workspace management.’

Once an organization has fully managed workspaces, users will no longer be interrupted by

changed or lost settings resulting from the move to Windows 7, and IT is able to avoid the

manual configurations needed to migrate these settings. For organizations that have already

made the switch to Windows 7, RES Software can help prepare their infrastructures for future

OS migrations, or even other major infrastructure changes like hardware refreshes or even

desktop virtualization deployments.

RES Software sits among the very elite of all Microsoft software partners by its designation

as a Managed IVS Partner, a designation bestowed on fewer than 5 percent of all software

companies in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Conclusion

Certainly, IT organizations try every trick in the book when it comes to migrating their users

from one operating system to another in order to ensure that specific preferences and user

profiles are maintained, as well as protecting against loss of critical data. Group Pol icies

Objects (GPOs) and scripts often are used, but this can be very challenging for larger organizations

because GPOs and scripts don’t scale well, nor do they capture all of a user’s personal settings.

File or folder backups typically are taken before the migration takes place and help to save

user personalities and restore settings to the new desktop platform, but this is an extremely

manual and tedious process, and is susceptible to human error. Application virtualization also

is a consideration to ensure compatibility after the migration, but users still typically have

unique settings for each application within the user’s local profile. In each case, not having

the right kinds of tools installed pre-migration raises the level of risk and complexity for IT

organizations, mitigating many of the benefits of the move to the new operating system…

not to mention dampening the anticipated return on investment.




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About RES Software

RES Software, the proven leader in dynamic desktop solutions, is driving a transformation in

the way organizations manage, maintain and reduce the cost of their desktop infrastructure.

The RES Software award-winning, patented products enable IT professionals to manage and

deliver secure, personalized and compliant desktops independent of the underlying computing

infrastructure — thin clients, virtual desktops, physical desktops, or server-based computing

environments. The company empowers customers, from small to medium-sized businesses to

global enterprises, to reduce desktop complexity and meet the essential needs of a dynamic

workforce that requires on-demand access to their personalized workspaces. RES Software’s

North American headquarters is based in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

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