Windows 7

If you’re preparing to migrate your company’s system over to Windows 7 – or even just considering it – chances are you’re going to want to talk to some people who have been there and done that. Getting the inside scoop from those who have migrated can give you a heads-up on potential speed bumps, hurdles to avoid and valuable insight that can save your company time and money.

Luckily, Symantec did all the asking around for you in the 2010 Windows 7 Migration Survey. We have the information you need from more than 1,300 of your fellow IT managers across the globe to make your Windows 7 migration a success. Take a look at some of our key findings:

Preparation for your migration

Respondents said that their IT teams spent an average of 10 hours in preparation for the upgrade – including planning, training and performing pilot tests. More than 80 percent of companies said that this planning was helpful in facilitating the...

Getting dumped is never fun, but let’s face it, being the one who ends the relationship can be just as difficult. It’s hard to walk away from something you’ve invested time in—not to mention money. But these problems aren’t just limited to fairytales that don’t end in “happily ever after.” Businesses have the same relationship woes, and can feel deflated when they aren’t getting what they need from their current operating system. If this is the case, it may be time to call it quits.

Chances are you and the old OS have been through a lot together—crashes, freezes, support issues—but rather than bring you closer together, these issues are likely wearing you down and resulting in more rebooting than computing.

Windows 7 was released in October and has received rave...

GREED: Failing to run a test or pilot to test the migration

For any organization, upgrading operating systems can be exciting. But if the anticipation leads to an attempt at immediate adoption without first testing the deployment process, that greedy haste will cause headaches. If the process has any complications or glitches, going straight to implementation isn’t a shortcut, it’s a shortfall.

All it takes to overcome greed is a simple pilot test of the new operating system, applications and custom settings before a full deployment. The IT administrator should implement a pilot program to run the new system, see how it goes and make any necessary adjustments. The end result is a smoother migration, happier end users and less calls to the service desk.

The first aspect to consider is whether any necessary network changes are required to support the migration. You will need to implement the network changes identified...

Gluttony: Migrating more than you need to by not cleaning things up first

Organizations often use an OS migration as a time to evaluate the applications, software and other data files they have on the organization’s existing endpoints. They can also use this time to plan their go-forward imaging standards. Those organizations that don’t go through this evaluation and planning process may be migrating more than is necessary (gluttony) once they begin the migration process.

One of the first critical decisions will be determining the specific deployment standards and processes to be used during the migration and, optimally, on a go-forward basis. This could be a considerable undertaking depending on the organization and their existing processes. For example, some IT departments may manage 30+ images that quickly become a logistical nightmare, draining time and resources away from other, more critical issues. However that same...