Windows 7 Assessment: Is Your Business Ready for an Upgrade?
First, you’ll need to answer the following questions:
- Is our IT infrastructure ready for an operating system (OS) upgrade?
- Does our hardware support Windows 7?
- Will all of our programs run on Windows 7?
- Would our organization benefit from the new features of Windows 7?
- Would an in-place upgrade or customer install make more sense?
- Do we need enhanced security?
- How does licensing work?
- How long would a conversion to Windows 7 take and how much will it cost?
- What is our plan when Microsoft discontinues security support for Windows XP in 2011?
Upgrading your organization’s operating system is a complex undertaking. Properly evaluating such a broad-reaching internal change and associated costs, effort and impact are critical to moving forward.
Even though an OS upgrade can be considered a tactical change, MCPc is focused on understanding your organization’s culture, size, budget and needs and provides strategic technology guidance that makes sense for you.
We will help you decide whether or not Windows 7 is a good fit for your organization and if so, create a technology roadmap that will ensure your successful upgrade company-wide.
To aid in this process, MCPc may recommend running an assessment to help you understand your current environment and how it would run in Windows 7. This information will also help us provide guidance for effectively completing your Windows 7 upgrade in a cost-effective and timely manner, while supporting current and future plans for business operations.
Small-to-medium-sized businesses that upgrade to Windows 7 see an average ROI in about seven months. – IDC
What’s Difficult About an OS Upgrade?
As organizations grow, and IT roles within them change, even seemingly simple information — such as the number of end-user devices and application use — can be difficult to verify. However, this is precisely the information that is critical to successful OS upgrades.
By working with MCPc to perform a Windows 7 Assessment, you’ll be able to determine necessary details about your hardware and software, its Windows 7 compatibility, and how the upgrade can work within your lease schedules. In addition, we can provide you with details such as: potential company and end-user benefits of Windows 7, costs and labor associated with an upgrade, and pros and cons for several upgrade options.
What Does the Windows 7 Assessment Involve?
To run an assessment, we’ll first meet with you to discuss your business operations, goals for the next few years, and reasons behind your interest in Windows 7.
Then, we simply install our Windows 7 assessment tool on your servers which audits your physical and software inventory as you connect to the network. This information-gathering process typically takes two-to-four weeks depending upon the complexity and mobility of your work force.
Once the discovery is complete, we’ll have access to the following key data:
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Hardware inventory: Number and types of end-user machines that access the server.
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Software inventory: Details on everything running in your environment and the frequency with which they are used — including applications that end users have downloaded.
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Compatibility: How well your current environment — both hardware and software — is supported by Windows 7.
With this information, one of our experienced Solution Architects will develop several appropriate solutions for you to successfully upgrade to Windows 7. This process truly is one of information sharing, as there may be multiple paths you could take to reach your business goals, and we’ll discuss each with you along with their potential benefits and pitfalls.
After weighing your options against your business goals, your Solution Architect will help you develop a strategic upgrade roadmap, specifically designed to:
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Minimize risk. For example, if you upgrade without checking for application compatibility with Windows 7, you may inadvertently interrupt business operations, resulting in a costly fix.
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Maximize deployment efficiencies. We’ll provide several solutions and technology options, and also suggest ways to complete the Windows 7 deployment without interrupting your company’s day-to-day activities.
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Control migration costs. We can manage the Windows 7 migration for you so that your IT technicians can spend their time on other necessary functions, rather than being interrupted with the deployment.
If you want to upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista or XP, make sure you get the most out of your investment and manpower.
Windows 7: Only the Beginning…
At its simplest, running a Windows 7 Assessment gives you the opportunity to understand your current environment, clean up redundancies and get rid of unused applications. This can save your company from paying licensing fees for applications that are no longer used.
On a deeper level, however, Windows 7 upgrades can simply be a part of the beginning stages of longer-term, strategic plans to improve operational efficiency and simplify IT management.
For example, Windows 7 lends itself well to desktop virtualization. Together, these two technologies can create an environment that is:
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Compatible: End-users can run multiple versions of the same application at one time.
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Secure: Virtual desktops can both simplify end-user image rollouts and ensure security.
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Usable: Virtualization may not have been a fit for Vista or XP because the technology hadn’t yet been proven for high-level applications. Today, however, even tier-one applications can be virtualized.
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Manageable: Virtual desktops fitted with Windows 7 provide simplified management and lower end-user support requirements.