• Windows Vista

• 5 Steps to a Successful Upgrade

• Cisco NOW Van

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As the New Year begins, many organizations will be asking themselves – Should we implement Windows Vista? While the short answer is yes, you should implement Vista, it is not quite that simple. The question you should really be asking yourself is – When? As with any new operating system rollout it is important to establish a plan for how to make the move. This could easily take a year or more, but in the end it will be worthwhile.

Deployment

Microsoft is counting on several factors to boost Vista adoption. First is, of course, the new feature set in the update--particularly around security enhancements and improved means for deploying the operating system throughout a large organization. The software maker also said it is ready far earlier with specific tools that will help businesses figure out which of their applications are Vista-ready.

While Microsoft may be doing everything right this time around, widespread adoption will be driven by corporate deployment cycles more so than anything Microsoft has done.

Improved security may be a good selling point, but one of the main hindrances to a Windows Vista upgrade is the intense hardware requirements. According to a new poll commissioned by online retailer CDW, 51 percent of respondents said they would have to replace or upgrade half of their office PCs in order to run Vista. For some organizations, this just isn’t financially practical. Along with this, companies are now required to individually activate each copy of Vista – a step not needed with XP.

Experts agree that waiting for the release of Vista Service Pack 1 is a smart move, as it provides Microsoft the time to work through any bugs and allows third-party support to catch up. 

Why You should Upgrade

Vista’s security features and its improved ability to do remote management are good reasons to move sooner.  Companies that have compatibility issues can take advantage of virtualization using Microsoft's Virtual Server and Virtual PC products to run Windows XP programs from within Vista. Another upside of running Vista is much easier remote management.

There are a number of things you should consider when you plan your Vista rollout, ranging from security, how buggy the operating system proves to be, as well as when there are people using Vista at home demanding they get to use it at work, too. Eventually, certain key business applications that require Vista, will force the most conservative of IT manager to move to the new operating system, but completely moving off XP may require as long as three years for firms to buy new machines to replace older machines incapable of running new Windows.
 

Additionally, there will be some machines that either cannot run Vista or would see performance below that of Windows XP. Those machines should stay on the older operating system until they are retired.

Overall, Windows Vista is a vast improvement over previous Microsoft operating systems.  However, as we’ve learned from every new technology – nothing is perfect. In order to properly rollout Vista, it is important to partner with someone familiar with the steps required. The right choice will provide the research and planning necessary to move your firm into the Vista world.

For more information about Windows Vista ask a member of your on-site engineering team or contact EveryNetwork today by calling 877-647-2262, emailing info@everynetwork.com, or by visiting www.everynetwork.com.

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One of the most exciting—and at the same time, most frustrating—things about information technology is how quickly changes occur. New hardware and software products continually emerge with new features claiming to make it easier for you and your employees to do your jobs. With this said, organizations usually follow one of these two “strategies” to upgrading.

Early adopter companies want to be on the cutting edge and have the latest and greatest technology. They tend to toss out their old systems and replace them with the new as soon as it's available.

Other companies, following the more conservative approach, go by the "If it ain't broke, don’t fix it" philosophy. They tend to hang onto their old tried-and-true technologies and upgrade only when forced to do so because a new feature set is absolutely required to get the job done—or more often, because the old machines finally break down and the currently available replacements don’t support the old software.

Neither approach is really a strategy at all. They are both reactive—the first driven by reaction to the marketing and the second driven by necessity. The smarter course is to develop a technology plan and timeline for upgrading, taking many factors into consideration, including scalability. A long-term technology plan must take into account future growth and changes anticipated by your company and the way those changes will affect your upgrade needs.

1. Categorize and prioritize

The first step in putting together your upgrade plan is to categorize and prioritize upgrades. Some categories of upgrade items include:

• Desktops/Laptops

• Peripherals (monitors, printers, etc.)

• Software

• Server hardware

• Server software

• Network devices (routers, switches, network printers)

• Network infrastructure (cabling, Internet connection)

Since you don’t have to upgrade all of the items in a category at the same time you may want to create subcategories. These could consist of "Client Software - Finance Department," "Client Software - Administration," and so forth. Similarly, software is a broad category and you may upgrade operating systems and/or specific applications while continuing to use older versions of other applications.

2. Set priorities

Once you’ve identified the categories and subcategories, prioritize them based on the cost/benefits ratio of upgrading each one. What items are stopping work from getting done as efficiently as it could be done with newer equipment and/or software?
 

While you may make some upgrades based on want more than need, it is important not to over upgrade. You should plan to give your users the hardware/software required to most effectively perform their job tasks.

3. Consider dependencies

Upgrading some categories may be dependent on upgrading other categories first. For example, you may not be able to upgrade your productivity applications until you first upgrade the operating system—and you might not be able to upgrade the operating system until you’ve upgraded the hardware. It can work the other way, too; if you upgrade the operating system, you might be forced to upgrade the productivity application since the old version doesn’t run well (or at all) on the new operating system. These dependencies affect your upgrade priorities and timelines.

4. Implement a phased rollout

Once you’ve decided to upgrade a particular category or subcategory, you need to be weary of what effects the upgrade may have on systems or your network. The best strategy is a phased upgrade. This approach allows you to first test with a small group of tech savvy partners and support staff. If the new hardware or software entails a learning curve, these users can serve as a resource for helping other users make the transition easier when you roll it out to the rest of the department or the rest of the company.

5. Keep it scalable

Your upgrade plan should be set out in writing, and you should get input from different departments and different levels of the organization to help you create a smooth plan that causes the least disruption. You’ll need to know about any plans for expansion (geographic as well as personnel) so you can include the additional locations and/or users in the upgrade plan. Likewise, you’ll need to know if any restructuring, consolidation, or personnel cuts are in the organization’s immediate future. It would be a waste of time and money to upgrade systems that will sit idle a few months down the road.

Upgrading can be a traumatic experience, but sooner or later it’s inevitable. Proper planning, with scalability in mind, can make the difference between a smooth deployment of nifty new technologies and an upgrade disaster.

As always, EveryNetwork can help—For more information on developing an upgrade plan or longer term technology planning, ask a member of your on-site engineering team or contact EveryNetwork today by calling 877-647-2262, emailing info@everynetwork.com or by visiting www.everynetwork.com.

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