5 ways to prepare for deploying Windows Vista
install Windows Vista tips
By Rich Freeman
Rolling out a new operating system takes weeks and sometimes months of preparation. Ensure a good start to your Windows Vista migration by studying the new operating system's unique properties beforehand, creating a deployment plan, assessing information technology (IT) staffing needs, testing application compatibility, and making sure you have the right hardware in place to support it. Install Windows Vista tips:
In Summary:
| • | Provide IT staff with Windows Vista training, and experiment with Windows Vista in a lab environment before the deployment begins. |
| • | If your IT staff is already overburdened, start evaluating deployment partners now. |
| • | Take advantage of Microsoft tools to test application and hardware compatibility. |
Brett Nanninga, superintendent of the Tri-Center Community School District in rural southwestern Iowa, understands the importance of preparing for a test. That is why he had the district deep into deployment planning for Windows Vista months before Microsoft even finished the new operating system. "We knew it was coming," explains Nanninga. "We were just being proactive."
Efficiently deploying a new desktop operating system requires weeks and sometimes months of preparation. Regardless of when you plan to install Windows Vista, now is the time to begin preparing your people and infrastructure by taking these steps.
1. Start studying
IT professionals should quickly become familiar with Windows Vista, as some of its features will have a direct impact on the installation. For example, the new hardware-neutral imaging technology in Windows Vista enables you to support an entire organization with as few as one or two disk images, versus the dozens that previous versions of Windows required. That simplifies deployment, reduces the complexity of ongoing image management, and ultimately saves firms time and money, says Todd Pekats, director of strategic alliances at CompuCom Systems Inc., a solution provider headquartered in Dallas. In addition, the modular design of Windows Vista allows IT administrators to customize deployments more easily, by adding extra device drivers, for instance, or removing unneeded components such as games.
Microsoft provides a wide range of Windows Vista learning resources, but according to Mike Porter, Midwest area general manager for Microsoft's small and midsize business group, there is no substitute for hands-on experience. Organizations that are not evaluating Windows Vista already should begin downloading and testing it in a lab environment, he says.
2. Create a deployment plan
To ensure that your upgrade goes smoothly, take the time to build a detailed project plan, using the best-practices guidance in the Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment 2007.
Organizations planning to make other major changes to their PCs in the near term, such as deploying new applications, may benefit from having a single deployment plan covering everything, says Michael A. Silver, a research vice president at Stamford, Conn.-based analyst firm Gartner Inc. "It will make the project more complex and will be more expensive than doing just the operating system upgrade, but it will be less expensive than doing each project individually, and save [your staff] from having to touch the machines again," he says. Combined rollouts also mean combined training, which saves time and money.
3. Assess your staffing needs
Many midsize organizations find that one technician can manage an entire desktop operating system deployment on his own, Silver says, provided he is not distracted by other responsibilities.
If your IT staff is already overextended, however, consider bringing in temporary help or working with a deployment partner. Microsoft's Software Assurance maintenance offer includes free partner assistance through the Desktop Deployment Planning Services program. If you have Software Assurance, you have already paid for that benefit, Pekats notes, so be sure to take advantage of it.
4. Test application compatibility
Though most programs that run under Windows XP Service Pack 2 should run under Windows Vista, too, changes and new features in Windows Vista may affect application compatibility.
Ask your software vendors about any known issues and when fixes will be available, Silver counsels. Then follow that up with rigorous testing of your own. "You have to make sure what [the vendors] said was accurate," he adds.
The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit contains utilities you can use to manage the testing process. Incompatible systems are no reason to delay your Windows Vista migration, however, notes Arlin Sorensen, CEO and president of Harlan, Iowa-based integrator Heartland Technology Solutions Inc. Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, available for free starting in 2007, can run incompatible applications in virtual Windows XP or Windows 2000 sessions.
5. Check hardware readiness
Using the Windows Vista hardware planning guide to confirm that your PCs will support Windows Vista is another essential predeployment task. Upgrading machines that do not measure up is a viable option, but only if needed replacement parts are cheap and easily installed, Sorensen says. Otherwise, "it makes more sense to replace the box and get a new machine, with a current warranty and all that good stuff," he says.
The bottom line is that a successful Windows Vista rollout requires thorough preparation. "Planning is going to be the key," Sorensen notes. "You have got to have a strategy and know what problems to expect, so you can move efficiently if they arise."
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Measure the return on a Windows Vista investment The only way to determine return on investment is to weigh the benefits that Windows Vista's features and capabilities provide against the cost of deployment. For example, organizations whose employees store sensitive intellectual property or customer information on their laptops should consider the potential value of the BitLocker drive encryption technology in Windows Vista. BitLocker prevents unauthorized users from viewing data on lost or stolen PCs. Top reasons businesses are deploying Windows Vista: | • | Increased user productivity: New search tools and user interface help employees find information more easily. | | • | Improved security and reduced compliance costs: Windows Vista delivers a safer Web browsing experience, and provides enhanced event logging and auditing tools that ease the costs of regulatory compliance. | | • | Easier mobility: New wireless connection and mobile collaboration tools keep workers functioning effectively when they are away from the office. | | • | Lower infrastructure costs: Features such as the modular design of Windows Vista simplify deployment, management, and support, reducing IT overhead. |
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Rich Freeman is a Seattle-based freelance writer specializing in business and technology. He has more than 14 years of strategic marketing and communications experience in the IT industry.
