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A strategic approach
to Windows 7 migration

About the authors

Barry Angell is CTO and co-founder of

Juriba. He has a wealth of practical
experience of enterprise Windows
migrations, and is personally
responsible for driving the roadmap
and strategic vision for the Dashworks
product suite.
Barry was previously a senior level
manager at JPMorganChase, with a
budget of $24million and global
responsibility for desktop systems.
Using his expertise in automation, he
personally oversaw successful rollouts
and infrastructure transformation
internationally.
e: barry.angell@juriba.com
t: +44 (0)207 873 2225
Follow me @JuribaUK
Alex Topitsch is the CEO of
Futurestate IT. He is a proven leader
and technologist with 15 years of
experience leading a successful IT
consulting company, with clients
across the government, financial and
manufacturing verticals among
others.
He is an established thought leader
in the IT infrastructure space, and a
trusted advisor with respect to
emerging technology and trends. He
has a deep understanding of the
strategic and architecture challenges
IT departments face, and is a
seasoned speaker at industry events.
e: alex.topitsch@futurestateit.com
t: 1 888 424 9068

Join us both in the LinkedIn Windows

7 Project Management group

INTRODUCTION
In this brief strategic guide we take a look at the real world challenges faced by
organisations faced with Windows 7 migration projects, with a particular focus on
preparation ahead of the project. We demonstrate how different organisations are
approaching these issues, and how these can translate into best practice approaches. We
also demonstrate how Juribas Dashworks and FutureState ITs AppRx could be used to
automate, simplify and reduce the cost of similar projects.
Who should read this guide
This guide is intended for CIOs, CTOs and IT directors who want to understand the
preparations needed to achieve successful, large-scale Windows 7 migrations at minimal cost
and risk.
It also provides useful background information for CFOs and finance directors who would like
to understand some of the economics associated with migration, and for programme and
project managers responsible for desktop transformation.

Overview
Windows 7 is the fourth major corporate desktop migration in history (Windows 3.1, Windows
NT, Windows XP, Windows 7). Most organisations skipped Windows Vistai, although, as
consolation for those that did go through the process, Gartner has pointed out that migration
from Windows Vista to Windows 7 will probably be only around a quarter of the cost of
migration directly from Windows XPii.
Each of these migrations has provided opportunities to rationalise asset usage (software and
hardware), to refresh and transform infrastructure, and to automate repetitive processes. As
with any major transformation, evangelists and early adopters were able to develop strong
arguments as to why organisations should move to Windows 7, such as reductions in cost of
ownership and improved management. At the launch of Windows 7, for example, Microsofts
own research indicated common demands for tighter control of authorised applications and
better remote access as key driversiii.
Now, with end-of-support for Windows XP scheduled for April 2014, the business case for
transformation has developed into a must-do activity, and with transformation projects
estimated to take up to two years it is simply not practical to defer any longer. According to a
Forrester survey in 2011, 93 per cent of enterprises plan to complete their migrations to
Windows 7 by April 2014iv, so on the face of it things are more-or-less on target.
The problem is that desktop migration has always been a cost to the business. Upgrade
programs have historically been expensive and disruptive, and arguably few corporate
migrations actually achieve the lower total cost of ownership (TCO) benefits originally
envisaged. Fortunately, with Windows 7 having been in the field for over two years, there is
now a well-established pool of expertise and real-life experience that can make the transition
as smooth as possible, although finding those resources and working to what is now a very
tight deadline will still be difficult for many enterprises.

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Drawing upon third party best practice, as well as our own experience of managing large-scale
desktop migrations, this document aims to highlight the key considerations enterprises need to
take into account when planning Windows 7 projects. It has been written from an independent
and pragmatic perspective. Yes, Juriba and FutureState IT have products to sell Dashworks
and AppRx but they are merely tools that can be used to help with managing the process;
they do not, in themselves, change any of the preparatory steps an organisation should take
when preparing to migrate.

Key challenges of migrating to Windows 7

Interdependencies

Many IT organisations
do not appreciate the
interdependencies of the
desktop environment

On a computer-by-computer basis, the migration of a PC to Windows 7 is relatively simple to

achieve. In enterprises, problems arise because of shared interdependencies: process and
logistics, departments, locations and so on. Indeed, according to Lucian Lipinsky de Orlov, ...
the term desktop migration is in fact a euphemism for the full re-engineering of desktops,
laptops and all related management systems. Many IT organisations do not appreciate the
interdependencies of the desktop environment, so they take the overall effort for granted.v
As an example, say you are tasked with migrating a department of 1,000 users. 150 of those
users share an application with a second department, which cannot itself upgrade because it
relies on a separate application that wont be supported on Windows 7 for another six months.
100 of these users work on an important time critical application which means they cant
migrate between Thursday and Sunday, and they share data with 200 more users in another
department, which needs moving to a new storage infrastructure. Your network can only
handle 50 concurrent desktop migrations, your hardware manufacturer cannot deliver new
computers for 10 days, and an application you believed to be compatible with Windows 7 just
failed business unit testing.
This may seem extreme, but it gives a flavour of the realities of desktop transformation. In very
large organisations the problem will be amplified by thousands of users across many sites. The
result is often a programme deployment timeline that looks like the one below:

The one-off nature of migration to Windows 7

Windows 7 is likely to
be the last version of
Microsoft OS that gets
deployed to everybody
through big corporatewide migration

For well over two years, IT analysts have been promoting desktop and application virtualisation
as the end to the desktop migration challenge. By virtualising your desktops, you simply roll
forwards and backwards to a new operating system. Application virtualisation further
accelerates this process by abstracting the application from other applications, reducing
integration testing.
What does this mean in practice? It means there will never be another project like Windows 7
migration. Annette Jump of Gartner states Windows 7 is likely to be the last version of
Microsoft OS that gets deployed to everybody through big corporatewide migration. In the
future, many organizations will also use alternative client computing architectures for standard
PCs with Windows OS, and move toward virtualisation and cloud computing in the next five
years.vi
According to companies like Dell, this boom and bust cycle also creates other issues because
...this is the first major OS transition in the last eight years...[organisations] are also faced with
a variety of other migration challenges many have never faced before. Lack of governance over
application libraries, application and browser compatibility issues... preparing for cloud
computing, and application and desktop virtualisation are among IT managers biggest
concerns.vii

A strategic approach to Windows 7 migration | Juriba.com | FutureStateIT.com

Windows 7 migration
provides an excellent
(and increasingly rare)
opportunity for
enterprises to rethink
their client-side
deployment and
configuration

Indeed, it is the application estate that possibly represents the greatest opportunity for change.
However, as a result of tighter IT budgets over the last decade, many organizations focused on
delivering new functionality, instead of keeping existing applications well maintained and
current. The result of this strategy has meant accumulating efforts required to bring all the
applications up to date with this migration. Gartner refers to this deferred liability as IT debt.
It further estimates that with the global IT debt of $500 billion back in 2010, the number will
potentially rise to $1 trillion by 2015xxiii.
The unfortunate reality is that many organizations continue to borrow and increase their IT
debt. Without a detailed application inventory, they are unaware of this growing liability. As
organizations continue to add new applications, and application vendors continue to upgrade to
keep in step with the newest operating systems, organizations are facing escalating systemic
risks and possible mission critical application failures.
Virtualisation creates its own problems
The reality is that migrations to Windows XP were complex and costly, and migration from
Windows XP to Windows 7 with virtualisation will be even worse. Not every end user is a
candidate for virtualisation which means multi-mode operation. There are thousands of legacy
PCs and applications running Windows XP that cannot support Windows 7. Whats more, not
every application is a candidate for virtualisation for performance and incompatibility reasons.
According to Intelviii, there are seven different desktop virtualisation methods and no one size
fits all for an organisation. Both desktop and application virtualisation require new
management tool infrastructure, software purchase and operational skills. Virtualisation
involves a greater level of complex testing than a forklift migration, and requires creation and
maintenance of new supporting processes.
How far are you prepared to go with your project?
If Windows 7 migration is a project to be embraced with reluctance and out of necessity, can it
be a real catalyst for root-and-branch change? Or will it result in organisations trying to boil the
ocean (in that overused phrase)? The answer depends on pragmatic analysis before the project
is planned.
IDCs position is clear: IDC believes that a Windows 7 migration provides an excellent (and
increasingly rare) opportunity for enterprises to rethink their client-side deployment and
configuration. This migration offers the mechanism to add new functionality and efficiencies to
existing computing environments by using features new to Windows 7 and through a collection
of modern third-party solutions that add value...ix
Ryan McCune at Avanade agrees: Smart CIOs will take this opportunity to use the Windows 7
refresh as an opportunity to reduce desktop TCO and transform desktop change from a highcost and disruptive event to a smooth, business-as-usual activity.x
So the advice is to transform and go as deep with your changes as your budget, skills and
resources will allow. Your Windows 7 migration may well be a chance to fix all the things that
are broken in your desktop environment and to rationalise systems and applications. Similarly,
it is a chance to fix broken processes. For example, instead of a project-based approach to
application management, enterprises should work towards keeping application versions
current, and managing the application portfolio on an ongoing basis to make it easier next time.
The perfect desktop transformation
If companies facing desktop migration are, once again, faced with a long, expensive, disruptive
project, we need to start changing the thinking to a more strategic approach. This involves
setting an aspirational deployment timeline at the outset of the project.
1800

Data Driven Deployment Project

1600

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1400
V 1200
O
L 1000
U
M 800
E

600
400
200
0

10

MONTH

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

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Planning and managing enterprise Windows 7 migrations

Most analysts and vendors are consistent in their estimates of the timeframe needed to
migrate an enterprise to Windows 7: 12 to 18 months (Gartner)xi,12 to 18 months (Forrester/
Dell)xii, six to 18 months (HP)xiii, 18 months to 2 years (Citrix).xiv
Start with your most important questions.
What is your scope?

Your programmes
plans, identified processes
and desktop architecture
will change as the project
progresses

What budget do you need?

How will your governance work?
How will you approach the migration?
What are the big programme rules?
How will you communicate?
Architect
While there are many common elements to a Windows 7 migration project, in our opinion not
enough attention is given to the architecture phase. As noted above, this is a critical exercise as
de Orlov states, and you should be prepared to accept that your programmes plans, identified
processes and desktop architecture will change as the project progresses. If you wait for
absolutely final and complete solutions, then timelines will slip and costs will increase while
progress all but halts.xv
In our experience, however, it is exactly this failure to architect a final solution that causes
many enterprise level migrations to fail. Were not saying that you need to nail down every last
process, but your goal should be that your target architecture and processes change only
minimally from beginning to end. By accepting that major change will happen, you are almost
encouraging your programme to continue to research and develop whilst it should be
concentrating on readying and deploying. Organisations that get the architecture phase correct
are placing themselves on an excellent footing to succeed with the remainder of their plans.
This is our checklist of all the major areas of disruption you should address during the
architecture phase, in order to determine your high-level budget.

Engineering
64-bit Computing

Internet Explorer / browser upgrade

Build image

Business unit applications testing

Desktop/Application virtualisation

Process

Security model review

Readiness management

Desktop management system impact

Task & process definition

Inventory collection

Automation

Applications Management

Intelligent end user platform decision

Application discovery & usage

Workflow system automation

Application currency & licensing

Deployment toolset automation

Application rationalisation

Business Engagement

Application virtualisation

Communications plan

Application compatibility testing

End-user self-service

Application redevelopment

How much time will you allocate to each effort? What will it (roughly) cost for each item in
procurement and resource? When do you want to start each activity?

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Programme structure
Following the architecture phase, Intels programme structurexvi is a good place to start.

This model assumes the migration is a central push. In our experience, the most successful
migrations involve location or business accountability or responsibility. In most large enterprises
these elements are of significant importance. Intels model is a good start in getting you
technically to Windows 7, but it may not get you politically to Windows 7. Push models can
create a them and us situation between the programme and the business, which in turn drives
additional cost. We would suggest the project takes account of workstreams, typically covering
the following high level functions:
Project/Programme management
Engineering
Applications management
Infrastructure
Deployment
Communications
Command and control
Operations
Business engagement
Governance

Roles and
responsibilities should
be defined and
structured, with the
needed outcomes of the
programme in mind

Using the programme structure as a baseline, you can start to build your critical governance
model. As IBM notes, this is achieved through a combination of the right individuals, an
effective structure for management and oversight, and a set of programme roles and
responsibilities. Roles and responsibilities should be defined and structured, with the needed
outcomes of the programme in mind, and to fit within the management philosophy and
enterprise approach.xvii
Key roles and responsibilities are, of course, executive sponsor(s), steering committee,
administration and project management. In our experience, it is vital to have the right people,
with genuine commitment to the project if it is not to stall. Wed also suggest that targets and
incentives could be put in place to help drive behaviour. The high level establishment and
agreement on big programme rules is also key to efficient governance. Here are some examples
from recent transformation projects:
All administrator level users get the applications they are entitled to, not what is installed
on their machine
User desktops will be virtualised providing they meet criteria X and Y (e.g. SysTrack virtual
candidate = Yes and all applications are compatible with AppV)
Desktops > 4 years old will be replaced
Applications required by less than 5 users will not be packaged
All applications will be virtualised on technology X. If not compatible, deliver via fat client
MSI. If not compatible, host on Citrix XP farm.
Users can only be scheduled for migration a minimum of 14 days in advance
Users rescheduled within seven days of migration receive a penalty fee of $x

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Technology strategy
Some workers require simplicity and standardisation, while others require high performance
and personalisation. Its crucial to understand these workloads, as any ROI gains on
virtualisation could be wiped by increased management costs (such as multiple tools doing the
same job for fat/thin client). The more you change the more it will cost initially.
Frankly, there are almost too many technology options, and things can come unstuck without a
centralised approach. Many technology companies offer strategic and point solutions that
address desktop migration, and some integrate better than others. Considerations for your
technology strategy include:
Strategic platform solutions
Desktop management (deployment, provisioning and inventory)
Desktop virtualisation
Application virtualisation
Migration driven solutions (you could argue that these may become strategic in time)
Data warehousing & business intelligence
User profile and data migration
Application discovery and usage tracking
Application currency and compatibility
Application readiness workflow
Project and change management
Service solutions
Programme/project management
Application packaging
Physical deployment
This is not an exhaustive list. What is does indicate is that there are plenty of options to be
considered and that they should be evaluated against your priorities. Juriba is an independent
business and works with companies providing a huge variety of different solutions. From our
perspective no single organisation has all the answers, but we would always recommend that
you research thoroughly your technology and migration strategy.
Resourcing
How you balance outsourced or in-house resource will have a significant effect on the cost of a
project. This decision boils down to three main questions:
Do you have the technology and project/programme management skills and available
resourcing levels in-house?
Does your resource have the time to take on this migration successfully?
Is your migration strategy a project or business-as-usual based approach?

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Most firms...may lack

the key personnel who
led these projects
previously

As Dell says, Lets face it; most organisations dont have extra IT resources to turn to for
inventorying, testing, and remediating their applications for Windows 7 or next years Windows
8. In fact, most firms that are largely standardised on Windows XP, havent been through a
similar effort in five years or more and may lack the key personnel who led these projects
previously.xviii Ask any of the major service integrators and they will tell you that you do not
have the skills to do this on your own; but then they would, wouldnt they? Only you know
what skills and resources you can apply to the programme.
Camwood, an applications specialist, says that one of the most common mistakes in Windows 7
migration is ...asking outsourcers to do what they are not built to do, suggesting in the
application space that packaging and sequencing apps have become commoditised services,
often performed in bulk by outsourcers. Thats a good thing. But bulk outsourcers arent set up
to do the up-front discovery, planning and validation work thats essential for a successful
migration. In other words: even the best outsource packagers in the world are only as good as
the information you give them.xix

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The answer is to identify the gaps within your in-house capability, covering:
Project/programme management
Solution engineering
Application rationalisation, currency and compatibility, remediation, packaging and testing
Readiness logistics
Deployment
One consideration at this point is that outsourcers may negotiate on a fixed fee per application
or per desktop deployment. If your migration looks like it will be hugely complex, you may wish
to back off some of the variable cost risk to an outsourcer for specific functions.
Process

The trap is that basing

migration on a one-toone level can fail in a
complex migration with
thousands of moving
parts

A good end-to-end process will enable accountability and responsibility definition; an

understanding of dependencies, a clear timeline definition and targeted task automation.
Many service integrators and analysts focus on the technical process of moving a user to
Windows 7. The trap is that technology is rarely the reason behind large scale migration failure.
Success is a collaboration between people, process and technology and your programme
approach should reflect that.
As an example technical process, here is desktop migration as defined by HPxx:
1.

Discover your users, hardware, and software applications

2.

Associate the user to workstations and applications to produce useful client segmentation

3.

Designing the architecture to determine the right solutions for each user segment

4.

Conduct application compatibility testing

5.

Design remediation strategies

6.

Communicate with users, migration teams, and your key business stakeholders

7.

Approve software and hardware changes

8.

Implement deployment, user training, and user support

As processes go, this is quite a good technical one, outlining the critical steps for one computer
(or a group of identical users) to be migrated to a new operating system. For a large
organisation, the challenge is that technical process alone does not scale. We would argue that
you must define process by understanding all of your goals, drivers and big rules, and that
processes are interdependent and must be fully agreed and documented.
Wed recommend building process around outcomes. As de Orlov someone with years of
desktop migration expertise puts it, you should: ...define an unambiguous migration process.
All the extended team members, including the application developers, the packaging team and
the testing team, must understand what theyre expected to do and when they need to do it.
The verifiable outcomes for each phase must be defined so that the end of one step and the
beginning of another can be clearly tracked and measured. Accountability will help the
programme achieve major milestones.xxi
Business engagement
Outside of the odd training plan, end users are often seen as a distraction rather than an
integral part of the programme. This is a critical mistake. In large organisations, the perception
of the entire project can be hugely influenced by a small number of vociferous individuals.
What goes wrong?
Businesses are not engaged early enough in the process
Top level programme sponsorship is not clear
Deployment schedules are often driven by IT
Businesses are not accountable for deployment success
In the best projects, there is a shared responsibility for success between IT and the business.
Both areas experience the pain and success of the desktop transformation, and much of the
political noise is kept below the levels where programme perception can become a problem.

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Business engagement can also be enhanced through the use of self service. By encouraging
your business contacts, and possibly your end users to participate in the migration readiness
and scheduling process, the likelihood of success is increased significantly. This can be as simple
as great communication, or as complex as application validation, scheduling and even selfservice migration, but whatever you decide, the business and end users will appreciate the
involvement. After all, it is their personal computer environment that you are changing.
Application discovery and inventory

Combined with
hardware and software
inventory, application
usage information
enables organisations to
plan their desktop
transformation projects

Successful Windows 7 migration is often about how you manage the applications. Knowing
what you have and whether it is current is the critical first step. In the past 10 years, the
majority of large companies have invested in desktop management tools such as like Microsoft
SCCM and Symantec Altiris to inventory their workstation estate, . Your organisation probably
already has a good level of inventory data, but it is sadly true that a many organisations either
do not trust this data, or want to explore to a lower level of granular detail than is available.
One area that can help speed up the decision as to which applications to take forward to
Windows 7 is to discover application usage within your organisation. As Centrix put it:
Combined with hardware and software inventory, application usage information enables
organisations to plan their desktop transformation projects with a high degree of confidence.xxii
If most companies feel that they have a good handle on workstation inventory, it is the
application inventory that concerns most project managers, and the inability to get a concise
application list that they can manage. This has led to an explosion in the discovery tools and
application usage market.
Pros and Cons of application discovery tools
Application discovery can be a road to enlightenment, but beware of putting all your eggs in
this particular basket. If you already have good entitlement, install and currency data through
your current tools, you may already have enough baseline data to get your project started. Full
application discovery can take significant time, not just in collecting data, but often in analysing
and making sense of it afterwards. But there are also great benefits in undertaking this work.
Pros
With application usage data driving your end user application migration lists, you can
rationalise the application estate, recover licenses, and subsequently reduce the application
readiness effort
You can analyse suitability for virtualisation based on performance metrics
You can capacity plan the transformed environment, especially if using a server based
computing model (some discovery tools have this functionality)
They can build a more complete database than inventory tools, as they often capture
internet applications, and will inventory everything launched on each PC
Many include a titling engine that can help to identify legacy application versions in the
environment which can be compared to an application currency analysis
Cons
Most tools track executable launches this means you can end up with a forest of data that
its difficult to analyse effectively without a lot of manual classification work
Many organisations manage and migrate application packages (MSIs), and it can be
extremely difficult to match executables to application packages (particularly where the
executable lives in more than one package). Hit rates of just 20-40% can be common.
Most discovery tools require an agent rollout and all that entails.

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Most tools require at least 30 days of data collection to build a lifelike activity database
Before embarking on a discovery programme, you must consider how you intend to utilise this
data. Imagine you had a full list of all the applications in your estate, who used them and on
what machine. Now think about how this links to your managed infrastructure how are you
going to combine what your users are using with what they are entitled to?
A common mistake is that organisations think that by simply collecting data, their project will kick
start. The reality is that youve just collected a lot of data, and now you have a huge database. As
with all tools, the trick is how you are going to turn this data into useful project information.

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Application analysis
Since applications management has such an essential part to play in successful desktop
transformation, we asked the professionals in the field to corroborate our own analysis.

55% of respondents
identified application
readiness as the main
blocker to desktop
migration

In results obtained through the Windows 7 project management LinkedIn group 36% of those
surveyed believe application discovery and rationalization can best accelerate desktop
transformation. Furthermore, 55% of respondents believe that application readiness is the main
blocker to successful migration projects.xxv
The question being asked is How do you assess your application portfolio so that you can get
from the current state to Windows 7, and beyond? For most organisations it is an issue. For
large organisations, managing tens of thousands of applications, it is a huge area of concern that
needs a proper plan of action. Manually testing and identifying a course of action for each
application is a time consuming and costly process that is simply not viable for many project
teams.
Whilst by no means exhaustive, here is a short list of critical activities that can accelerate
application assessment:
1. Rationalise the number of applications
In large enterprises, it is typical that multiple versions of applications and multiple applications
performing the same function exist. When applications are rationalized down to only the
essential ones and only for users that need to use them, it means less applications to migrate and
maintain going forward. Equally, many organisations have hundreds of applications that are used
by fewer than five people. It may be worth putting a programme in place to ask the pertinent
question as to whether these applications are needed.
2. Analyse the currency of the applications that remain to find out which versions are vendor
supported
Identifying if an application is certified for Windows 7 as-is, or if an upgrade is available, means a
clear migration path can be mapped and tasks scheduled accordingly.
3. Perform Windows 7 compatibility testing
Performing a deep dive testing of applications that require further investigation means you will
be able to answer questions such as: can the application be repackaged or virtualised, does the
application need redevelopment or should it be replaced/retired completely?
Once these critical steps are completed, you will be able to create a forward path application
roadmap that you can follow prior to your migration and user acceptance testing phase. As a
result, you will be reducing risk, timeline, cost, and driving your migration project towards
success.
Yet more analysis
Unfortunately, Windows 7 and virtual migration is rarely just about the applications. When
analysing compatibility, it is a combination of applications and hardware that will give you your
answer on who to target first. Ideally, having the facility to be able to perform this analysis on
demand, and in sync with your live environment changes will bring significant value towards
identifying your initial deployment forecast. Not only this, but aligning your analysis to your
departments and locations is also a critical component in moving forward with your migration.
But remember, analysis is there for just one thing - to help you plan the most efficient migration
path. Without the understanding of what to do with the data, and how to map your most
efficient route to deployment, great analysis is just a bunch of data.

A strategic approach to Windows 7 migration | Juriba.com | FutureStateIT.com

Summary
The advent of virtualisation suggests there will never be another migration like Windows 7. The
complexity of this particular migration is determined by the sheer scale and shared
interdependencies common to most enterprises.
Windows 7 migration is therefore an opportunity for root-and-branch change, fixing everything
thats wrong, while reducing cost. Rationalising systems and applications in this way makes it
essential to carry out a high-level architecture phase before the project itself commences. It
also means that setting a stable course for your project and a properly agreed strategic
approach will lay the foundations for migration success.
With most projects lasting 18-24 months, involve the business, dont just push out from the
centre. Good governance will involve the right people, sensible targets and practical incentives.
Remember that no single technology developer or vendor has the magic bullet that will cover
everything you need - nobody knows your organisation better than you.
While applications lie at the heart of a Windows 7 migration project, you cant just carry out
discovery without knowing how youre going to use the data. Yes, your migration process will
begin with discovery and end with business-as-usual, but it must be focused on solid outcomes.
Use outsourcers to fill gaps in in-house capability and to perform routine, commoditised
services, but dont necessarily ask them to take on discovery, validation and planning without
internal resource supporting them.
Ensure you have a centralised, auditable view of progress as the project rolls out, and that
youre not reliant on disparate notes, spreadsheets and information locked in the heads of key
individuals. Most of all, find a way to centralise your business intelligence. Common objectives
are most successfully driven by a common platform and resource, and that can only be
achieved through highly efficient project and programme management.

Project rollout and beyond

This document is focused on preparation for Windows 7 migration, and we will go into detail
about managing the project itself and the return to business-as-usual in future white papers.
But in the interest of keeping everything in context, here is a brief checklist for most projects.
Youll find much more information in our Further Reading list.
Change management and process refinement: a Windows 7 migration is like any other
project, and theres always room for continuous improvement
Internal communications: users are precious about their desktop machines and what they
can and cant do with them, so keep them informed and encourage active participation and
a clear support structure throughout the transition period

The customer estimated

that it had saved 15 per
cent in both project time
and overall cost

When moving into business-as-usual, there are always remediation issues so its vital to
have a clear view of where problems have occurred, where things have gone smoothly, and
the scale of any issues. With such a long project cycle its impossible to rely on such
information being in the heads of the project team, which is why a centralised and
auditable view of progress is essential.

How Dashworks helps Windows 7 migrations

As will be clear from this document, at Juriba, we believe thorough preparation is the key to
successful, pain-free Windows 7 migrations. Our flagship product, Dashworks, is the result of
years of accumulated knowledge and experience in actively managing large-scale desktop
migrations.

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Dashworks firstly assists with aggregating, sorting and making sense of your applications,
hardware inventory and staffing. It integrates directly with all the leading discovery and analysis
software products to create a unique single view snapshot to help guide your project planning.
During the project management phase, Dashworks is an easy-to-use tool to schedule, track and
assess progress on every application, on every machine, for every user. From a single console,
you have an auditable guide to your progress, indicating where things might need to be rolled
back or where they can be pushed out according to your available resources. Its simple traffic
light interface means that, with the addition of the Dashworks agent, user migration can
effectively become self-service.

A strategic approach to Windows 7 migration | Juriba.com | FutureStateIT.com

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With nearly one million end user migrations already delivered in some of the most complex
global companies like RBS, JPMorganChase and Fujitsu Dashworks has been proven as an
ideal baseline project data warehouse and migration readiness management tool.
Gartner estimates the cost of migration at between $1,000 and $1,900 per device, but weve
seen examples where the cost is nearer $2,200 excluding hardware spend. With such large
numbers at stake, we were delighted when one of our customers benchmarked Dashworks
against traditional spreadsheet-based methods of managing their transformation. The customer
estimated that it had saved 15 per cent in both project time and overall cost, and northwards
of 50% project management time was recovered.
You can find out much more at www.juriba.com

How AppRx helps simplify ongoing applications management

Application portfolio assessment is an important step in the Windows 7 migration project as
well as ongoing application management. Gartner has found that customers using paid tools
for their Windows 7 migration initiative have reduced application testing time by more than
40%xxiv.
AppRx helps an organization create a complete picture of the application portfolio currently
under management. It is used to guide what approach to take for each application, whether it
be rationalization, version upgrade, repackage, virtualisation, redevelop, or retire.
The solution is SaaS-based and highly adaptable. The collaborative testing platform allows you
to speed up the migration, and get greater insight into potential compatibility issues. AppRx is
a powerful application management tool that automates and simplifies your application
management process. It is a great tool for the Windows 7 migration project, and an even more
compelling ongoing solution for managing your application portfolio and keeping on top of the
constantly evolving application life cycle.
You can find out much more at www.futurestateit.com

Further reading
There are plenty of resources in the public domain that can help with Windows 7 migration
project planning. Here are a few of our favourites.
Best Practices for Migrating a Large Enterprise to Microsoft Windows 7. Rajavelu, Eylon and
Duncan Intel, Oct 2010
Windows 7 Deployment. Gillen and ODonnell IDC, Dec 2009
Windows 7 Migration Tips and Tricks: Special Report Network World, June 2011
Windows 7 Migration: Inevitable and Necessary Security Innovation and TechTarget, 2011
Windows 7 Migration Guide (Supplement to Dell Power Solutions 1/2010) Dell, 2010
Windows 7 migration challenges and best practices for large enterprise and public sector Dell,
2011
Windows 7 Commercial Adoption Outlook. Gray and Kane Forrester, Nov 2010
Application Migration Intelligence Camwood
Avoiding the 8 common mistakes of Windows 7 migration Dell, 2011
Cost Model: Migration to Windows Vista and Windows 7. Silver Gartner 2009
Windows 7 Migration: Formulating a Smart Application Compatibility Testing and Remediation
Strategy Flexera Software, 2011
Ten essentials for migrating enterprise desktops to Windows 7 TechTarget, 2011
Eleven Mistakes in Windows 7 Migration Camwood

WHITE PAPER

Windows 7 Done Right: From Migration to Implementation. Healey, Cushing and Anderson
IDC, July 2010
Preparing for your Windows 7 Migration Centrix Software
The Economics of Desktop Transformation Centrix Software
Windows 7 Migrations: An Industry View of Enterprise Application Compatibility ChangeBASE,
July 2011

A strategic approach to Windows 7 migration | Juriba.com | FutureStateIT.com

11

WHITE PAPER

Windows 7 migration challenges and best practices for large enterprise and public sector
(Forrester survey) Dell, 2011
An enterprise view of migrating to Windows 7: A CIOs guide to stepping off the rollercoaster
McCune, November 2009

References
i

In various Gartner polls and surveys, 80 per cent of respondents report skipping Windows Vista. Michael Silver, Analyst,
Gartner, June 2010

ii

Cost Model: Migration to Windows Vista and Windows 7. Silver Gartner 2009

iii

Windows 7 made easier with Citrix XenDesktop Citrix, 2009

iv

Windows 7 migration challenges and best practices for large enterprise and public sector (Forrester survey) Dell, 2011

http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/feature/The-basics-of-planning-an-enterprise-desktop-migration-to-Windows-7

vi

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1378413

vii https://marketing.dell.com/Global/FileLib/Win7/win-7-migration.pdf
viii Understanding Desktop Virtualization Intel, 2010
ix

Windows 7 Done Right: From Migration to Implementation. Healey, Cushing and Anderson IDC, July 2010

An enterprise view of migrating to Windows 7: A CIOs guide to stepping off the rollercoaster. McCune Avenade, July 2009

xi

http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?id=1279113&ref=g_noreg

xii Windows 7 migration challenges and best practices for large enterprise and public sector (Forrester survey) Dell, 2011
xiii HP Client Migration Services HP, November 2010
xiv Windows 7 made easier with Citrix XenDesktop Citrix, 2009
xv http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/feature/The-basics-of-planning-an-enterprise-desktop-migration-to-Windows-7
xvi Best Practices for Migrating a Large Enterprise to Microsoft Windows 7. Rajavelu, Eylon and Duncan Intel, Oct 2010
xvii http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/apr05/hanford/#N100A7
xviii Windows 7 migration challenges and best practices for large enterprise and public sector Dell, 2011
xix Eleven Mistakes in Windows 7 Migration Camwood
xx HP Client Migration Services HP, November 2010
xxi http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/feature/The-basics-of-planning-an-enterprise-desktop-migration-to-Windows-7
Lucian Lipinsky de Orlov
xxii The Economics of Desktop Transformation Centrix Software
xxiii

Gartner Newsroom, ID1439513, September 2010

xxiv Applications Compatibility Assessment Tools for Windows 7 Migrations - Gartner, December 2010
xxv http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Windows-7-Project-Management-3978963?gid=3978963&trk=hb_side_g

About Juriba

About FutureState IT

Juriba is a Microsoft partner, developing

software to help enterprise organisations
migrate between Microsoft desktop
platforms. Our unique approach to
Windows 7 project management has
delivered readiness analysis for over 750,000
users across the globe. Our Dashworks
software continues to accelerate desktop
transformation work in every industry sector.

Futurestate IT is a Microsoft partner,

providing innovative application
management solution to organizations
worldwide. Futurestate ITs AppRx helps
rapidly assess, plan and execute application
migrations for Windows 7, Server 2008, IE8
and 9, evaluate virtualization for App-V or
XenApp, as well as keep applications current
on an ongoing basis.

For More Information

For More Information

Telephone:
UK/Europe +44 (0) 207 873 2225

Telephone:
1-888-424-9068

Email:
info@juriba.com

Email:
info@futurestateit.com

Website:
www.juriba.com

Website:
www.futurestateit.com

Copyright 2012 Juriba Limited and FutureState IT Inc. All rights reserved. Juriba, dashworks and the dashworks logo are
registered trademarks of Juriba Limited. Futurestate IT and AppRx logos are registered trademarks of Futurestate IT Inc. No
part of this document may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the authors.

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