How resellers can help migrate to Windows 7

CRN: Why has Microsoft warned its enterprise customers recently that the migration path won't be easy
Walsh: There is an awful lot of effort required to get all applications tested for compatibility, get the deployment mechanisms in place, package new versions of applications and virtualise or move onto Terminal Services incompatible applications. 

It certainly does not simply involve a flick of a switch and running all those projects at once would create a significant drain on resources. 

For this reason, we are already seeing some of our customers running pilot programs on the release candidate of Windows 7 to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.

CRN: How can user environment management solutions ease the migration fear
Walsh: An environment manager solution manages the user data and user personalisation settings completely independent of the operating system. 

This gives you the ability to move around between platforms and migrate all the meaningful data seamlessly to the users themselves - settings, data and customisations.

This really does make migration a lot easier.

CRN: How can they effectively manage the user's desktop to ensure their profile data is quickly and easily migrated between operating systems
Walsh: We don't like to use the word "profiles", we prefer to call it the "personality" for the user. This is a term we have been using for a while and has now been picked up by Citrix and Microsoft. 

A user's personality extends beyond the Windows profile and into other areas of the operating system and includes those things unique to the user.  

Our personalisation technology effectively virtualises these user settings on a per application basis and delivers them "on-demand" as a separate layer on top of the operating system and applications.

This is all managed centrally giving complete redundancy and user rollback functionality.  IT departments can achieve complete granular control over their user settings and data, optimise and reduce profile bloat, as well as avoiding all the problems associated with traditional roaming profiles.

CRN: How can organisations experience a simple and rapid desktop upgrade
Walsh: Get started now!

They need to learn about the benefits and tools which are featured on Windows 7, but remember that a successful upgrade will depend on how quickly users are back up and running, so IT managers need to make sure they are prepared to make this process easy.  

CRN: How can resellers help organisations rest easy about migrating to Windows 7
Walsh: They need to talk to them now about the solutions that can help and start planning early.

Application virtualisation, imaging solutions and deployment tools all make up a piece of the puzzle and organisations need to decide which technologies are a fit for their business.

It is up to resellers and consultants to bring themselves up to speed on what technologies they can recommend to assist their customers move forward with a Windows 7 migration.