Should Your Company Migrate to Windows 7?

With the official public release of Windows 7, we get questioned constantly on the practicality of making the move to this new operating system. Migrating your entire company is never quick and easy.

Being personally been involved in migrating environments from Windows 95 all of the way to up to the current evolution of Windows (Windows 7), there has never been a time where it went 100% transitionally smooth. Some of the major aspects of consideration before migrating are:

  1. Cost vs. Value. It is very common for businesses to have older workstations in place. Often these systems are out of warranty. It costs money and resources to upgrade each computer. Be careful how much time and money you spend on an older system. Buying a new computer with the new operating system may be a better investment.
  2. End user training. A typical soft-cost that is often overlooked is the time involved in retraining staff and loss of productivity during this process. New operating systems mean new look, feel, and functionality. Training is a very real cost. Oftentimes this cost is difficult to estimate since some users are more tech-savvy than others. For the most part, people do not like change – especially on their systems.
  3. Application compatibility. Software developers like to take their time in making sure they have a version of their product that is compatible with the latest version of the operating system. Just because a new version of Windows is out, doesn’t mean your business applications will function properly. Take care to discuss these issues with your software company and IT provider before making the move.
  4. Licensing costs. Be sure to discuss with your Michigan IT consulting partner the best ways to purchase your operating systems and licensing as there are many discount programs available.

With appropriate planning in place, a successful OS migration can be done in as little as a weekend with only minor support required starting on Monday morning. Without the proper planning, however, you can experience major business interruptions, loss of time, money, and productivity. Talk to a reputable Michigan computer services firm before taking the dive. Performing upgrades to your operating system is something you can’t put off forever. Use the services of a trusted business IT partner and you’ll discover potential headaches can be kept to a minimum.

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