The Hard Way or the Easy Way

Level 2 Technology Consultants recently got a nice contract converting 3000 computers from Windows XP to Windows 7. The change comes with Office 2010, a new AD, a new IP design, maybe Unified Communications / Exchange 2010, maybe SharePoint 2010, maybe Office Communicator, etc… This is a huge deployment and will form the core of a worldwide deployment. Out of this, we have confirmed a few things that can help the SMB owner facing this kind of technology rush.

Be patient – I mean take a deep breath and let it happen. The best and fastest rollouts happen when you know the most you can about the environment, and have all the pieces in place.

I will use a 250 person company as an example.  They are split into 5 working departments, and 3 sites.  In the past each site had its own IT staff and ran that location as their own world.  None of the sites agree on anything.  If one of the users doesn’t like what they get, they call the GM of the site who orders IT to “just do it!” so the GM doesn’t have to deal with the problem.  The new director of IT has decided to roll out Windows 7, SharePoint 2010, Unified Communications Exchange 2010, and Office 2010, plus the required infrastructure to make it work. At the end of the roll out, in 90 days, he begins using a payback system to turn IT from a sucking cash hole, into a responsible business unit.

(Sounds fun!  Or does this sound eerily like your last 10 staff meetings…)

So, from our example we see many issues need to be addressed early on in the deployment. As much as half of the time needs to be spent in discovery.  If things are very bad, more like 2/3′s of the schedule.  Why? Because now is where you learn of all the gotcha’s and unlicensed software, etc.  This is when you learn that site “B” is exclusively on Linux boxes, and Marketing at site “A” uses iMacs and just bought 10 at great expense.  Here is also where you find everyone is using a “freeware” app that isn’t because you are a business.  More time you have to find and get solutions, the quicker and smoother things go at the end.

Be consistent – Get your message and stick to it.  “Why should I change?” is easy to answer the first few times.  After the 37th excuse why not, it becomes harder.  New policies will need to be put into action.  A consistent stand on those will help everyone realize this is happening, and it will be good for everyone.  Anyone that says, “It won’t happen.  That’s not the way we do thing,” needs to be encouraged to see this will happen.  Their views are valid, but old thinking.

Be firm – Don’t let the Nay-sayers get you down.  If someone pulls an end-run and goes to the GM to get you to stop, go to the top.  Make everyone including the CIO and CEO follow the policies.  (Truth is, if they are seen to follow the new policies, everyone down the list will understand this is now the way it is to be done.)  The first few times may get ugly but being firm helps everyone, especially the C-level folks, see that this is for the best.  Remind everyone that this is a business, not a democracy. 

Be intelligent – Use the time you got wisely.  Set up your infrastructure during the discovery.  If you have your AD, printer, IP schemes, and Exchange servers ready, when the first PC is migrated, all the important features are there.  The long discovery period will give you time to put specific changes into place so the user is ready to go on day 1.  Phase the roll out in the same order as the discovery.  Create your policies to be flexible yet strong enough to survive a few people pushing on those policies.

Be understanding – Not everyone will be happy or ready to go through this process.  While you may have had 3 months to use and get used to the new systems, they have not.  Communications and training are the keys.  Let everyone know what is coming.  If you can, generate a good buzz among the user community.  If not, at least let them know what is happening so they are not surprised when the login screen changes.

Training, training, training.  Train before, train during, train after. Give everyone a chance to learn the new procedures and software.  And give them time to learn all the new things people can do with the systems.  Once your users realize the benefits, they become happier and are more likely to work with you than against you.

As for our example company, there are tools that will make sure they meet their deadline.  Because the infrastructure is in place, the user data on the network, including E-mail, can be migrated over night.  Next morning the user logs in, the upgrade is push down.  They find their data safe and in place when the upgrade is done.

For the business, in general, this is the Easy Way.  For IT, it can be quite hard, but that is why most of these guys and gals are in IT.  If given the backing, and resources, they will shine for you.

If you’d like more information about how Level 2 Technology Consultants can help you have a successful deployment, we would love to show you the Easy Way to better use of your IT dollar.

Advertisement