Managing Windows Vista Migration

Are your company's desktops and laptops ready for a Vista migration? How many licenses would you need? Without a clear view of your IT assets, you may be unsure how to proceed with the migration. But you're sure you don't have the budget to purchase new hardware for computers that aren't Vista ready.

Some of the commercial applications your users rely on won't run with Vista, and most enterprise machines don't meet Vista's minimum system requirements. You can't afford downtime during a long and expensive migration. And you certainly don't want to eat up IT budget with licenses you don't need and hardware you can't use. Sound familiar?

Get the information you need without the headache. Novell ZENworks Configuration Management delivers a highly accurate inventory of enterprise hardware and software, including remote devices.

You need thorough information about your existing hardware, software and licenses before you can get started. Without that information, you know you would spend more on hardware than you need to, and would end up with licenses you won't use. Your biggest concern, however, is user productivity. You can't risk the migration throwing users into the dark because of non-compatible applications. You have to know which applications employees are using so you can target users whose applications and machines are Vista ready. Sounds like a recipe for disaster? That's where Novell comes in.

Automated Hardware and Software Inventory

With our Systems Management solutions, you are able to find innovative, affordable products to meet your company's migration needs. With Novell ZENworks® Configuration Management you can inventory your enterprise hardware and software—from desktops to laptops and mobile devices. Its out-of-the-box reports show you which machines are Vista ready and which ones would need hardware upgrades.

And instead of visiting each computer individually, let Novell ZENworks do the walking. It delivers the detailed information you need so you know exactly which machines to target for the least cost to the company and least impact on users.

Highly Accurate Inventory

Our Systems Management solutions use our patented "fingerprinting" technology to deliver the industry's most accurate enterprise asset inventory. While other solutions generate a simple list of executable files, our solutions carefully analyze your software and check against an extensive application knowledgebase to accurately identify all the software running on your systems. When you're ready to deploy Vista, our out-of-the-box reports will show you exactly which machines meet Vista system requirements.

IT departments worldwide are already discovering that, ready or not, they can't keep Vista out of their enterprise. It's coming preinstalled on new computers, and users are demanding it. This leads to unplanned upgrades because most existing enterprise personal computers don't meet its minimum system requirements. And since Microsoft eventually stops supporting older operating systems, a Vista migration is inevitable for most businesses.

The uncontrolled Vista creep means policies are almost impossible to enforce. Each user has different login methods and different terminology. Instead of aligning, user experiences are diverging, even from one user to the next.

Our Systems Management solutions manage devices across your enterprise, no matter what OS they're using.

Your IT staff can be overwhelmed with questions from users who suddenly find their applications won't run on Vista. It can be a challenge to hire or train IT staff fast enough to help your users stay productive in this changing environment. Especially in an environment that includes multiple operating systems. What's worse, it often looks like the only way to get the support your company needs is to lock yourself into long-term commitments with Microsoft.

You may have bigger problems, though. Your company may be at risk of violating its software licensing terms on dozens of applications, and managing the lifecycles of your new and existing computers can quickly become a nightmare.

Automatically Identify Vista Machines

Our Systems Management solutions take the headache out of managing complex enterprises. So even if your IT systems contain Vista machines you haven't planned for, our solutions can still make your migration work. With our solutions, you can simplify management of all your operating systems, including Vista. Novell solutions automatically identify Vista machines on the network and completely manage their lifecycles.

With Novell, your company can get a comprehensive management solution out of the box—no additional expense is required to manage Vista. This solution decreases your labor and remote assistance costs. You can also decrease the cost of the IT infrastructure required to support Vista—all from Novell and all for less than you might expect.

Manage Multiple Operating Systems

Our Systems Management solutions manage multiple operating systems, including Vista. Our automated tools use common controls and terminology so you can reduce training costs and time to value. We'll also help you save money on licenses by identifying computers that are not ready for Windows Vista, but could run a low-cost Linux alternative.

Downtime is like Kryptonite. Even a little bit of it saps business momentum and profitability. And we don't mean system-wide crashes. We're talking about the little burps your computers have that prevent users from doing their work.

If you're planning a migration to Vista, you need to do it while you keep revenue steady. The migration has to happen with minimal disruption. IT staff needs to know which computers are ready, which applications are portable, and which users to target. IT staff and management need a smooth migration so no one will come to the office on Monday, surprised and unproductive.

It may be a move that you have been dreading. You know that lost productivity can represent up to 26 percent of the total migration cost. You worry that users will be unproductive for a long time while they relearn the Vista interface and customize their desktops, or while waiting for IT to answer their user interface questions.

Just because your OS is changing, doesn't mean your users' settings have to. Our Migration solution makes it easy to port users' applications and settings to Windows Vista so users remain productive.

And how is your staff going to handle all the users' Vista questions while doing its regular IT work? You probably have a limited training budget, after all, and can't just put the value-added projects on hold until users became comfortable with Vista.

It's no wonder you are dreading the move. It's no wonder you have come to Novell for help.

Migrate User Desktop

Fortunately, Systems Management solutions from Novell make people productive, not just their machines. When you and your staff migrate users to Vista, their desktop environments and application settings can migrate also. People can come to work on Monday ready to work, not just ready to tinker with Vista.

Novell solutions deliver the same user experience no matter where a user logs in. No longer chained to one computer for all their applications and settings, your users can do their work from any computer using the tools they are familiar with.

You can accomplish your migration quickly and your users can be productive immediately, with fewer support calls than you expect. Your IT staff will be able to manage Vista and the company's other operating systems with a common toolset, allowing them to focus on their core tasks.

Migrate Users When They're Ready

Our Systems Management solutions integrate with the enterprise identity store. This means the tools your users need to do their jobs were there wherever they logged in, no matter the platform. You can migrate their systems, at their pace, based on their business needs.

Thanks to thin-client services in Novell solutions, your vital applications that were not Vista compatible were seamlessly delivered after the migration.