Things to consider when migrating applications to Windows 7

Migrating an enterprise to Windows 7 can be a tricky business. Computing spoke to Microsoft application migration specialist Camwood about how best to manage the process.

Camwood CTO Tony Fones gave us his top points to consider when planning the migration to Windows 7.

Compatibility
The first questions the company needs to ask itself are: Will your application actually work on Windows 7? What about Windows 7 used with Microsoft's Application Virtualisation (App-V) technology? And will it be compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows 7?

"Those are simple questions that need straightforward answers. Camwood promotes the use of automation technology to deliver the answers but it is down to the interpretation of the results," said Fones.

He argues that there is a level of skill in interpreting the results from this automation technology.

"You wouldn’t expect to drive a car by reading a book – it’s the same with applications, you need expertise to interpret the results," he said.

Application usage

Another key question for a company to ask is: Are your employees actually using these applications?

"This is one of the biggest problems we find," said Fones.

"If I look at business desktops, our figures show that 40 per cent of applications that are typically available or installed on the desktop aren't used, and the ones employees do use, may not be being used in the right way."

One problem is when users only need some of the features of an application but they have a licence for the full application.

"For example, say I'm using Microsoft Project and somebody sends me a .mpp Project file. I open it up, look at it and say, 'That's OK'. Then I minimise it. Does that make me a heavy Project user?" Fones said.

Before migrating to Windows 7, it is therefore worth assessing which software is being used by employees and whether there is a better and more cost-effective alternative.

"We're able to accurately differentiate user needs which could be a Project viewer, rather than a full copy of Microsoft Project, which would translate into huge cost savings," said Fones.

This process does not have to be labour intensive, with software available to assess application usage.

Carrying out this assessment also assists in making sure the migration meets the business needs and does not result in bottlenecks when migrating to a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

"We use a software asset tool that is able to analyse how employees use applications. It also helps predict where bottlenecks may be encountered if you were migrating to a VDI system using Windows 7 or server-based computing [SBC] infrastructure," he said.

Application categorisation

Last but not least the enterprise needs to ask: What is the application's primary purpose? Applications need to be categorised.

"Categorisation adds an extra dimension to application intelligence. What is the application’s primary purpose and is it supported on Windows 7," explained Fones.

One of the challenges for companies is that applications accumulate over the years and the accumulation is not always managed strategically.

"Consider the number of terminal emulators, trading applications, CAD and the like that you have in a business. Our customers usually have in excess of 5,000 applications. They have doubtless been approved for use without an understanding of what you may already have in place, or have been lifted and dropped since NT days or through mergers and acquisitions. It's about application governance."