The Windows 7 Application Migration Checklist

Windows 7 is here and most enterprises are already thinking

about migrating over. That’s a good thing: we’ve spent a lot
of time with Windows 7 and it’s a robust, enterprise-ready platform.
Getting to Windows 7 shouldn’t be difficult – most of your
applications will migrate easily. But that doesn’t mean you can afford
to underestimate what it takes to make your migration successful.

Here’s a quick checklist based on App-DNA’s experience on the front line of the
last six Microsoft OS and Service Pack migrations: It will give you hints for each step
of the migration, to help you Discover, Analyze, Plan, Remediate and Validate
(with some Business As Usual tips as well):

Discovery
1. Audit your App Estate
Detect what applications are out there
Map applications to users and the business
What is the app used for?
Who owns it?
Where is it? (source binaries and packaged applications)
Use all data sources to collect application information (Active Directory, desktop management
tools (like Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager)
Create raw list of all applications in your estate
We like Scalable Survey as a discovery tool

Analyse
2. Rationalize aggressively
Retire apps that no one uses any more
Consolidate apps that do the same thing
Streamline licensing costs, both in terms of utilization and how apps are used
(should you use something different?)
Communicate with business units
Consolidate older versions = creating and application standard across the enterprise
Build streamlined definitive software list
Prioritize applications: core, business critical, optional
Every app retired now saves $3500 in migration costs alone!
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Analyse
3. Scale the project
Determine size of migration project
Estimate work days and actual costs for each phase and total migration
Essential: ensure a budgeting tool is included in your migration planning process
Effort Calculator™ can help with the project

4. Plan your resourcing

Maximize the efficiency of your resource allocation
Senior staff – difficult tasks
Junior/Outsource staff - fast track projects
Check out the world’s best migration partners

5. Scope out the migration project

Decide on build platform: now is the time to think about virtualization,
64-bit and server-based computing, security settings, GPO management, etc.
Decide on strategic delivery vehicles for your apps:
even if you use desktop virtualization, consider presentation layer impact
Use pre-migration App-Compatibility assessment to determine readiness and “best fit”
scenarios as they pertain to the enterprise strategic desktop vision
The daddy of all app-compat management software shows you readiness for everything at once

6. Start with pre-migration app-compat assessment

Determine what will migrate smoothly and what will need modification
Make sure your compatibility tool is reliable and enterprise-class! AppTitude offers:
Simple ‘traffic light reporting’ to help focus your efforts
Deep Interrogation™
Intelligent Remediation™
Action-Based Reporting™
For 100% of your app estate (not just shrink-wrapped MSIs)
This step alone can cut migration time and budget in half

7. Test against your own flavor of Windows 7

Capture your enterprise-specific baseline and gold images to test against – it really saves time
Check out Effort Calculator™
 www.App-DNA.com

Plan
8. Create the migration plan
Define all phases of the project
Define all tasks that must be completed in each phase
Define pilot region/group
Define key milestones
Use Effort Calculator to help set realistic timelines

Remediate and Validate

9. Develop an optimized migration process
Map out processes and remove all duplicated effort and pinch-points
Think like a factory: smooth flow, no bottlenecks
Optimize the process using a workflow methodology (ideally specialized)
Know where it is in the process, Who owns it, When it will be ready
Check out Effort Calculator™

10. Implement ‘Targeted Testing’

Test all applications
Focus expert testers on actual problem areas
‘Blind testing’ is needle in the dark testing - expensive, manual, interminable
Targeted testing uses pre-migration App-Compat to guide testers on what is broken
Eliminate ‘smoke testing’ - light testing which doesn’t fully interrogate the app
Cut testing budget in half; eliminate bottlenecks

11. Packaging Remediation: give your Packagers/Developers the insight they need
Communicate remediation issues that applications encounter (to ISVs) without
requiring a trained resource
Use remediation advice from pre-migration app assessment
Informed packaging (and sequencing) is much more accurate
For non-MSI apps, use app-compat tool to automate the creation of MSI and SFT media
Result: faster packaging that’s right first time (and costs less)
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Improve Business As Usual (BAU)

12. More efficient BAU when migration is complete
App Catalog ‘DNA’ mimics your optimized desktop –
saves time in knowing the impacts of change
Map applications to users and the business
What is the app used for?
Who owns it?
Where is it? (source binaries and packaged applications)
Make more knowledgeable choices when introducing software into the organisation
Migration assets accelerate app acquisition processes
Cut months from normal acquisition times by simplifying the procurement process
Provide better information to quicken app governance
Your users will hug you for it (embarrassing but kind of nice)
Improve flow of existing BAU packaging services by introducing better upfront discovery
Automate and accelerate your Business As Usual software management services
Create best-practice standards: a single source of truth for your app estate

The Bottom Line

• Windows 7 is a stable next-generation desktop OS
• Get there quicker and with less risk
• Most of your apps will migrate with no issues
• You just need to know which ones need help
• Go forth and migrate

A few resources Brian Madden’s Blog

Clear, practical advice and insight on virtualization
Fishbowl: The App-DNA blog
Insights on app migration from our techies
and their friends An overview of AppTitude
The daddy of all app-compat management tools
Chris Jackson’s Blog
The App Compat Guy really knows his stuff

Contact App-DNA
We can help:

North America: Europe

Tel: +1-847-466-1832 T: +44 (0)20 7562 1000
salesNA@app-dna.com sales@app-dna.com

© App-DNA 2010