Windows 7 and Office 2007 Migration Readiness Kit
Whether you have invested or are getting ready to invest in Windows 7 and Office 2007, you cannot afford to approach the migration willy-nilly. The switch promises to be like no other, especially if you are upgrading from XP. The user interface is radically different, and your employees will hit snags just trying to figure out how to perform basic tasks. How you handle the inevitable learning curve depends on your preparedness -- and it may dictate future budget allocations, even the health of your IT department. This post breaks down the components of our Windows 7 and Office 2007 migration readiness kit, and gives you the information you need for a snag-free switchover.
Part One, The Big Picture:
Expert support and training before, during, and after deployment is the key to a successful migration. You will need to tackle the steep learning curve and minimize downtime so your employees can regain the confidence and knowledge necessary to remain productive.
Some questions to keep in mind: If the average end-user was completing 30 tasks per day prior to migrating, what will it take to bring them back up to that level once Windows 7 and Office 2007 are deployed?
• Technical support and training for employees before, during, and after migration.
• Live, expert support and training, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Focused project timelines to coordinate deployment, support and training.
• Awareness campaigns that let employees know where to get software help.
Do you have enough internal bandwidth and full-time employees to learn, teach, deploy and support this migration? If not, you will need the following:
• Assistance fielding immediate migration questions, which allows your internal IT staff to attend to deployment procedures and day-to-day support calls outside the Microsoft package. This allows you to maintain call flow and eliminate call abandonment and employee frustration.
• Ongoing call analysis and solution-based reporting to identify target training needs.
• Office 2007 training options, including custom, interactive, group, individual and on-demand training, plus a self-help knowledgebase.
• With a usage-based migration program, you will not need to hire additional full-time employees, a consulting group, or outside trainers.
Part Two, the Readiness Checklist:
You want successful transition to Windows 7 and Office 2007, and early ROI. In order to meet those goals, you need to keep your employees informed and trained before, during and after deployment. With a plan in place, you will minimize or eliminate dips in productivity and give your workers confidence to use the tools they rely on every day. This is what you should expect from a migration partner:
Before
• Educate employees about what's to come via e-mail, newsletters or the company intranet
• Create an employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Windows 7 and Office 2007 audio & visual tutorials
• Train internal IT staff on basic, intermediate and advanced frequently asked questions
• Alter voice response unit (VRU) message to address specific migration calls
During
• Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of audio & visual tutorials
• Provide immediate, expert support on Windows 7 and Office 2007 applications, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Deliver "type 2" and related topic training to all employees during and following support calls
• Offer live, web-based training sessions covering specific applications: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Select group, individual or customized sessions
After
• Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Continue to offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of audio & visual tutorials
• Solution-based call details, productivity measures
• Call analysis identifying targeted training needs
• Quality assurance program measuring user satisfaction, call complexity reporting and downtime analysis
• Monthly e-mail newsletter featuring tips, tricks and shortcuts
If you are surprised by the amount of work that goes into a migration, you should be. It's not a simple upgrade. No need for concern, though -- that's the migration partner's job.
Part Three, the Matrix:
At no other time is staffing more important than during a migration, when employees will be struggling with or even resistant to the challenges of change. There are education awareness campaigns to launch before, questions and install issues to field during, and inevitable glitches to handle after. And that's just a slice of what to expect.
You have four basic choices in staffing for a migration: hiring additional full-time employee(s); bringing in temp workers; contracting with an all-in-one outsourcer; or hiring a best-of-breed company. (Of course there's a fifth choice -- migrating without a staffing plan -- but we'll skip that option. You should too.)
Here's a look at the pros and cons of each:
In principle, hiring additional full-time employees keeps the control in your hands, but doesn't make sense financially or logistically. You will need to train new employees on Windows 7 and the entire Office 2007 suite, pay benefits, and dole out extra expenses for an after-hours support skeleton crew.
Such a significant time and money investment (at about $85 per call) does not make sense when you consider that you have no guarantee the new FTEs and your existing IT staff will be able to cover a full-swing migration while maintaining their regular duties. What's more, your new employees will be generalists, supporting only a dozen or so applications. The average peak hold time for this solution is nine minutes, and the call abandonment rate is 10 percent.
At an average of $96 a call, temps are pricier than their full-time counterparts, and don't even deliver better service (15 percent abandonment rate). A temp solution offers generalist support and an average 15-minute hold time during peak hours. It does not provide training, advanced Office 2007 and Windows 7 support, or awareness campaigns.
Choosing a larger outsourcer seems like a smart option if you already contract with one for other services. At $59 on average per call, this option is cheaper than hiring temps and full-timers. Also, some all-in-ones offer training in conjunction with a migration. The downside: The staff is mostly generalists whose first language is not English. Some big outsourcers employ tiered-model desks as well. When you factor in the 10-minute peak hold time and 15 percent call abandonment rate, this option loses its luster.
The fourth option, a best-of-breed, is often written off as boutique-y and expensive, and even more so during an economic downturn. The offerings are definitely high-end: domestic Microsoft-certified consultants; support for more than 160 applications, including advanced-level Office 2007; training courses and awareness campaigns; after-hours support; no hold time; a call abandonment rate of .01 percent; and a 91 percent first-call resolution rate. The price is anything but expensive, however, at an average of $25 per call.
Click to download your free Windows 7 & Office 2007 Migration Readiness Kit.
FIND MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study (.pdf) | PC Helps eTraining | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps
Part One, The Big Picture:
Expert support and training before, during, and after deployment is the key to a successful migration. You will need to tackle the steep learning curve and minimize downtime so your employees can regain the confidence and knowledge necessary to remain productive.
Some questions to keep in mind: If the average end-user was completing 30 tasks per day prior to migrating, what will it take to bring them back up to that level once Windows 7 and Office 2007 are deployed?
• Technical support and training for employees before, during, and after migration.
• Live, expert support and training, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Focused project timelines to coordinate deployment, support and training.
• Awareness campaigns that let employees know where to get software help.
Do you have enough internal bandwidth and full-time employees to learn, teach, deploy and support this migration? If not, you will need the following:
• Assistance fielding immediate migration questions, which allows your internal IT staff to attend to deployment procedures and day-to-day support calls outside the Microsoft package. This allows you to maintain call flow and eliminate call abandonment and employee frustration.
• Ongoing call analysis and solution-based reporting to identify target training needs.
• Office 2007 training options, including custom, interactive, group, individual and on-demand training, plus a self-help knowledgebase.
• With a usage-based migration program, you will not need to hire additional full-time employees, a consulting group, or outside trainers.
Part Two, the Readiness Checklist:
You want successful transition to Windows 7 and Office 2007, and early ROI. In order to meet those goals, you need to keep your employees informed and trained before, during and after deployment. With a plan in place, you will minimize or eliminate dips in productivity and give your workers confidence to use the tools they rely on every day. This is what you should expect from a migration partner:
Before
• Educate employees about what's to come via e-mail, newsletters or the company intranet
• Create an employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Windows 7 and Office 2007 audio & visual tutorials
• Train internal IT staff on basic, intermediate and advanced frequently asked questions
• Alter voice response unit (VRU) message to address specific migration calls
During
• Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of audio & visual tutorials
• Provide immediate, expert support on Windows 7 and Office 2007 applications, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Deliver "type 2" and related topic training to all employees during and following support calls
• Offer live, web-based training sessions covering specific applications: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Select group, individual or customized sessions
After
• Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Continue to offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of audio & visual tutorials
• Solution-based call details, productivity measures
• Call analysis identifying targeted training needs
• Quality assurance program measuring user satisfaction, call complexity reporting and downtime analysis
• Monthly e-mail newsletter featuring tips, tricks and shortcuts
If you are surprised by the amount of work that goes into a migration, you should be. It's not a simple upgrade. No need for concern, though -- that's the migration partner's job.
Part Three, the Matrix:
At no other time is staffing more important than during a migration, when employees will be struggling with or even resistant to the challenges of change. There are education awareness campaigns to launch before, questions and install issues to field during, and inevitable glitches to handle after. And that's just a slice of what to expect.
You have four basic choices in staffing for a migration: hiring additional full-time employee(s); bringing in temp workers; contracting with an all-in-one outsourcer; or hiring a best-of-breed company. (Of course there's a fifth choice -- migrating without a staffing plan -- but we'll skip that option. You should too.)
Here's a look at the pros and cons of each:
In principle, hiring additional full-time employees keeps the control in your hands, but doesn't make sense financially or logistically. You will need to train new employees on Windows 7 and the entire Office 2007 suite, pay benefits, and dole out extra expenses for an after-hours support skeleton crew.
Such a significant time and money investment (at about $85 per call) does not make sense when you consider that you have no guarantee the new FTEs and your existing IT staff will be able to cover a full-swing migration while maintaining their regular duties. What's more, your new employees will be generalists, supporting only a dozen or so applications. The average peak hold time for this solution is nine minutes, and the call abandonment rate is 10 percent.
At an average of $96 a call, temps are pricier than their full-time counterparts, and don't even deliver better service (15 percent abandonment rate). A temp solution offers generalist support and an average 15-minute hold time during peak hours. It does not provide training, advanced Office 2007 and Windows 7 support, or awareness campaigns.
Choosing a larger outsourcer seems like a smart option if you already contract with one for other services. At $59 on average per call, this option is cheaper than hiring temps and full-timers. Also, some all-in-ones offer training in conjunction with a migration. The downside: The staff is mostly generalists whose first language is not English. Some big outsourcers employ tiered-model desks as well. When you factor in the 10-minute peak hold time and 15 percent call abandonment rate, this option loses its luster.
The fourth option, a best-of-breed, is often written off as boutique-y and expensive, and even more so during an economic downturn. The offerings are definitely high-end: domestic Microsoft-certified consultants; support for more than 160 applications, including advanced-level Office 2007; training courses and awareness campaigns; after-hours support; no hold time; a call abandonment rate of .01 percent; and a 91 percent first-call resolution rate. The price is anything but expensive, however, at an average of $25 per call.
Click to download your free Windows 7 & Office 2007 Migration Readiness Kit.
FIND MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study (.pdf) | PC Helps eTraining | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps
Tags: 2007, 7, cio, downtime, office, outsourcing, support, training, windows
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