Win7 project synopsis 6sigma

• 1. 2. Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade pilotFrom FebruaryApril 2012, I project managed a pilot for the upgrade of all (5000) Departmentalcorporate computers to a new standard operating system (SOE) including Windows 7 platform andMicrosoft Office 2010 suite.To begin planning the project I met with the Departments ICT Assets business unit to determine thescope of the pilot, objectives and responsibilities of the stakeholders, timeline and boundaries. Iperformed a physical audit of the pilot groups existing infrastructure and developed a project planenabling management to understand the impact on the pilot group, but also the impact of theoutcome of the pilot on the all the Departments corporate employees. I also prepared a singledynamic survey using the Departments online survey tool, with the survey questions adaptingthroughout the project for my participants to record information relevant to the stage of the projectwhile enabling reporting from the project to be performed from a single source. The survey alsoincluded a comprehensive software audit to enable me to ensure purchased licensed software wasnot lost during the upgrade.My pilot group included 56 users (about 1% of the roll-out) with variableminimal experience orexposure to the components of new SOE. The pilot participants original computer hardware had anaverage age of 4 years with Windows XP (age 9 years) and Microsoft Office 2003 (age 9 years). Iprovided all pilot group participants with several Help-using-Microsoft-Office-2010 guides prior tothe projects initiation.After identifying and mapping the pilot groups existing infrastructure, I identified power users withhigh IT literacy and high load computer activity and used the results of the initial release of thesurvey to identify potential project champions among the pilot group. These participants wouldreceive the 20 only brand new computers able to be provided by ICT Assets with their existingcomputers re-allocated to average skill and need users. Remaining participants were identified aslow complex computer use or need and would be negligibly impacted by the project.Page 1 of 4

2. 2. Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade pilotBefore impacting any participants, I installed x6 example machines with the new SOE for allparticipants to have the opportunity to practice their regular work on the new environment.In phase 1 of the project, I upgraded champions and power users with brand new machines, andgathered feedback on the implementation over a 2 week period. I then managed phase 2 (2 weeks),using feedback from phase 1 to mitigate potential issues, and upgraded average users with re-allocated power users machines. In phase 3 (2 weeks), I upgraded the remaining lowcomplexity/impact users with re-allocated average users machines. During each phase the surveywas open and advertised to all upgraded users at that time to collate issues and recommendationsfor immediate response. Two weeks after full implementation, I re-released the survey to all pilotgroup participants for post-project status and overall implementation feedback. I wrote a finalreport for management and submitted the report to the ICT Assets business unit to inform and guidethe Department-wide corporate roll-out.With the change management project already impacting users I used the opportunity toconcurrently make additional upgrades to the business unit infrastructure including upgrading manyparticipants computers to dual monitors and/or larger monitors, to install web-cameras, and toinstall desired software applications on the users new computers.Page 2 of 4 3. 2. Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade pilotDual monitors also increase the efficiency of an individual staff member by up to 100% by doublingthe amount of visible desktop and doubling the number of application windows the staff membercan concurrently view and edit. Dual monitors reduce OHS&W risk by significantly decreasing thenumber of mouse-clicks a user performs per day to achieve the same result, and by increasing theusers mobility in their workstation. Dual monitors also reduce costs through reducing the need toprint documents with content being referred to in newly created or edited documents.Results from the initial release of the survey to the pilot participants provided a benchmarkconfidence rating of 2.77 out of 5 on an ordinal scale for using Windows 7 and 2.72 out of 5 for usingMicrosoft Office 2010.The survey asked the same question to the same pilot participants two weeks following thecompletion of the project with the results showing a 30% increase in confidence; rating 3.57 forusing Windows 7 and 3.55 for using Microsoft Office 2010. Page 3 of 4 4. 2. Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 upgrade pilotThe majority of participants (66.67%) reported some or a significant improvement in the efficiencyand/or productivity of their work from the upgrade to Windows 7 SOE. The majority of participants(69.23%) also reported their computers turning on (from off) boot up speed to be noticeably fasteror very quickly following the upgrade to Windows 7 SOE. This represents a significant increase inproductivity achieved from this project as staff are waiting significantly less time for their computerto turn on each day or reboot when required.Realisable benefits include a increase in productivity and efficiency from all staff with reduced timewaiting for computers to think, boot-up, and reduced hardware failures; with a saving of 5 minutesper day per user extrapolating to 18 hours per year @ASO5 average employee salary ($41 per hour)= $738 per annum (times 5000 corporate employees = $3.7M increase in capacity/workloadcapability for the Department). Page 4 of 4