Windows 7 for Your Organization

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Windows 7 for Your organization

october 2009

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Understanding the benefits of upgrading to Windows 7

The phone rings at 1:00 A.M., waking an IT professional with a call from the company’s key salesperson who is on the road in Asia. She needs access to confidential application data stored on the server back at headquarters. It’s an issue every enterprise faces—how can people be more connected from the road, without sacrificing the needed level of security?

How many times has this happened to you? What else keeps you up at night? Businesses need technology that helps people work better, but IT departments must balance end user flexibility with tighter management of the infrastruc-ture, data, and applications. This challenge is complicated by several additional forces competing for your time, attention, and resources: managing costs, planning for contingencies, and ensuring compliance with evolving industry and regula-tory requirements. Exactly how well companies handle these forces in the context of their unique computing needs ulti-mately defines their efficiency, user productivity, and overall effectiveness.

Meeting both IT and end user needs in today’s business en-vironment can be challenging. The Windows® Optimized Desktop relieves the common tension between end users and IT by providing the mobility and flexibility end users want while preserving the security and control that IT pro-fessionals need. The Windows Optimized Desktop—which incorporates Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center, and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)—helps organizations transform their desktop infrastructure from a cost center to a business enabler by helping IT make people productive anywhere, manage risks through enhanced security and control, and reduce costs by streamlining PC management.

The investments in Windows 7 Enterprise have been shaped by the evolving needs of end users and IT professionals in the enterprise.

are these questions keeping you up at night?

Are your employees productive wherever • they are?

How are your people connected from the • road?

How many branch offices do you support?•

How much time do your employees spend • searching for the information they need?

How do you protect corporate data while • keeping your employees productive?

When was the last time someone within • your organization lost critical data?

How do you protect critical data stored on • USB flash drives?

What technology have you integrated • into the business environment as a result of your employees using their personal technology for work?

How do you manage costs?•

How much do you spend annually on • managing client computing?

How efficiently do you manage and deploy • software across multiple regions?

Have you been able to make reductions in • helpdesk costs?

How do you manage power consumption?•

How do you manage compliance and risk?•

How much do you spend on managing • compliance?

Have you made contingency plans for • unforeseen emergency events?

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This paper explores the questions organizations should consider as they plan for desktop infrastructure that can help them better address client computing challenges. First, it takes a closer look at the issues many enter-prise organizations face today, with questions in the first four sections to guide you in a desktop capability as-sessment for your own organization. Then, later in the paper, you’ll learn how Windows 7 Enterprise can help address the challenges you face.

Are employees productive wherever they are?

More companies have employees working outside of corporate headquarters than ever before. Branch office employees make up a growing percent of a company’s workforce, but providing branch offices with network connections to corporate resources can be slow and expensive. The number of mobile workers also con-tinues to grow, and since these users need “anywhere access” to corporate resources, the cost of supporting, managing, and protecting mobile and remote users and their sensitive data is high. Additionally, information workers spend significant time searching for data and documents they need to do their work. This search time costs organizations millions of dollars annually.

How are your people connected from the road? How many branch offices do you support?

A study done by Forrester Research and commissioned by Microsoft states that roughly 60% of people work outside their organization’s headquarters, with about

29% working in branch or remote offices.1 the chang-ing structure of organizations puts more pressure on IT professionals to provide a high-performance and secure infrastructure for connecting remote users and branch offices, while minimizing costs and risk. The Forrester Research report states, “With branch offices supporting 29% of global workforces, it’s unacceptable that 19% of IT managers reported that their branch of-fice workers are dissatisfied with remote access to cor-porate data and applications on the corporate network. As a result, approximately three quarters of firms have

invested heavily in WAN optimization services to bridge the connectivity divide between branch office workers and those who work in the corporate headquarters. We discovered that 21% of firms spend $100,000 or more annually for WAN optimization services worldwide, and for each branch office location, firms spend an average of $2,867.”1

1 “The Costs And Challenges Associated With Supporting Today’s Information Workers,” Forrester Consulting, 2009 (http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/E/E6E1106A-78B8-4AE1-BD79-5C02D03768E6/Costs_Challenges_Supporting_Information_Workers.pdf )

“ When nearly half of IT pros in large businesses

say they are willing to begin migrating to

Windows 7 within months of its release, that

is a profound indicator of its potential for

success.”

Ed Bott, ZD Net

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How much time do employees spend searching for the information they need?

Information workers typically spend 15-30 percent of their time looking for information, and about 60 per-cent of these users express a need to be able to find data easier across multiple data sources. For a company with thousands of knowledge workers, this can cost mil-lions* annually.

How do you protect corporate data while keeping employees productive?

As employees become more mobile, the risk to critical business data goes up significantly. Organizations are seeking ways to better protect themselves from mal-ware and viruses that users may accidentally invite into the organization through e-mail messages, peer-to-peer file sharing, or Internet downloads. As more em-ployees work on the go, they carry sensitive data with them on PCs, portable hard drives, and USB flash drives. Organizations are constantly challenged to enable em-ployees to work remotely, while guarding their critical files from the growing risk of data loss. Depending on the profile and regulatory requirements of an organiza-tion’s industry, the cost per record of a security breach can range from $90 to $305. This means if a national bank employee lost a laptop with 10,000 unsecured

customer records, the breach could cost more than $3 million.2

When was the last time someone within your organization lost critical data?

Theft and loss of proprietary data can be very costly to your organization. In a commissioned study by Forrester on behalf of Microsoft, it was discovered that 55 PCs on average are lost or stolen annually and each averages 53GB of corporate data saved locally on PC hard drives. It is clear that organizations must focus resources and funding on protecting the sensitive data that their cus-tomers entrust them with as well as give them a com-petitive advantage.

How do you protect critical data stored on USB flash drives?

Hundreds of thousands of laptops are lost or stolen each year. USB flash drives are even more prevalent in the marketplace than PCs, and forecasts suggest that by 2011 an average USB flash drive will hold as much as 32 GB of data, and cost about $25 or less. This paired with the reality that employees are much less likely to report a lost or stolen USB flash drive—if they even re-alize it is missing—makes removable storage devices a primary potential threat to the security of sensitive data for organizations worldwide. Securing corporate data using point solutions can cost more per user if remov-able devices are included.

2 “Calculating the Cost of a Security Breach,” Forrester Research, Collin Park (April 10, 2007)* All dollar figures stated in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

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What technology have you integrated into the business environment as a result of employees using their personal technology for work?

Many people experience new technology first in their personal life, and then bring it to work. This ‘consum-erization’ trend is especially true for mobile technology, as more workers ‘mobilize themselves’ by purchasing personal devices they use for work. The challenge is en-abling people to choose the technology they like, while ensuring their use of corporate resources and data is appropriate and secure.

How do you manage costs?

Now more than ever, organizations are seeking to re-duce downtime and leverage existing infrastructure, hardware, tools, and training investments. Improving desktop management practices and optimizing the IT and desktop infrastructure have proven to help enter-prises achieve cost savings of hundreds of dollars per PC per year.

How much do you spend annually on managing client computing?

Client computing costs can vary widely from company to company, from a few hundred dollars up to $1,300 or more per machine per year, according to multiple stud-ies. As many organizations expect their IT budgets to remain the same for the next several years, IT organiza-tions will continue to face increasing pressure to identify and manage costs.

How efficiently do you manage and deploy software across multiple regions?

New operating system deployments can carry huge costs associated with image engineering, deployment, and management. Because of the time and expense as-sociated with common deployment approaches, more organizations are looking for ways to reduce the num-ber of images and streamline ongoing image manage-ment and updating through the lifecycle of the operat-ing system in their organization. With offices located in multiple countries, many enterprises also need the flex-ibility to support multiple languages used by clients and employees throughout the company, while streamlining operating system image management.

Have you been able to make reductions in helpdesk costs?

Helpdesk management can become costly and unpro-ductive for many large organizations that have thou-sands of users to support. A helpdesk professional can spend significant amounts of time, while on a user sup-port call, just trying to find out what happened and col-lect information, which can increase the cost of incident resolution. With decreased budgets, organizations need to reduce these costs, enable efficiency, and maximize the strategic value of helpdesk professionals. With the right tools, helpdesk professionals can access issues quickly and prevent common problems from happen-ing, reducing the number of support calls as well as the average time it takes to resolve issues.

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How do you manage power consumption?

Power generation is a leading producer of CO2 in the world.3 Many organizations are exploring ways to re-duce their power consumption and thus create a posi-tive effect on the environment while saving on electric-ity bills. Using centrally-managed power settings is one way organizations can help lower power consumption, and as a result, reduce energy costs and emissions. To encourage these trends, many national governments are considering renewable energy targets and creating incentives for energy efficiency that could multiply the cost-savings of reduced IT power consumption.

How do you manage compliance and risk?

How much do you spend on managing compliance?

Businesses are spending more on compliance annually, and many are expecting this spend to continue grow-ing. In addition to the financial issues of compliance, corporate governance can be at odds with other it trends, such as consumerization in the enterprise, as IT administrators may require a higher level of control for information entering and exiting the company. With new regulations contemplated in many industries cop-ing with the fallout of the financial crisis, managing com-pliance is expected to become even more challenging in the coming years.

3 http://www.eia.doe.gov/iea/overview.html

Have you made contingency plans to keep your IT infrastructure operational and your employees productive in case of an unforeseen emergency event?

Every business can experience a serious incident that could potentially prevent the organization from con-tinuing normal operations. From a flood or fire to a serious IT malfunction or information security incident, IT organizations must be able to recover from such in-cidents in the minimum amount of time, with minimum disruption, and at minimum cost. More companies are preparing for what-if scenarios with careful planning to help them stay adaptable and flexible.

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Windows 7 Enterprise

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Windows 7 Enterprise

As an integral part of the planning process for Windows 7 Enterprise, Microsoft conducted extensive research with close to 4,000 customers from developing and emerging markets. This research helped identify their top areas of concern: risk management, compliance, and mobility. In the research, Microsoft confirmed that:

Over half of the organizations (56 percent) said • they needed help protecting corporate data on laptops.

Even more (61 percent) were concerned about en-• suring that people install and use only authorized applications for fear of security breaches from unauthorized applications.

Nearly half (49 percent) were eager to make it • easier for remote workers to access corporate resources.

Windows 7 Enterprise is the result of this research, de-signed to meet the evolving needs of both business users and IT professionals. With its exclusive features tailored to address enterprise requirements, Windows 7 Enterprise can help drive total cost of ownership lower by making users productive anywhere, enhancing data and network security, and simplifying PC management across the organization. Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) integrates into Windows 7 deployments, enhancing application delivery and compatibility le-veraging virtualization technologies, and increasing IT responsiveness and user uptime through diagnostics, monitoring and policy management tools. MDOP is a subscription available for Client Software Assurance customers and consists of six products.

Windows 7 Enterprise: Focus on FundamentalsBusinesses use the Windows operating system

because of the value they get from its capabili-

ties. Although each user derives value from a

specific set of features, all users benefit from

the overall Windows experience that Microsoft

refers to as the fundamentals.

Fundamentals are broadly outlined as quality

improvements in software and hardware com-

patibility, reliability, performance, battery life,

and security. Microsoft has taken a comprehen-

sive approach to driving quality investments

throughout the Windows 7 development cycle,

and focused specifically in three broad areas to

enhance the fundamentals: a) Engineering pro-

cess improvements, b) increased focus on bet-

ter partnering with software and PC hardware

vendors, and c) investing in platform innova-

tions in Windows 7 to improve dimensions of

quality instead of focusing solely on individual

problems.

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Make people productive anywhere

Windows 7 Enterprise helps keep branch workers con-nected to headquarters and lets organizations en-able and enhance mobile worker productivity. With BranchCache™, employees at branch offices can access data from servers at a main office as easily and securely as if they were accessing a server at their branch, with-out negatively impacting network bandwidth utiliza-tion. Along with Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows 7 Enterprise offers an alternative to alleviate the problems of slow connectivity to the branch. Copies of files are cached locally, so when other users access that file, they access the local copy instead of the corporate head-quarter version.

Windows 7 Enterprise and other networking features in Windows Server 2008 R2 provide a technology solution that enables users to seamlessly access corporate net-work resources from anywhere on the Internet, without having to create a VPn connection. using Directaccess, file shares, intranet Web sites, and line of business ap-plications remain accessible to users wherever they go, so they can get more done from almost anywhere.

Convergent Computing (CCO), which offers IT consult-ing services to help organizations implement and man-age their networks, is using Directaccess to save about $40,000 a year by eliminating its VPN and all its associ-ated hardware, software, licensing, and carrier charges.4 Since a Windows 7 Enterprise PC can always be con-nected to the corporate network, it’s also very manage-able, even when on the road. Windows 7 Enterprise also

4 http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000004062

introduces search advancements, including Federated Search and Enterprise Search Scopes, which enable us-ers to search remote document repositories including Microsoft SharePoint® sites, databases, and Web sites supporting the OpenSearch protocol, all through the Windows desktop they’re already familiar with. People can find the files and folders they need, fast, by easily ini-tiating the search from Windows Explorer and getting a consistent view of search results. With Enterprise Search Scopes, IT administrators can also use Group Policy to deploy links to the users’ Start Menu or Windows Explorer that put enterprise file share searches at the user’s fingertips.

The IT firm Getronics expects time and finan-cial savings from using DirectAccess. “With Windows 7, we hope to reduce the cost of sup-porting remote users by over 2,000 hours an-nually,” says Kris Bries, Infrastructure Manager at Getronics.1 That’s 2,000 hours spread across 16,000 computers, which could free up an IT administrator for almost a year to focus on the critical IT needs of the organization.

1 http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000003981

Sporton International, a leading testing and certification company, is using BranchCache to delay the need to expand bandwidth, saving costs.1 “Taking advantage of the BranchCache feature… we can spend $20,000 rather than $50,000 per year on bandwidth by postponing our expansion schedule,” says David Feng, IT Director at Sporton International.

1 http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000004044

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The IT consulting firm Installers has found that employees save two to three minutes each time they turn on their com-puters, thanks to the operating system’s rapid resumption from sleep mode.5 Employees are also reclaiming another five minutes a day using the Windows 7 Enterprise search functionality. This adds up to approximately 20 minutes saved each day for each employee, or an increase in production ef-ficiency of 3 percent annually.

Organizations can gain additional benefits from the Microsoft Optimized Desktop Pack for Software Assurance (MDOP) by deploying Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V), which enables users to have on-demand access to the right applications from anywhere without requiring installation or reboots. Virtual application and user settings are preserved when users are online or offline. Likewise, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), gives users seamless access to legacy applications they may need to perform their job by creating a managed virtual environment that runs these legacy applications.

5 http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000004141

“With enhanced connectivity and a

seamless experience in using corporate

collaboration tools in a mobile

environment, users are empowered to

make our company more successful. We

are a knowledge company, and human

capital is critical to our success.”

Petter Wersland

Leader of the Windows Ecosystem at

StatoilHydro

“Employees don’t have to worry about

manually synchronizing their data—it’s

now synchronized automatically, and

users have access even when they are

disconnected from the network. This is a

big win for our users.”

Dieter Reichert

Program Manager of Workplace Solutions, F.

Hoffmann-La Roche

“The technologies in Windows 7 give us

the ability to improve our networking

capabilities—this is important with so

many branch offices.”

Sorin Marinescu

IT Director at Transelectrica

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Manage risk through enhanced security and control

Windows 7 Enterprise builds on the strong Windows Vista security foundation, adding advanced capabilities for IT to protect corporate data and help attain better compliance. Windows 7 Enterprise helps IT administra-tors keep the network safe from unauthorized applica-tions, while protecting against lost or stolen company data. With AppLocker, Windows 7 Enterprise improves the productivity and effectiveness of the IT department with powerful application control policies that make it easy to restrict unauthorized software and allow only approved applications. This capability provides a flex-ible mechanism that allows administrators to specify via Group Policy exactly what is allowed to run on their systems, and gives users the ability to run applications, installation programs, and scripts that administrators have explicitly granted permission to execute. In addi-tion to protecting the organization from attacks due to unwanted software downloads, AppLocker can help en-sure that task workers, for example, stay more efficient by only having access to the applications they need.

Windows 7 Enterprise also helps organizations to en-able richer collaboration through the power of por-table data while ensuring users avoid putting critical organization or customer data at risk. Today, more than twice as many USB Flash Drives enter the marketplace than PCs and analysts forecast that by 2011, the aver-age USB flash drive will hold 32 GB of data and cost less than $25. With BitLocker To Go™, users can conve-niently store and share data using encrypted USB drives and minimize the risk of exposing sensitive data if those drives are misplaced or stolen.

Deploying MDOP can help organizations achieve com-pliance goals, as well. The Asset Inventory Service shows which software licenses have been deployed in an envi-ronment and helps IT Professionals distinguish whether all software is compliant with license agreements, key industry standards, and corporate policies. Likewise, Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) helps de-fine user roles so IT Professionals can control who can edit and deploy Group Policy Objects more easily.

Getronics, a provider of information and com-munication technology solutions and services, expects to strengthen desktop security and reduce downtime with its rollout of Windows 7 Enterprise. “We are using the BitLocker To Go feature to protect corporate data when it leaves the network on a USB data stick, which is an increasingly popular means of transfer-ring data,” says Harald den Houter, Principal Technical Consultant at Getronics. “We have better control over our desktop configurations using Group Policy and BitLocker™, which en-ables us to make faster, better decisions about security changes.”

“The built-in security enhancements in Windows

7 help assure us that our information is

protected.”

Andreas Viehauser

Head of Client and Software Management, Raiffeisen

Informatik

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Reduce costs by streamlining PC management

IT organizations are looking for ways to help their com-panies cut costs and get more business value from their IT spend—especially in today’s economic climate. Improving desktop management practices and opti-mizing the IT and desktop infrastructure have proven to help enterprises achieve cost savings of hundreds of dollars per PC per year. Windows 7 Enterprise makes managing and deploying desktops, laptops, and virtual environments even easier, while enabling IT profession-als to use the same tools and skills they use today with Windows Vista. New scripting and automation capa-bilities, based on Windows PowerShell 2.0, reduce the costs of managing and troubleshooting PCs. Windows 7 Enterprise also helps businesses more easily maintain virtual machine images, and provides a richer user ex-perience when accessing those virtual machines run-ning on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V™ over re-mote connections.

To help reduce IT management costs, Windows 7 Enterprise supports up to 36 different languages (as language packs within the operating system) and pro-vides tools for streamlining deployment and enabling multiple languages within a single Windows image. With advanced deployment tools, Windows 7 Enterprise can save hundreds of dollars per PC per year, offering tools for offline image servicing for both physical and virtual images that allows IT workers to more easily set up and manage computers throughout the organization.

Windows 7 Enterprise offers powerful self-support and helpdesk management tools such as the Problem Steps Recorder and the Windows Troubleshooting Platform

that can reduce the amount or length of calls to the helpdesk, making the helpdesk more efficient, more or-ganized, and better equipped to tackle user challenges when they arise. Windows PowerShell 2.0 provides even further efficiency by enabling IT professionals to auto-mate common or complex tasks, including scripting Group Policy settings ranging from power management to Windows® Internet Explorer® 8 configurations.

Organizations can also reduce their power consump-tion with Windows 7 by deploying power management policies. Additional power management features, such as automatically turning off the display and enabling sleep after a period of inactivity, can help reduce PC energy expense and the associated environmental im-pact. Enhanced diagnostics and support for Wake on LAN for Remote Management also help IT professionals identify and resolve PC power management problems in the enterprise.

Because Windows 7 Enterprise works on the hardware many businesses are using for Windows Vista now, and can be deployed seamlessly using the same processes used to deploy Windows Vista, organizations can get even more value out of existing IT infrastructure and deployment training—helping to keep deployment costs low.

“Using the integrated management tools in

Windows 7 is a lot simpler. And simpler is

almost always better and cheaper.”

Tom Basham

Manager, IT Architecture and Planning

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NTx BackOffice Consulting Group of Vienna, Austria, has upgraded its 30 client computers to the Windows 7 Enterprise operating system to help consultants connect to corporate systems more easily and to better secure computers. Employees save 30 minutes a day through improved connections, and the IT staff saves at least seven hours a week in easier document encryption and software deployment. NTx can also offer customers new solutions with Windows 7 Enterprise. IT professionals conducting the deployments are also realizing desktop management time savings with Windows 7 Enterprise. Deploying the new operating system takes two hours less per computer than Windows Vista required.

MDOP provides additional manageability benefits for the organization. Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset enables administrators to quickly recover un-usable PCs and rapidly diagnose the root cause of PC problems so end users get back to work quickly. System Center Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM) helps administrators centrally monitor all application and sys-tem errors to proactively address trouble drivers and applications.

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Start your deployment now

Windows 7 Enterprise reflects a continued focus on end user productivity, security, and manageability, in addi-tion to a strong emphasis on fundamentals and efforts to help enterprise organizations get the most out of their technology investments. By optimizing desktop in-frastructure to make users more productive anywhere, managing risk by enhancing security and control, and reducing costs by streamlining PC management, Windows 7 Enterprise with MDOP gives organizations better tools to more efficiently handle the challenges of today’s client computing. As the pace of business keeps moving forward, it’s time to address the needs of the organization without sacrificing the needed level of management and security of the infrastructure. The phone doesn’t have to wake you at 1:00 A.M. anymore. The time is now for your organization to begin your Windows 7 Enterprise and MDOP deployment.

Addressing application compatibility

As organizations begin their pilots and start testing Windows 7, many have questions about application compatibility. Listening to customers and working with them to understand these requirements, Microsoft has created a comprehensive set of tools, guidance, and re-sources to help organizations address application com-patibility as part of their Windows 7 deployment.

Will my mission-critical applications work on Windows 7?

Organizations that tested and remediated their appli-cations for Windows Vista can leverage these invest-ments and will be well prepared for their Windows 7 migration. The vast majority of the applications that work on Windows Vista will work on Windows 7. Since the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft has been fo-cused on addressing application compatibility issues for customers, working together closely with independent software vendors to ensure smooth application migra-tion with Windows 7 today.

“We are committed to cost management, but not at the expense of future value. That’s why we continue to invest in upgrades to our operating systems. Microsoft products are the core components of our infrastructure, and we expect to continue building on the robust foundation of Windows 7 for years to come.”

Jim Thomas Director of IT Operations and Infrastructure, Pella Corporation

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Building on the security enhancements of Windows Vista, Windows 7 is now the highest quality client op-erating system available. The significant investments Microsoft made in advancing the security of Windows Vista, however, had a compatibility impact on some ap-plications at the time. Windows Vista included profound architectural changes compared to Windows XP. In con-trast, Windows 7 does not include deep architectural changes compared to Windows Vista.

How we can scope application testing and migration efficiently and are there any best practices we can learn?

For guidance on how to scope an application compat-ibility testing project and best practices, view Getting

Started with Application Compatibility in a

Windows Deployment: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835539(WS.10).aspx

What tools and guidance does Microsoft offer to help us with application testing and migration?

To learn about conducting an inventory and assessment of applications for compatibility and for tools to help fix incompatibilities, view the Application Compatibility

Toolkit (ACT): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722055(WS.10).aspx

For additional guidance and best practices, explore the Windows 7 Application Compatibility Center: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/aa905066.aspx

How can I take advantage of the virtualization technologies to ease application migration?

The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance (MDOP) includes two key products which can help mitigate application compatibility issues. Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) can help reduce the time-consuming regression testing for application-to-application conflicts, by isolating applications from each other and the rest of the operating system. Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization MED-V), helps to miti-gate application-to-operating system compatibility is-sues by providing an integrated virtual environment for legacy operating systems. This allows incompatible ap-plications to run seamlessly for users. To learn about le-veraging virtualization technologies, view the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb899442.aspx

For information on over 100 Microsoft Solution Integrator partners worldwide that can help organi-zations remediate in-house line of business applica-tions, learn more about the Microsoft Application

Compatibility Factory Program: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb510132.aspx

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Begin your pilot and testing today

Learn more about Windows 7 Enterprise:

Windows 7 Enterprise Web Sitehttp://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise

The Windows Optimized Desktophttp://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/solu-tions/default.aspx

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance Web Sitehttp://www.microsoft.com/mdop

Windows 7 Case Studieshttp://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Search_Results.aspx?Type=1&ProTaxID=3478

Springboard Series Technical Resources for Windows 7http://www.microsoft.com/springboard

Contact your Microsoft Account Team

Your Microsoft account team is ready to help demon-strate the value of the Windows Optimized Desktop, discuss deployment and licensing options, and help you with a Proof-of-Concept. Contact your account team today for more information and take the next step to the Windows Optimized Desktop

Start a Windows 7 pilot deployment:

The time is now to start conducting a Windows 7 pilot deployment and explore the new networking features like BranchCache and DirectAccess, security features like AppLocker and BitLocker, and manageability capa-bilities including power management and PowerShell.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744251(WS.10).aspx

Use the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5

The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 5.5 contains the necessary tools and documen-tation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Windows 7, Windows Vista®, a Windows Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer® in your environment.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=24da89e9-b581-47b0-b45e-492dd6da2971

Get step-by-step Windows deployment guidance for IT Professionals:

For a comprehensive description of all the tools and deployment methods, see the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) User’s Guide. This docu-ment demonstrates a basic example of how to config-ure and deploy a Windows image. At the end of this process, you will have a valid answer file, a bootable Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) CD, and you will have deployed your first custom Windows image. After creating this basic answer file, you can modify it to include additional customizations. You can also automate parts of the process by scripting some of the manual steps in this scenario. http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=121503