It’s easy to get stressed out when tasked with deploying Windows 10 across an enterprise. For starters, you can’t hire 100,000 of you to each go to a computer and run an upgrade!
Suddenly you're worrying about getting the money and time to build out global deployment infrastructure. You may be considering buying several applications for different tasks and hiring expensive contractors to make them all work. Then you realize Windows 10 security must be 100% locked down, and it’s as complex as it is critical.
A poorly orchestrated Windows 10 migration could eat more budget than you have. It could suffer delays that push completion out months or years longer than planned. One top of that, it could require IT staff to work far too many nights and weekends. No wonder IT pros get stressed out thinking about it!
Adaptiva just introduced the Adaptiva Windows 10 Accelerator Program, an end-to-end ecosystem that covers all phases of Windows 10 adoption. Unlike vendors who require you to purchase multiple products, Adaptiva put together a comprehensive program that covers it all.
We curated best-in-class technology, tools, and training. With the assembled power of Adaptiva, Microsoft, Microsoft MVPs, and the Microsoft ConfigMgr community, you have everything you need.
How much could a flawless Windows 10 migration from start to finish help your company, your stress levels, and your career?
Regardless of what solution you ultimately choose, you may find it useful to examine this overview of keys to success. We've broken it down into three categories: planning, deployment, and maintenance.
In a zero-touch, large-scale Windows 10 migration, careful planning can save you from delays of months or even years. “Okay,” you say, “but how do I plan correctly?”
Let’s look at six key areas of planning and preparation, and what you need to do to get each one right.
You have to assess the compatibility of your hardware, device drivers, and applications. You need to know which features can be used on which devices. Then you need to stage your Windows 10 rollout intelligently to suit.
Everything will go smoother if you separate the easy migrations from the hard ones and the “don’t even try” ones—and plan accordingly. With the Windows 10 Accelerator Program, we guide you on the path to determining exactly which endpoints and apps will run perfectly with Windows 10.
Everybody wants all their favorite applications, but your company doesn’t want to pay for unused software licenses. For example, why pay for an Adobe Illustrator license for somebody who’s not actually using it?
Providing support for similar applications can eat up IT staff and help desk time. For example, suppose different people are using CuteFTP, FileZilla, and Cyberduck. Why not make Cyberduck the standard and leave Cute FTP and FileZilla behind when deploying Windows 10? (Or select FileZilla, CuteFTP, etc., as the standard.)
The Windows 10 Accelerator Program will arm you with information to consolidate your approved software. When you migrate, you can leave nonstandard software behind. This can reduce support costs, help desk burden, and licensing costs.
It’s easy to get so wrapped up in all the technical and logistical challenges of a large-scale Windows 10 deployment that you forget the obvious. You need to tell users that Windows 10 is coming!
The Windows 10 Accelerator Program ecosystem makes it easy for you to engage your workforce early, guiding them through a smooth transition.
Your company may or may not view your training as a priority, but you need to make it one. To roll out Windows 10 like an expert, you need to learn from the experts.
Adaptiva helps you get smart about all phases of deployment with custom training from TrueSec Microsoft MVPs Johan Arwidmark and Mikael Nystrom. You get hours of in-depth video training created specifically for Adaptiva by the world’s foremost authorities on Windows 10 deployment.
Infrastructure is one of the trickiest challenges you face because it is global—impacting nearly every office. If you choose a server-based solution, you risk delays building it. If it doesn’t work perfectly once built, it can become an expensive albatross.
The Windows 10 Accelerator Program includes Adaptiva OneSite Anywhere, the fastest way to distribute content across the enterprise. Our award-winning peer-to-peer technology means don’t need to buy hardware. Plus there is no waitin because your infrastructure ready today in every office around the world.
The program goes further. It helps you design the most effective ConfigMgr architecture for your environment by laying it visually and documenting it properly.
Windows 10 brings a plethora of critical new security features and capabilities. Do you know which ones you should deploy on which endpoints and why?
Adaptiva will help you protect your people and your company by leveraging advanced security features in the best configuration for each system.
Get deployment right, and everybody continues their work without interruption: end users, IT staff, and the overall business. Get it wrong and … well, let’s not even go there.
This is a monumental task that starts with perfecting deployment sequences to minimize failures. Smooth running processes will save weeks or months of IT staff time by avoiding troubleshooting and re-deployment. The human factor matters too. When you properly train users, and involve them in their scheduling, you ensure they remain productive.
Let’s a take deeper look into what it takes to do deployment right.
It’s one thing to set company standards for certain types of apps, such as FTP software in the example above. It’s quite another to automatically see which user has which apps at deployment time, and give them the right ones in Windows 10.
The Windows 10 Accelerator program arms you with resources to automate everything. This includes automatically replacing non-standard apps with approved ones during migration.
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past two years, you know that the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is critical for deploying Windows 10’s most advanced security features. However, switching endpoints from legacy BIOS to UEFI can be a tedious process.
Adaptiva has been helping people automatically convert systems from legacy BIOS to UEFI for over a year. This program will make it easy for you to switch to UEFI as a simple part of the deployment process, without on-site visits or manual tasks.
Once you’ve designed your Windows 10 security, you need to implement it correctly for each unique endpoint at deployment time.
The program gives you everything you need to ensure that your deployment will enable the best security features in the optimal configuration for each individual endpoint.
Users don’t like surprises, especially ones that prevent them from doing urgent work.
This ecosystem will help you teach users how to use Windows 10 ahead of the migration. When they boot up in the new OS they won’t lose work time or flood the help desk with frequently asked questions.
Combining the power of ConfigMgr and OneSite Anywhere, the program provides the most powerful Windows 10 solution available on the market today. Adaptiva technology automates everything and scales easily to hundreds of thousands of endpoints.
You can do enormous amounts of work without overburdening IT staff. The program lets you deploy remotely without server infrastructure or on-site staff using the peer-to-peer technology embraced by the Fortune 500.
A migration to Windows 10 can catch a user off-guard. While scheduling deployments for off-hours reduces conflict, some end-users work off hours.
The program curates the best resources to maintain business operations and employee satisfaction by giving users some control over the timing of their individual migrations.
Migrating endpoints to Windows 10 is a one-time operation, but maintenance will continue for many years to come.
Endpoint maintenance is critical in the age of malware, ransomware, hacks, and data breaches. Plus, new kinds of cyberattacks are invented daily. You put your organization in great jeopardy if you do not apply Windows security updates quickly and regularly. The same is true for ever-changing corporate security policies.
The Windows 10 Accelerator Program gives you the technology to automatically keep all endpoints secure and compliant. Let’s look at what this means.
Your company’s security policy changes frequently as new cyberattack strategies are revealed. To protect your company, you have to apply the policy changes to every endpoint worldwide. On an ongoing basis, you must find and fix any deviations as quickly as possible.
The Windows 10 Accelerator Program includes Adaptiva Client Health for Windows 10. It can automatically verify that endpoints comply with your company’s Windows 10 security policy, and instantly remediate any deviations.
Keeping Windows 10 endpoints current with all the latest security fixes is absolutely mandatory. It must be done right after they are released, not every couple of months. Some companies apply them same-day.
Adaptiva delivery technology uses all available bandwidth without impacting other traffic. Unlike competing technologies, it does not require throttling, or scheduling for off-hours. So when new Windows updates are released, you can begin delivering immediately.
The program also provides Windows 10 maintenance and servicing training developed specifically for Adaptiva by TrueSec experts.
You will always have new endpoints coming into the organization, and old systems that require an OS refreshing. Also, Windows 10 servicing deploys new version of the OS on a regular basis. Keeping all this massive deployment content current at hundreds of locations worldwide can take a lot of administrator time—unless you automate.
Adaptiva helps you simplify ongoing Windows 10 servicing with efficient, automatic distribution and update of content around the globe. When you change your source content, OneSite Anywhere detects the change. It then creates a small differential file, which it delivers and applies at every location that needs it.
With the Windows 10 Accelerator Program, we’ve taken the stress out of large-scale deployment. You can remain calm while delivering on time and keeping your company secure. It’s the fastest and most cost-effective way to plan, deploy, and maintain Windows 10 across the enterprise.