For IT administrators everywhere, the clock is ticking down toward an April

Transcription

1 Taking a New Approach to Application Compatibility in Windows 7 Migrations New Solutions Ensure Application Compatibility During Operating System Upgrades For IT administrators everywhere, the clock is ticking down toward an April 2014 deadline for the end of Windows XP support. That means that Windows 7 migrations are picking up steam and beginning to achieve critical mass. According to market researcher Net Applications, Windows XP is no longer the desktop operating system of choice, as its market share among installed desktops fell below 50 percent by the end of But as many IT organizations inevitably discover during migration to a new operating system, a number of hurdles could make the move to Windows 7 far from a slamdunk proposition. Heading the list of technical issues is application compatibility, particularly for the large number of legacy and homegrown applications in use on the average network. Page 1 of 10

2 Adding a sense of urgency to this move is the widespread desire of IT decision-makers to investigate the benefits of desktop virtualization. However, according to a 2011 SearchVirtualization.com survey, IT organizations have yet to broadly deploy desktop virtualization, in large part due to uncertainty over application compatibility during Windows 7 migrations. In addition, it shows that organizations also have concerns over the technical resources required to manage desktop virtualization rollouts. Fortunately, new solutions are emerging to overcome these challenges. These tools are specifically designed to more easily and efficiently test for and fix application compatibility issues, helping to smooth the migration to Windows 7. This functionality is particularly important when the operating system migration is done in concert with a move to virtualized desktop and application environments. Not only do these solutions provide the essential building blocks for managing the application compatibility challenges that pop up with Windows 7 migrations, but they also free up IT organizations to fully leverage the economic, user productivity and management benefits of desktop virtualization. The Move to Desktop virtualization represents one of the most promising shifts for IT organizations struggling with years of desktop and application sprawl, coupled with ever-tightening budgets and leaner staffs. Organizations need to find new ways to support desktop users more efficiently and economically. The rising trend of bring your own devices is also prompting organizations to look Page 2 of 10

3 at desktop virtualization, as users are increasingly demanding the ability to work from anywhere, on any device, over any network. Regardless of operating system, hardware platform or overall architectural philosophies, IT decision-makers are turning to virtualization to help address these challenges. By now, the benefits of desktop virtualization are broadly accepted: Centralization and standardization bring simpler management, reduced complexity, easier remote access and cross-platform delivery, and tighter security. In addition, with the right third-party management solutions, the capital expense of desktop virtualization can be lower than that of a network of distributed physical desktops. Organizations that have deployed desktop virtualization with the best management solutions are now moving beyond the pilot project phase to more enterprise-wide deployments. Technology advances in recent years have dramatically reduced user resistance to desktop virtualization, providing a better experience than with legacy physical desktops. For the administrator, virtualization provides an environment that is more manageable, dynamic and agile. On paper, it makes a lot of sense to leverage your internal (and increasingly external) teams to switch over to Windows 7 as part of a broad virtualization mandate, thereby combining the two objectives into one project. Page 3 of 10

4 A consideration is that a surprisingly high percentage of desktops still need to be either upgraded or totally replaced in order to run Windows 7 because they lack sufficient hardware oomph in terms of storage, memory and processor speed, among many other factors. In fact, the SearchVirtualization.com survey indicated that, on average, only 40 percent of respondents current physical and virtual desktops would be able to run Windows 7 without either upgrading hardware components or buying entirely new systems. So, in a perfect world, IT departments would bite the bullet and handle both the Windows 7 migration and deployment of virtual desktops in one fell swoop. There are some appealing aspects to tackling both projects at once. By moving to desktop virtualization, it is often possible to reuse legacy desktop devices as thin clients, or at least defer the purchase of thin clients for a year or two. In addition, deployment of virtual Windows 7 desktops ensures instant access to the updated Windows experience everywhere, and testing apps for readiness with Windows 7 and desktop virtualization can be done simultaneously. If your organization is undergoing a compatibility and readiness exercise for its Windows application estate, it might as well bite the bullet and rationalize and fix both targets at the same time. Testing for application compatibility, therefore, is a critical mandate for IT organizations looking to both migrate to Windows 7 and take advantage of the many benefits of desktop virtualization. Of course, that s often easier said than done, especially given the huge application sprawl that has taken place in large enterprises Page 4 of 10

5 during the past decade or so. For instance, Forrester Research reports that the average large enterprise has to support more than 1,300 applications. That statistic is mind-boggling and daunting when you consider the trend of fewer IT resources and much tighter time frames for executing new IT initiatives, as well as the requirement that application testing must be comprehensive and highly flexible from an architecture standpoint. And, as if that wasn t challenging enough, there s the often-unspoken truth about rogue applications that have infiltrated innocently or maliciously the corporate backbone network and become business-critical without the sanction of the IT department. This has become more pronounced in recent years due to the proliferation of mobile devices accessing IT assets on the edge of the network, often without requisite security or the IT organization s knowledge. Add in easy access to Web-based applications through both cloud computing and seemingly innocuous personal use of recreational applications, and it s easy to see how difficult a job IT organizations have. Just identifying all the applications that reside within their infrastructure is a challenge, and then they have to test those for compatibility in Windows 7 migrations and virtual desktop and application environments. Ensuring compatibility with older versions of Web-based applications is vital as well, since many Web-based applications such as Microsoft Office add-ons and earlier versions of Java were designed to run on older browsers. This is particularly important in Windows 7 migrations for two reasons: First, browsers such as Internet Explorer 6 are no longer supported; and second, Internet Page 5 of 10

6 Explorer 8 is embedded in the operating system. Many companies have been quite slow to realize that upgrading to Windows 7 means they have to look at browser compatibility, too. However, it is important to note that browser compatibility is not just about making sure your own applications work on your new browser version. It s also about knowing whether your B2B or B2C site will work if your customers or partners are using a new browser version. Finally, as more and more applications are accessed through a browser in some form of cloud computing, addressing compatibility problems becomes even more essential. Fortunately, new solutions are emerging to help IT organizations overcome the sizable challenges of application testing and validation during a major operating system migration, clearing the way for desktop virtualization as part of the Windows 7 adoption and deployment process. These tools are designed to address application testing issues with an array of sophisticated, cutting-edge functionality, including: pautomated p assessment. Manually testing compatibility issues can be extremely time consuming and cumbersome, but it is essential to ensure the successful deployment of new applications or new versions of applications and to avoid unnecessary disruption to users. Now, the marketplace offers solutions that enable you to automatically assess application suitability for target environments, reducing the time, cost and effort involved. p pautomated remediation. Compatibility testing typically identifies numerous issues that have to be resolved, but until recently, Page 6 of 10

7 fixing those problems was a tedious, resource-intensive task, putting big strains on staff and adding significant cost by requiring service providers to fill in the gaps. New tools, however, apply automated practices to remediate issues identified during the testing process, while providing detailed reporting and guidance to speed remediation and streamline implementation. p pautomated assessment and resolution of application compatibility issues for virtual desktop and application environments. Regardless of the virtualization technologies your organization has or plans to invest in, new solutions are available for performing tests to ensure application compatibility with virtual environments and fixing the issues identified. This functionality not only reduces time and cost, but also helps to protect new investments by showing organizations how compatible their current application estate is with prospective virtualization technologies. p p Flexible approaches to virtualized application format conversion. If your goal is to invest in application virtualization concurrently with your Windows 7 migration, new solutions are available to help you quickly and efficiently convert your application portfolio to the formats required for virtualization. Instead of virtualizing a handful of applications daily, new solutions let IT departments convert 100 or more applications at a time. Keeping in mind that Forrester estimates that a typical large organization has to manage more than 1,300 applications, it s clear that these tools can save your organization weeks and months of work, with cost savings approaching millions of dollars. Au- Page 7 of 10

8 tomating this process also reduces the risk of false starts and disruption to your users. The Move to p pcompliance with organizational best practices and business rules. Every organization is different when it comes to policies, procedures and practices in IT architecture, application development, security and other issues. That s why it s important to leverage the ability of new thatallow users to author their own checks in automatically testing applications for compliance with their companies standards. These solutions also support the ability to write fixes that automatically address problems, rather than relying upon human intervention to remediate issues across the enterprise. p pongoing compatibility assurance. Experience has taught IT professionals that addressing a compatibility issue once doesn t always ensure ongoing compatibility. It is also important to ensure compatibility when introducing new applications or new versions of applications, as well as system patches and updates. Using an automated solution to test and fix compatibility problems will help support the rapid pace of change in dynamic IT architectures while reducing deployment time and security risks. p p Detailed browser compatibility reporting. Migration to Windows 7 has turned up compatibility glitches with numerous Web sites, portals and Web-based applications. The growing popularity of cloud computing and its utilization of browserbased access to applications and services means these road- Page 8 of 10

9 blocks must be overcome in short order. Organizations should look for a tool that offers automated Web site and Web-based application testing for Internet Explorer 8 and 9, as well as other popular browsers. The Move to With the countdown to the end of Windows XP support fast approaching zero, migration to Windows 7 is evitable for IT organizations of all sizes and across all geographies and vertical markets. But few IT leaders are relishing the idea of a major operating system conversion in the face of today s cold, hard realities of tighter budgets, leaner staffs and dramatically higher expectations from business stakeholders. While migrating to Windows 7 is something IT organizations will have to do, implementing a desktop virtualization solution is something most organizations want to do. The challenge, of course, is that managing a Windows 7 migration brings with it the tough tasks of testing and validating application compatibility and has proved to be sufficiently difficult as to dissuade organizations from simultaneously tackling desktop virtualization projects. However, the emergence of new solutions, such as ChangeBASE from Dell, is now allowing IT organizations to automate application analysis, testing, remediation and conversion tasks faster and more cost-effectively than with previous manual processes. This has freed up time and resources, helping IT organizations adopt desktop virtualization concurrently with their Windows 7 migration Page 9 of 10

10 and realize IT benefits such as lower capital expenditures, easier manageability, improved user productivity and better scalability for organizational growth. The Move to By automating application compatibility testing and remediation, solutions such as ChangBASE provide IT organizations with much-needed leverage in overcoming the complexity and angst typically associated with an enterprise-wide operating system upgrade. And since these tools offer the flexibility to support different best practices and policies, they can be fine-tuned for maximum benefit and fast return on investment. n ABOUT DELL AND QUEST ChangeBASE Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL; listens to customers, then delivers innovative technology and services that empower them to do more. Quest ChangeBASE ( is the fastest, easiest way to ensure application readiness for Microsoft platforms, web browsers and virtualized environments. Page 10 of 10