Many corporates are postponing their migration to Windows XP because of the nightmarish complexities associated with moving desktops and servers to a new operating system.
However, there is an answer to this dilemma in the form of Altiris, the award-winning operating system (OS) deployment and migration solution available from independent IT solutions provider First Technology.
John Thomas, Altiris general manager at First Technology, says Altiris Migration Suite eases the process of upgrading to new operating systems, specifically Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
"It provides organisations with pre-migration hardware and software assessment tools, and allows them to identify project costs as well as perform zero-touch OS and application deployments with a single mouse click that takes a few seconds. A whole organisation with hundreds of workstations can therefore be migrated within days instead of weeks or months. Using the conventional method to install software, support staff would have to physically attend to each workstation taking hours instead of minutes per computer," he says.
"Altiris Migration Suite also minimises the impact on the user with quick and transparent PC `personality` (unique user settings and data) migrations, thereby ensuring that end-users are not subjected to long periods of down time during the update and restoration process," Thomas adds.
According to Thomas, organisations choose Altiris Migration Suite for a wide range of purposes: to handle large-scale deployments or migrations; migrate from any version of Windows to Windows 2000 or XP; perform ongoing Windows migrations as a regular part of business; and migrate remote offices or mobile workers.
"Altiris Migration Suite was the first of its kind to support migration to Windows XP. Not only was PC Transplant Pro - a component of the suite - the first migration utility to support XP migration, but Altiris Migration Suite provides the only complete set of pre- and post-migration tools designed to successfully move to newer Windows technologies," he says.
With Migration Suite, corporates retain complete control during the migration process, while minimising the associated costs and risks.
Migration Suite addresses problem areas commonly encountered during operating system migrations, including such questions as:
a. What hardware and software needs to be replaced or upgraded to support the new OS?
b. How do I deploy the new OS and applications without manually installing each desktop?
c. How do I preserve the users` unique workspace, files and settings?
d. How do I migrate remote, low bandwidth users?
e. How can I accomplish this in a realistic timeframe?
f. Can I get all the features needed from a single, integrated product?
"Migration Suite solves these issues and many more. A `quick start` console simplifies operations, sequences activities, and helps locate primary features and functions critical to the migration.
"By clicking through the sequenced tasks in the console, users are taken directly to the product areas where critical activities are performed. The `quick start` panel remains visible for as long as is required, to continue guiding the user through the simple, ordered steps of the migration process.
"Although smaller tools are available to address isolated steps in the migration process, none provide the end-to-end functionality in a centralised, hands-free migration package like Altiris Migration Suite does, simply and efficiently," he concludes.
Share
First Technology is one of SA`s largest, independent IT solutions providers, offering customers solutions and services that maximise business productivity, reduce the risk associated with deploying new technologies and minimise the total cost of information technology (IT) ownership. The company has fully-fledged branches in every major business node across SA and maintains one of the largest teams of highly skilled technical personnel in the country.
Editorial contacts