Helping Reduce the Time and Cost of Office 2010 Deployment
Helping Provide Comprehensive Capabilities for Rapid and Reliable Migration
A recent study reveals that while enthusiasm for the enhanced performance, authoring, editing and social media capabilities offered by Microsoft’s® Office 2010 is driving planned adoption of this latest business suite, almost 70% of those IT professionals polled have significant concerns around the complexity involved in an actual migration. Topping the list are issues including Office 2010’s compatibility with other applications, user training on the new interface, control for new licensing paradigms, and the determination of which versions of Office 2010 are most applicable to which users. In addition, the survey uncovered questions around the best methodology to use to determine system readiness, and how to actually deploy the upgrade organization-wide. Compounding these migration challenges is the need to ensure operational continuity through the continued support of multiple versions of Office until a full migration is complete. This litany of concerns, particularly given that many IT organizations have other OS migration projects already in progress, underscores the demand for an Office 2010 migration solution that can dramatically simplify the process.
The Solution
The Dell KACE Family of Systems Management Appliances are designed to save you time and your company money by providing a means to help accomplish your Office 2010 migration in a way that is comprehensive, easy-to-implement and affordable. With the Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance, time-consuming manual software deployment tasks, such as an Office 2010 migration, can now be automated, regardless of the size of the organization. The appliance can address such areas as system readiness, configuration planning and actual deployment, without incurring business interruptions. KACE Appliances can help ensure your Office 2010 migration is under control, even in light of an increasing complex mix of Office 2010 releases and base operating systems.
Features of KACE Appliances helping support a successful Office 2010 migration include:
- Inventory assessment helps you check machines for Office 2010 readiness. The KACE Appliance discovers machines on your network and collects detailed hardware and software inventory. The appliance can then help assess which machines in a network are ready for an Office 2010 deployment. An innovative client to server communication protocol gathers inventory multiple times per day, helping ensure that your data is up to date.
- Using the information gathered from its deep hardware and software inventory and the appliance Dashboard and Reporting feature, users can readily understand where they stand in advance of an Office 2010 migration. Two example reports, “Windows 7 Readiness Assessment” and “Office 2010 Readiness Assessment” deliver a global view of the hardware and software environment, providing a snapshot of what systems need upgrading or replacement in order to meet deployment goals.
- Software distribution helps save you time with the distribution and installation of Office 2010. Flexible provisioning takes the place of time-consuming manual tasks, even across large distributed networks and remote locations. Updates can be managed through the use of dynamic groups and "filters" which allow almost unlimited control over which machines are addressed and when.
- Asset management helps track Office 2010 software license compliance. KACE asset history monitors assets as they undergo hardware and software changes through an Office 2010 migration. Software metering shows you all of the Office software in your network that is actually being used versus simply installed. Unused software licenses can then be reassigned or retired, helping save your company money. Training Readiness of users can be tracked with the smart labels feature in the appliance. By tracking who in the organization has been trained on the new features in Office 2010, IT managers can ascertain who is ready for an upgrade and authorize it for the next installation time or add them to the list for self service upgrades.
- Configuration and policy management helps provide comprehensive and easy-to-use configuration management for automated Office 2010 installs, tailored to a variety of needed upgrade paths. IT managers can create scripts and schedule installations to run during periods of low system use, so as to minimize impact on user productivity. The K1000 is equipped with a point and click K-Script creation wizard that requires no special training, and includes support for Microsoft’s own configuration tool.
- The self service user portal enables users to self-serve through a software library for download of approved titles on an as-needed basis. It allows organizations to publish approved titles, license keys, files and scripts, such as Office 2010, which can then be installed by users at a convenient time, even for those without administrative rights.
- Remote site replication and remote administration helps provide users with an effective means to manage remote Office 2010 migrations without the need for dedicated hardware or IT personnel at those locations. The capabilities can dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of managing a multi-site organization, helping to eliminate shipping of installation media and travel expense for support staff.