I’m sort of a sucker for Top 10 lists. Simply Googling the phrase brings up such lists as:   

  • Richard Branson’s Top 10 Tips for Success 
  • Warren Buffett’s Top 10 Tips for Investing 
  • Top 10 Survival Tips that Could Save Your Life 
  • Top Ten Knitting Tips 
  • Dr. Oz’s Top 10 Health and Fitness Tips of All Time 
  • Top Ten Ukulele Tips for Beginners 

However, my favorite Top 10 list of all time is former talk-show host David Letterman’s countdown of the “Top 10 Signs You’ve Eaten Too Much Thanksgiving Dinner”:  

10. Hundreds of volunteers have started to stack sandbags around you.

9. Doctor tells you your weight would be perfect for a man 17 feet tall.

8. You are responsible for a slight but measurable shift in the Earth’s axis.

7. Right this minute you’re laughing up pie on the carpet.

6. You decide to take a little nap and wake up in mid-July.

5. World’s fattest man sends you a telegram warning you to “Back off!” 

4. CBS tells you to lose weight or else.

3. Getting off your couch requires help of the fire department.

2. Every escalator you step on immediately grinds to a halt.

1. You’re sweatin’ gravy. 

Are You Sweatin’ Windows 10 Migration?

As explained in the Dimensional Research white paper Windows 10: The State of the Union – A Survey of Desktop Stakeholders in IT, adoption of Windows 10 is still limited, but is accelerating quickly.  

Here are a couple of excerpts from the white paper:  

The vast majority of IT organizations, 91%, have Windows 10 installed. However, although released in 2015, there is wide variety in current levels of adoption. Just a third of IT organizations (34%) say they have Windows 10 in production, including only a few (10%) that characterize themselves as being fully in production. Most IT organizations are still in process of their full roll-out of Windows 10, with 17% being only at the pilot stage, 23% using it actively in IT to gain greater experience before exposing their end users, and 17% still using it only in a controlled lab environment.  

Unsurprisingly, Windows 10 is not widely installed. Close to half of companies (48%), have Windows 10 on less than 10% of their desktops. Only a small number (15%) have Windows 10 installed on more than half of their corporate desktops. Unsurprisingly, the majority of companies who have Windows 10 widely installed are smaller organizations with fewer desktops or laptops to update.   

Ivanti’s Top 10 Tips for Windows 10 Migration

If your IT organization is like most—still in the process of your full rollout of Windows 10—there’s another helpful document from Ivanti well worth reading: Top 10 Tips for Windows 10 Migration. Plus, you’re also invited to view the Ivanti webinar Windows 10 – State of the Union.  

While the document mentioned above details each of the 10 tips, here’s a list of them: 

1. Pick the Right Branch 

2. Pick an OS Deployment Strategy 

3. Don’t Let Applications be a Barrier to Migration 

4. Create the Ultimate User Experience 

5. Personalize Your Users’ Workspace 

6. Provide Users with Access to Their Data 

7. Ensure Windows and Applications Are Fully Patched 

8. Stop Malicious or Unlicensed Applications 

9. Remove Admin Privileges from Users 

10. Plan for a Hybrid Environment 

Even if budget hasn’t been allocated yet to a Windows 10 migration project, IT can build a migration model for their organization now to determine the cost in time, dollars, and effort involved in the move. IT can use the results to engage with executive management (they are end users, too), and at minimum, start the conversation. A proactive approach allows IT to make thoughtful decisions rather than hasty ones driven by necessity.

As part of the process, consider Microsoft’s faster release cadence and how IT will accommodate it. The new cadence will push IT to run multiple Windows versions in parallel, imposing a continuous state of migration.

Also consider that Ivanti has developed proven solutions that can help ease migration woes, improve the user experience, and ensure acceptance of Windows 10 migration projects.

top 10 tips