According to a leading industry source, more than 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT infrastructures are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. Half the knowledge workers are running 2003; the rest are getting to know 2007 and the Ribbon.

When half your knowledge workers are using one version and the rest another, that’s a whole lot of lost functionality — and wasted time.

The recession and Office 2007’s immense learning curve are partly to blame, but, ultimately, it’s you, the IT leader, who must take responsibility for diminished return on investment. There’s still time to finish your migration; here are six reasons why you should:

1. ROI: You purchased X number of licenses and only have migrated half. You do the math: You purchased the upgrade for a reason — to take advantage of new and easier to find productivity features.

2. The dreaded Office 2007 learning curve: As evident in the hundreds of expletive-laced Tweets about Office 2007, the new user interface is a downright shock to many knowledge workers. Where’s the file menu? How do you save a document? What is this Ribbon? If you finish your migration, you will not have to face these questions again when you decide to upgrade to the next version (which also has a Ribbon interface). Read more…

admin Finish What You Started, Office 2007 CIO, downtime, learning curve, Office 2007 migration, ROI, software support, the Ribbon

Perhaps this scenario describes your desktop software situation: Half of your end users use Office 2007, and the rest are still running Office 2003. All you’ve heard from the former are “Where’s the file menu?” and “How do I save a document?” From the latter, you’ve likely listened to endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

Third in a four-part Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

In part one of this series, I highlighted the reasons an estimated 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT departments are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. Part two offered information on how to complete the migration with minimal downtime. This post lays out a project timeline and readiness checklist.

You want successful transition to Office 2007 and early ROI. In order to meet those goals, you need to keep your employees informed and trained before, during and after deployment. With a plan in place, you will minimize or eliminate dips in productivity and give your workers confidence to use the tools they rely on every day. This is what you should expect from a migration partner: Read more…

admin Finish What You Started, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program Help Desk, learning curve, Office 2003, Office 2007, recession, shadow support, the Ribbon, Training

Perhaps this scenario describes your desktop software situation: Half of your end users use Office 2007, and the rest are still running Office 2003. All you’ve heard from the former are “Where’s the file menu?” and “How do I save a document?” From the latter, you’ve likely listened to endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

Second in a four-part Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

In part one of this series, I highlighted the reasons an estimated 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT infrastructures are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. This post offers information on how to complete the migration while minimizing downtime and frustration.

Most IT leaders realize that an Office 2007 deployment requires coordination, planning and oversight. As a result, many bring in a third party for migration assistance.

The support options and partnerships are abundant, including training companies, consulting firms, domestic and offshore outsourcers, and certified Microsoft Office 2007 migration launch partners. Read more…

admin Finish What You Started, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program Help Desk, learning curve, Office 2003, Office 2007, shadow support, the Ribbon

Perhaps this scenario describes your desktop software situation: Half of your end users use Office 2007, and the rest are still running Office 2003. All you’ve heard from the former are “Where’s the file menu?” and “How do I save a document?” From the latter, you’ve likely listened to endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

Part one of a four-post Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

According to a leading industry source, more than 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT infrastructures are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. The reasons are many.

The Recession: During the past two years, IT budgets were cut and some employees were let go, leaving Office 2007 deployments incomplete.

Misjudgment: IT leaders were unaware of the amount of work that went into a migration. A dearth of internal resources to handle increasing call volume and demand for training halted phased rollouts.

Choice: IT leaders who weren’t mandated to deploy Office 2007 to the entire company chose to migrate in more of a “drip” fashion. Only those who requested the upgrade received it.

It’s not just user frustration you have to worry about either. Managing a staff that is running two versions causes pain for the company in other ways: compatibility issues, limited return on your Office 2007 investment and a semi-knowledgeable internal help desk.

Below is a sampling of the most common Office 2007 issues for end users. Read more…

admin Finish What You Started, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program learning curve, migration, Office 2003, Office 2007, recession