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

Although most tech publications are reporting on Microsoft Office 2010, the reality is that a significant number of U.S. companies have yet to finish the Office 2007 upgrades they purchased before the recession hit.

Windows 7 is upon us. New operating system, new Office suite. Let the games begin.

According to a leading industry source, about 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT infrastructures are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. That’s a whole lot of wasted investment.

Then there are companies who waited for that whole Vista debacle to blow over. They kept XP and Office 2003, with the aim of upgrading when Windows 7 was released.

Windows 7 is upon us. New operating system, new Office suite. Let the games begin.

We have compiled a list of the most common Office 2007 user questions and issues, and it was recently published by IT World. You can read it here. Take notes, and happy migrating.

PC Helps also recently published a white paper on the subject, titled “The Myths and Realities of an Office 2007 and Windows 7 Migration.” Download the free migration kit here.

MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

admin Office 2007, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, Windows 7 ITworld.com, Microsoft, Office 2007, ROI, Windows 7, Windows XP

Would you groom a poodle only halfway? Not finishing your Office 2007 migration is just as nonsensical.

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 recent “econolypse” spurred IT leaders to cut budgets and lay off workers, leaving Office 2007 deployments incomplete; IT management underestimated the amount of work that a migration required, and they reacted by halting phased rollouts; and some CIOs and other IT leaders who were not mandated to deploy the new version to the entire company doled it out in a “drip” fashion.

The result is an enterprise that looks something like this: Half of your employees 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 endured endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

It’s not just user aggravation you have to worry about either. Running two versions invites compatibility issues, minimizes the return on your Office 2007 investment, and keeps your internal help desk semi-knowledgeable about the software.

We’ve compiled a kit that will show you how to cost-effectively finish your Office 2007 migration while minimizing the end-user and help desk learning curve, increase productivity and more accurately project call volume. You can view it here.

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Case Study | Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program | Migration Readiness Checklist | Migration Competitive Analysis | Contact PC Helps

admin Finish What You Started CIO, econolypse, Office 2007 migration, ROI

Whether you have invested or are getting ready to invest in Windows 7 and Office 2007, you cannot afford to approach the migration willy-nilly. The switch promises to be like no other, especially if you are upgrading from XP. The user interface is radically different, and your employees will hit snags just trying to figure out how to perform basic tasks. How you handle the inevitable learning curve depends on your preparedness — and it may dictate future budget allocations, even the health of your IT department. This post breaks down the components of our Windows 7 and Office 2007 migration readiness kit, and gives you the information you need for a snag-free switchover.

Click to download your free Windows 7 and Office 2007 Migration Readiness Kit.

Part One, The Big Picture:

Expert support and training before, during, and after deployment is the key to a successful migration. You will need to tackle the steep learning curve and minimize downtime so your employees can regain the confidence and knowledge necessary to remain productive.

Some questions to keep in mind: If the average end-user was completing 30 tasks per day prior to migrating, what will it take to bring them back up to that level once Windows 7 and Office 2007 are deployed?

• Technical support and training for employees before, during, and after migration.
• Live, expert support and training, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Focused project timelines to coordinate deployment, support and training.
• Awareness campaigns that let Read more…

admin Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, Windows 7 CIO, downtime, Office 2007, Outsourcing, quality assurance, ROI, software support

This week’s terms are all about employees: how to nurture and grow their skills, and how to recognize the value that results. Throw out your crusty old business 101 biases, put on your 2009 hat, and read on.

As if keeping technical skills up-to-date wasn’t enough of a challenge for corporate employees and their managers, along comes a whole new soft skill: virtual competence.

According to researchers at the University of Western Ontario, virtual competence is made up of three parts: a person’s ability to build online social relationships (virtual social skills), his proficiency using technology (virtual media skills), and self-confidence (virtual self-efficacy).

According to an article by CIO.com’s Jennifer Kavur, virtual competence is necessary in workplaces where teams are separated not by cubicle walls, but by entire oceans or continents. (Read Kavur’s article here.)

With ROII, it’s a little murkier. It deals with what you cannot see.

And although it sounds like yet another item to embellish on a resume, researchers emphasize that the onus for ensuring employees develop such skills should be on managers, rather than on the workers themselves.

An excerpt from Kavur’s piece captures the essence:

“The more a firm needs its people to collaborate online and work with remote locations and make use of mobile devices like laptops and PDAs, the more they need to look at this ensemble of skills and how they can help their employees develop it.”

The second entry in today’s tech jargon roundup, ROII, goes hand-in-hand with the first. Not to be confused with old-fashioned ROI (return on investment), today’s ROII is modern, new-fangled. Read more…

admin Tech Babble Chief Learning Officer, CIO.com, ROI, ROII, tech jargon roundup, virtual competence

A recent Associated Press story was almost silly enough to qualify as a headline from The Onion: “Chicken farming growing trend in suburbia.”

What do chickens and software support have in common?

The article wasn’t a spoof; it was a legitimate news story that appeared in the Dallas Morning News. The piece detailed the how suburbanites have taken to rearing chickens to make it through the recession. It sounds like a lot of work for one egg per day for each hen. There’s a coop to build, feed to buy, local livestock laws to obey. And then there’s the smell.

Chicken-rearers say it’s a way of “getting back to basics.” My gut says it’s just too much work considering the return.

But upon further inspection (namely, the mere existence of “Raising Chickens for Dummies” – yes, it’s a real book – and the popularity of a the site BackyardChickens.com), it seems it’s not such a crazy notion after all. Yes, there is an upfront investment, but the ROI is supposedly stellar.

Chickens are working pets that guarantee a steady supply of fresh eggs (and, perhaps, an eventual main course). Raising your own chickens is also “green.” They help control bugs and weeds without the use of chemicals, and they create excellent fertilizer.

All this talk of getting back to basics got me thinking about dwindling IT budgets and the move on corporate America’s part to get back to basics. In particular, it brought to mind the misconception that services like software support and training for employees are excessive and unnecessary in an economic downturn. Read more…

admin ROI Associated Press, backyardchickens.com, Outsourcing, productivity, Raising Chickens for Dummies, recession, ROI, software support, The Onion

The economy has certainly changed the nature of the service level agreement (SLA). What used to be a formality now has the capability of becoming a powerful tool for ensuring successful outsourcing partnerships. In other words, it can help you cut costs.

Today – more so than in the past – companies should not be afraid to ask their outsourcing partners for updated SLAs, and more data, both qualitative and quantitative.

It’s the data that really matters – data such as:

• Abandonment rate
• Queue times, hold times
• Call duration
• Estimated hard-dollar savings
• Customer satisfaction and feedback
• Downtime analysis
• Call complexity

Using qualitative and quantitative reporting methods can provide IT leaders with proof of ROI and show value behind dollars spent.

This should be a focal point for every IT department, when many end-users (or customers) operate under the incorrect assumption that the IT help or service desks serve just a few purposes: resetting passwords, maintaining network connectivity, or putting out computers that are on fire.

Choosing the right outsourcing partner and putting strong SLAs in place can rejuvenate the image of the help desk in no time, which, in turn, makes for a better bottom line.

MORE INFO IN: PC Helps eTraining | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

admin Rants Outsourcing, ROI, SLAs

Our consultants rarely come across a question that hasn’t been asked before. Experience and stats prove that most users have problems with the same general areas of an application. And although modifying font and line spacing in a document isn’t excessively time-consuming, when you add up the minutes it takes to make those type of changes to every document created, and scale that across a company with 3,500 PC users, the productivity loss becomes a lot more substantial. Read more…

admin Computer Literacy, How To, Time-Saving Tips, Worker Productivity Help Desk, Microsoft Word, productivity, ROI, spellcheck

Despite the reports that IT spending is down, CIOs are still expected to keep their IT infrastructures current, which may mean committing to an Office 2007 migration. Read more…

admin Office 2007, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, ROI, Worker Productivity BlackBerry, golf, migration, Office 2007, Outsourcing, productivity, ROI, Windows Mobile

Dear Mr. CIO:

I understand we’re in a recession, and the pressure for you to prune your budget is great, but how on Earth do you expect to get the same quality IT outsourcing for less money? I didn’t major in business, but I do know that in a capitalist society, nothing is free. Didn’t they teach you that in economics 101? Read more…

admin Access, Excel, Outsourcing, ROI CIO, Help Desk, IT leaders, Outsourcing, ROI