Complete Your Transition to Windows 10 with Modern Management Migration

In less than a year, on January 14, 2020, Windows 7 will reach its end of support (EOS). On that date, there will be no further security updates for this version of the operating system. This means that IT teams must start moving now. Unfortunately, many organizations still have many client machines running Windows 7. Organizations of every size will have no option but to migrate to Windows 10.

Migrations can often be a burden for IT, but there can also be benefits if you plan correctly. If your migration plan includes adding a modern, next-generation management platform, you’ll be way ahead when the project is complete. Windows 10 migration is not just an upgrade; it’s also a transformational change that will enable IT teams to fix many long-standing issues that eat up a majority of their time. Upgrading the capabilities of the management platform is perhaps the most important enhancement and will give time and budget back to IT for prioritizing strategic initiatives. Deploying a best-in-class unified endpoint management (UEM) platform, VMware Workspace ONE, delivers on that goal.

Workspace ONE delivers several important capabilities and features that dramatically improve management and should be deployed as part of the migration strategy. There is no better time to substantially improve management capabilities than during this transformational migration. Some of the key benefits of using and deploying Workspace ONE as part of a Windows 10 migration include:

• Consistent security that eliminates security “Jenga.” Deploying a management platform that has a comprehensive security framework that enables the organization to truly take advantage of the native security in Windows 10 is a big improvement to your defensive posture. Layering in the security services of Workspace ONE protects the full stack, from the hardware (BIOS configuration, firmware drivers) to the OS, apps, user, and network. This ensures that both current and future security investments will continue to limit the attack surface.
• A standardized app catalog to smooth the end user experience. Users used to go to many places to get their apps: app stores, websites, internal app servers, SaaS services, and others. This created several problems: Users had to remember many different passwords, revoking access to apps was difficult, and managing apps was problematic. With a single unified app catalog across all app types, apps are simple to manage for IT and users have a one-stop shop for consuming them holistically. And with single sign-on, the user experience is improved. Workspace ONE delivers a single consistent and centrally managed and personalized set of apps for all users.
• Modern management for Windows 10 PCs. Legacy support solutions assumed that PCs were on the corporate LAN; that’s no longer true. Mobility is the norm. Workspace ONE changes the game with cloud-based management that supports all device types. Employees can work securely from anywhere and benefit from capabilities such as out-of-the-box onboarding from anywhere, over-the-air provisioning, and real-time updates delivered to wherever the employees are.
• Cost reduction. Legacy PC management is resource-intensive, and many third-party studies show annual costs of well over $1,000 per PC. Workspace ONE is an efficient, modern platform that dramatically reduces expenses by eliminating costs for things such as software distribution servers and staff time spent remediating improperly patched systems.

Windows 10 is a truly modern operating system that is designed with the future in mind. Tying this state-of-the-art operating system to the limitations of legacy management tools is a poor choice and will substantially reduce the benefits from Windows 10. Workspace ONE is universally lauded by firms such as Gartner, IDC, and Forrester as an optimized platform for UEM. The migration from Windows 7 provides an opportunity to update PC management capabilities and security and to rationalize many diverse aspects of device management.

Find out more about how Workspace ONE can enhance your migration plans here.