10 things to consider before taking the Vista plunge

…should include assessing which users can benefit most from Vista's new features, are most in need of Vista's security enhancements, or otherwise should take priority in the rollout process.

Clerical personnel who spend most of their computer time in a word processing or spreadsheet program may be perfectly content — and just as productive — continuing to use their current OS for a while.

#7: Are your users prepared?
Such considerations as cost, hardware and infrastructure are important when you're making the decision to roll out a new OS, but don't forget the people factor. A minority of computer users embrace new technology eagerly and can't wait to be the first on the block to try and master the latest and greatest. But most users, like human beings in general, are resistant to change, even if the change is for the better.

Upgrading to a new operating system always requires a learning period, regardless of how intuitive the software is, and Vista introduces some major interface changes and new ways of doing things that may frustrate your less tech-savvy users. For example, those new to Vista are likely to be confused or annoyed by the dialogue boxes AUC pops up whenever they try to perform a task that requires administrative rights, even if they're logged on as administrators.

It's important to prepare users for the transition through education, training and policies that don't make it harder on them than necessary. For instance, you can allow those who prefer it to switch back to the classic Windows theme to make the desktop look more familiar.

#8: Are support personnel ready?
It's not just end users who must be prepared before the rollout. Your help desk and other tech support personnel are going to be hit with a plethora of questions and requests for assistance. Even if they're well trained and completely versed in the new OS, they need to be prepared for a much larger volume of work than usual.

You might consider adding more support personnel temporarily during and immediately after the upgrade.

#9: Is your data safe?
If all goes well, the OS upgrade will leave all your precious data intact. But what if all doesn't go well? The most elementary, but often overlooked, consideration is whether all your data is properly backed up "just in case". That doesn't just mean having a backup program and a bunch of tapes that you shuffle every week or so. It means doing test restorations to ensure that those backups will work if and when you need them.

#10: What will it really cost?
When all the other considerations are in, you can start to calculate how much it will cost to do the upgrade. Don't forget that the bottom line cost includes a lot more than the licensing fees. It also includes the cost of any necessary hardware upgrades, application modifications (or moving to new applications or new versions of the old ones), changes to the network infrastructure (if applicable), consultants you hire to help with the rollout, user training (including cost productivity while those users are away from their usual tasks), training of support personnel and IT administrators, and administrative overhead of handling all these preparations, including application compatibility testing, backup testing and so on.

Once you have a realistic cost estimate, you can intelligently decide whether the benefits of upgrading are worth it or whether your company is better off using XP (or even Windows 2000) for awhile longer and waiting for the first service pack or beyond before you take the Vista plunge.