Alkane Solutions provide end-to-end application portfolio management and are Windows 10 migration specialists.
Windows 10 Migration and your Application Portfolio
We’ve seen it all before; IT administrators performing manual installations because they don’t have the time or the skill to package the application, multiple applications in the estate that provide duplicate functionality, lack of licensing compliance, unsupported applications, old versions of applications and much more.
Before you know it, your application estate has grown legs and you no longer have visibility or control over which applications are available and which aren’t.
Migrating to Windows 10 provides a fantastic opportunity to regain control of your application portfolio.
Windows 10 Software Auditing
Although not critical, understanding the usage statistics of your applications (whether managed or not!) provides invaluable insight when embarking on a migration project.
Auditing can give organisations awareness of applications being used that IT administrators weren’t aware of – typically manual installations. An audit also enables organisations to see how many users are using a specific application and at what frequency – this provides an opportunity to verify licensing compliance, and the potential to save on costs.
Windows 10 Application Rationalisation
At this point we have a raw list of all applications used in our estate. Packaging all of these would clearly be inefficient from a cost perspective and a functional perspective, so the rationalisation process provides an opportunity to reduce this list down to a master list by selecting only the applications that are required.
Unfortunately, application rationalisation is a manual and rather cumbersome process. Analysing off-the-shelf applications is trivial, but most businesses have bespoke applications design specifically to suit business needs whether they be clinical applications, financial applications, mechanical and engineering applications or otherwise.
By excluding functional duplicates, old versions, unsupported applications, unused applications
Windows 10 Application Compatibility
Some application packaging services recommend performing application compatibility testing before application rationalisation! But we disagree. Most software compatibility tool sets charge organisations on a per-application basis. So, it makes sense to identify the applications that you need before you assess them for compatibility. You could save thousands of pounds using this approach.
The application compatibility process aims to identify whether applications are compatible with a specific platform or technology, whether this be Windows 10 or Microsoft App-V 5.
If an application isn’t compatible, a business decision needs to be made to ether replace the application with a functional equivalent or retire the application.
Windows 10 Web Applications
Don’t forget your web applications! We see a lot of old crumby web applications designed for Internet Explorer 6/7/8. And web standards and technologies have changed massively since those days – especially when considering migrating to a modern browser such as Microsoft Edge.
We can assist you with all your web application compatibility requirements. Not only do we specialise in Application Packaging, but we have a background in web application design. And as such can assist in debugging front-end compatibility issues such as incorrect style sheet rendering, ActiveX issues and a plethora of back-end issues.
Do You Require Windows 10 Migration Specialists?
If you think your organisation can benefit from a specialist Windows 10 migration service, please contact us now and we’ll respond within 2 business hours.