At PC Helps, we’ve helped dozens of companies upgrade from 2003 to 2010, and the call volume is steadily increasing. Most calls are coming from customers whose IT departments skipped an Office 2007 migration and were holding out for 2010. As with 2003-to-2007 migrations, 2003-to-2010 promises a steep learning curve on the part of end users.

To help you along, we’re holding a webcast titled “Top 5 End-User Challenges with Microsoft Updates” on Oct. 12 at 1 PM EST. Jim Tate, PC Helps’ client solutions director, will talk about key areas of enhancement in Office 2010, and fill you in on the biggest challenges end-users experience when migrating from earlier versions to the latest release. Tate will discuss the implications for IT and help desk leaders, and will give advice on how to ensure a positive experience for all involved.

Click here to sign up for “Top 5 End-User Challenges with Microsoft Updates.”

Most Common Support Calls

Many corporate workers have been using Windows XP for some time now, so a learning curve with Windows 7 is inevitable. Below are some factors that will affect your employees’ productivity with the new operating system:

• Elimination of the Quick Launch toolbar and the Vista sidebar (if applicable)
• A new taskbar with icons only
• Changes to auxiliary apps like Windows Movie Maker and Windows Mail
• New features like Federated Search, Windows Mobility Center, Aero Peek, Jump Lists

Best Practice – Provide a blend of self-paced training and on-demand live support throughout all phases of deployment. Downtime is costly.

As for Office 2007 and Office 2010, its radically different interface and incorporation of the ribbon throughout all applications including Outlook in Office 2010, will result in an even steeper learning curve. The design is such a departure that your employees will hit snags just trying to figure out how to perform basic tasks like saving and formatting. Here are some of the more frequent types of tasks end-users struggle with initially:

• Inability to customize the Ribbon and Office bar
• Finding infrequently used features
• Confusion resulting from the new version’s contextual menus and mini-toolbars
• Macros being disabled
• New file formats and “compatibility” mode
• Understanding the new multiple template types

Best Practice –With Office 2007 and Office 2010, the hard part will be getting end-users back to the point where they can complete the tasks they have done for years without issue. The bulk of that work needs to be done prior to deployment or within the first few weeks after installation. Provide pre-migration training, plus on-demand, expert support during and after launch. Without such measures, your in-house IT staff will likely be bombarded with calls, which will take them away from more critical migration issues.

Call Volume

The magnitude of support needs when a new software or OS hits a desktop environment almost guarantees that internal IT staff will be overwhelmed. Besides the increased call volume, once the callers connect to IT, it is unlikely they will get the assistance they need; most help desk generalists do not have the knowledge, experience or training to solve the range of upgrade questions. An inundated help desk means longer hold times, more call backs, a higher call abandonment rate, increased downtime and decreased service levels.

Here’s a snapshot of migration call volume:

• It will remain linear throughout the migration, with peaks cresting most noticeably during the initial installations.
• During months 1-3, our clients have experienced a 50 percent spike in “how-to” support calls. You can expect the same.
• The number of calls will begin to decrease at about month 4, and will continue to lessen through month 6, when the volume drops to 30 percent.
• After six months, levels will return closer to those experienced pre-deployment.

Best Practice – Evaluate the skill levels of FTEs and/or current outsourcers surrounding the newer and previous versions. Often the costs associated with training existing or extra staff to reach the expertise level needed in such a short amount of time is challenging.  Consider a best-of-breed migration partner that employs Microsoft-certified consultants across all versions,  is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and charges only according usage can be the more efficient and cost effective choice.

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 it for free http://www.pchelps.com/html/o2007mythsrealitiesroi.asp

MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

For Outlook 

2007′s Improved Out of Office Assistant

The Out of Office Assistant has changed significantly in Outlook 2007. If you click on the tools menu and select Out of Office Assistant, you will see a dialog box that is somewhat different from previous versions. Now, when you select the option to “Send Out of Office Replies,” you can click the check box that says “Only send during this time range.” Checking this box activates boxes to set the start and end dates and specify times during which you need replies sent. Kind of handy.

Four ways to keep on top of your e-mail while you’re on vacation.

Another change to this feature is two tabs, one for handling replies to be sent “Inside My Organization” and the other for handling replies to be sent “Outside My Organization.” In earlier versions of Outlook, replies were not sent to external contacts at all.

In order to enable the “Outside My Organization” reply, click on the tab and enable “auto-reply to people outside my organization” by placing a check in the box. Once you enable this option, you can select a radio button indicating whether the reply should be sent to “my contacts only” or “anyone outside my organization.” Handy, indeed. (Melissa Adams)

Autoreply with Custom Subject Line
Sometimes you need to mix it up and modify the autoreply subject. Follow these steps:

1. In the Out of Office Assistant dialog, click the Add Rule button.
2. For the reply to go to “all messages that arrive,” leave all the criteria fields blank.
3. Check the “Reply with” box and click Template.
4. Specify the subject AND the body of the message in the email form that opens. Leave the other fields blank, save and close the form.

Note: Be sure to remove the text from the “Autoreply only once…” box where you would normally specify your Out of Office message. If you don’t, senders will get both the custom subject response and the standard response. (Brian Choplick)

For the BlackBerry

Filter Incoming Mail
Say, for example, you receive a daily report that you will not read or deal with on your phone and would prefer to just handle it back at the office. Can you create a filter for that?
Of course you can. Here’s how:

1. Click on the Messages icon to open your messages, then click the trackwheel or Menu button and select Options.
2. Select Email Filters.
3. Click your trackwheel or Menu button, select New and then type a filter name.
4. You have several fields you can filter on: From; Sent To; Subject; Message; Sent directly to me; CC to me; BCC to me; Importance; Sensitivity. You can choose more than one option here. For example, to take care of your daily report problem, create the following filter:From: coworker@domain.com
   Subject: Daily Report
   Action: Do not forwardThis will affect any emails from colleagues with “daily report” in the subject.
5. Click your trackwheel or Menu button and save the filter. By default, it is enabled and will function immediately with any new incoming messages.

If you want to temporarily allow filtered messages, simply click on the filter name to uncheck in the filter list. Take note, however, that filtering works only if your BlackBerry is activated on a BlackBerry Enterprise Server; to access filters with BlackBerry Internet Service you must check with your wireless carrier.

High-Priority E-Mail Notifications
You want to make sure you know when high-priority e-mails come in, and the standard notification doesn’t quite command your attention. To set up special notices, start at the home screen, go to Profiles, then Advanced. Here you can create a new profile or modify your current one. Set the desired notification for Level 1 Messages and save. Note: High-priority message notices will work even if you have disabled those for other types of messages. (Nkoli Ukpabi)

Have any tips for handling e-mail while you’re away? Send them my way: jen.darr@pchelps.com.

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

Myth No. 1: You can make Office 2007 look and act like Office 2003.

“Two words: no menus. Two more: no toolbars.”

Scads of third-party applications have cropped up that promise to make Office 2007 look and act like 2003. Some are effective; most miss the point. Holding on to the old interface will only serve to diminish your Office 2007 migration return on investment.

Myth No. 2: Migration support needs disappear completely after a few weeks.

No, no, no. Microsoft designed the new interface to make it easier for users to find features that were available in older versions, but were buried in an elaborate menu structure. It’s working, too. Months into a rollout, your employees will be finding tools they never knew existed – and they will need help learning how to use them. To expect IT generalists to know how to use long-hidden features is downright unreasonable.

Myth No. 3: Migrating to Office 2007 is like every other migration.

Two words: no menus. Two more: no toolbars.

Many users will not even be able to open files without training and help. Office 2007 is a complete overhaul of the user interface. In previous upgrades, knowledge of how to get to features in the previous version got users where they wanted to go 95 percent of the time. With 2007, it’s zero percent.

Myth No. 4: Handling a migration without outside help will give my staff a chance to shine.

Don’t turn your IT staff into scapegoats. The scale of end-user need when Office 2007 hits a desktop guarantees your IT department will be overwhelmed.

Myth No. 5: I have smart employees. They’ll have no problem figuring out how to use Office 2007 on their own.

An employee does not call the general help desk when he can get the answer from a colleague who sits near him. If none of his colleagues know how to use Office 2007, and he calls a generalist at the help desk, how much expertise will he find there?

FIND MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study | PC Helps eTraining |Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

Most Common Support Calls

Many corporate workers have been using Windows XP for some time now, so a learning curve with Windows 7 is inevitable. Below are some factors that will affect your employees’ productivity with the new operating system:

• Elimination of the Quick Launch toolbar and the Vista sidebar (if applicable)
• A new taskbar with icons only
• Changes to auxiliary apps like Windows Movie Maker and Windows Mail
• New features like Federated Search, Windows Mobility Center, Aero Peek, Jump Lists

Best Practice – Provide consolidated training on these features before deployment or make sure Windows 7 experts are standing by and are readily available the day of deployment. Downtime is costly.

As for Office 2007, its radically different interface will result in an even steeper learning curve. The design is such a departure that your employees will hit snags just trying to figure out how to perform basic tasks like saving and formatting. Here are some issues that may cause problems:

• Inability to customize the Ribbon and Office bar
• Finding infrequently used features
• Confusion resulting from the new version’s contextual menus and mini-toolbars
• Macros being disabled
• New file formats and “compatibility” mode
• Understanding the new multiple template types

Best Practice –With Office 2007, the hard part will be getting end-users back to the point where they can complete the tasks they have done for years without issue. The bulk of that work needs to be done prior to deployment or within the first few weeks after installation. Provide pre-migration training, plus on-demand, expert support during and after launch. Without such measures, your in-house IT staff will likely be bombarded with calls, which will take them away from more critical migration issues.

Call Volume

The magnitude of support needs when Windows 7 and Office 2007 hit a desktop environment almost guarantees that internal IT staff will be overwhelmed. Besides the increased call volume, once the callers connect to IT, it is unlikely they will get the assistance they need; most help desk generalists do not have the knowledge, experience or training to solve the range of Windows 7 and Office 2007 questions. An inundated help desk means longer hold times, more call backs, a higher call abandonment rate, increased downtime and decreased service levels.

Here’s a snapshot of migration call volume: It will remain linear throughout the migration, with peaks cresting most noticeably during the initial installations. During months 1-3, our clients have experienced a 50 percent spike in “how-to” support calls. You can expect the same.

The number of calls will begin to decrease at about month 4, and will continue to lessen through month 6, when the volume drops to 30 percent. After six months, levels will return to those experienced pre-deployment.

Best Practice – Don’t bother hiring extra full-time IT staff for a migration; training new hires up to the expertise level needed in such a short amount of time is near-impossible. Instead, bring in a migration partner that employs Microsoft-certified consultants, offers 24×7 support on more than 160 applications, and charges you according to actual use.

Training and Support

In past upgrades, an information worker’s knowledge of how to get to the features in the previous version was 95 percent effective in the new version. For Windows 7 and Office 2007, it is zero percent effective. In our experience, we’ve found that providing training and support during the critical times in a migration can mean the difference between a smooth switchover and a hellish one.

Best Practice — Provide intensive training during the initial phases of the migration, and continue to offer instruction during and after. This is a key element in measuring ROI. Everyone learns at a different pace, so having a multitude of training options is best, i.e., self-service, on-demand, web-based, individual and customized. Being able to identify and deliver targeted training needs, solution-based metrics and measureable productivity gains can justify several portions of a Windows 7 and Office 2007 investment.

Download your free copy of the Windows 7 and Office 2007 Migration Readiness Kit.

FIND MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study (.pdf) | PC Helps eTraining | Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

Two words:
“Loads faster!”

Regardless of which OS you opt for, there is at least one guarantee — that is, that you will face a migration eventually. The more information you have, the better. Here’s our take on 7, from a user’s standpoint, and from IHD’s:

For the Windows 7 User:

What changes will potentially throw off users?

1. With the elimination of the Quick Launch toolbar, users will have to pin items to the Start Menu or the taskbar.
2. The taskbar will include icons only (no text), which may confuse some users.
3. Not being able to turn off taskbar windows previews may confuse or even irritate.
4. Some auxiliary apps such as Windows Movie Maker and Windows Mail are removed or replaced.
5. People who used the Vista Sidebar and gadgets in it may miss it.

What new features will increase users’ productivity?

1. With Federated Search, Windows Explorer can be used to simultaneously search different types of resources such as local drives, network drives and SharePoint sites.
2. Easier use of projectors with the Windows Mobility Center.
3. A significantly improved backup utility allows greater flexibility and granularity in a user-friendly interface.
4. Taskbar changes and Aero Peek make working with and switching among multiple windows easier and more efficient.
5. The addition of Windows key combinations to launch frequently used applications and to control the placement of windows.
6. Jump Lists offer quicker access to frequently used program features and content (files, URLs).

For the Help Desk:

What will break when 7 is rolled out (compatibility issues, legacy system issues, security issues, etc)?

1. Mostly what you would expect to break in an OS migration.
2. Some compatibility issues with older hardware and software have been found, but fewer than with migration to Windows Vista. Legacy items that touch on security or network connectivity lead the list as expected.
3. Sleep mode in laptops has been a problem in betas and release candidates.

What capabilities will be helpful to the IHD/system admins?

1. Loads faster! Loads faster! Loads faster!
2. The Problem Steps Recorder can automatically create a history of a problem complete with screen shots.
3. The Action Center combines functions of several interfaces related to security, troubleshooting and recovery.
4. Built-in management of biometric devices.
5. The utility for creating System Repair Disks is simplified and improved.
6. The second generation of PowerShell makes automating administrative tasks easier and more powerful.
7. Easily running applications with Elevated Rights without restarting them.
8. Ability to burn .ISO images to disk.
9. Installation from USB memory devices.

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study | PC Helps eTraining |Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

After more than an hour of trial and error, she couldn’t find the feature she used in previous versions, so she devised a workaround with the space bar to nudge and align.

She asked two of her fellow teachers for help. They couldn’t figure it out either, and they too were using the spacebar fix.

Her opinion of Office 2007 after this experience?

“It sucks. I hate it.”

Teacher A spent more than an hour coming up with her Band-aid workaround. But her solution isn’t a solution at all: She now spends more time on each presentation nudging and aligning.

If she would have called her school district help desk, a consultant would have solved her problem in less than half the time. She could have passed along the information to her colleagues, saving them each an hour. She may have even learned how to use tools that are new to the version.

When asked why she didn’t call the help desk, she said she didn’t think the question was important enough. Besides, she added, she didn’t have time to waste on the phone.

Her opinion of Office 2007 after this experience? “It sucks. I hate it.”

This is typical in workplaces. Even at companies where quality desktop application support is offered, employees hesitate to utilize the service.

One reason is to avoid embarrassment. Many workers have learned their computer skills informally on the job, so they are reluctant to call the help desk for what they perceive is a “stupid” question.

Another reason, and chief among them, is an assumed time investment. Most people have had a frustrating help desk experience or two, where they were placed on hold, forced to listen to tinny, instrumental versions of Cat Stevens hits, only to be “helped” — eventually — by someone who is familiar with everything but proficient in nothing.

So instead, they tap the office software “expert” for help, pulling her away from her job and wasting twice the company effort. Or they fruitlessly scan Microsoft Help files and search the web.

The result is a whopping waste of investment in software. The point of an upgrade is to give users new, usually improved and expanded capabilities. If employees do not have access to training and support, they will naturally come to the conclusion that Office 2007 sucks. That sucks for your bottom line. (Jen Darr)

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 migration checklist | contact PC Helps

Software migrations will no doubt cause disruptions in at least three areas over several months. But if you approach it with a thought-out plan, you can lessen the sting.

Where’s the File Menu?

The first and most obvious impact will be on your employees. Features they have used for years are suddenly, um, somewhere else. The interface changes in Office 2007 are substantial enough that without training and support before and throughout a migration, even the savviest users will be lost.

“How will an overall decrease in productivity affect your company’s numbers? In a word, nightmarishly.”

Callers are in Queue

Immediately after deployment, employees will bombard the internal help desk with support questions, on top of their regular requests for forgotten passwords and more mailbox size. It’s hard to keep up a balancing act like that, even more so when employees make it over the initial learning hump and begin finding features that are new to the version. That’s 2.0.

The Bottom Line

How will an overall decrease in productivity affect your company’s numbers? In a word, nightmarishly. If John Q. Embeeay is churning out a dozen reports a day using Access and Excel 2003, how long will it take him to get back up to that level using 2007?

Whether it is learning how to use the new ribbon interface or adjusting to file formats, employees and help desks will face a learning curve of some capacity. Productivity, the backbone of a company, will suffer without a migration partner and plan in place. (Jen Darr)

FIND MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Checklist + Tools | Migration Case Study | PC Helps eTraining |Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps