In case you missed it, Forrester Research Group released a report in December warning of the pitfalls when upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010. And it’s what we here at PC Helps have been saying all along — as far back as Office 2007 upgrades.

We think the FAQ is a wonderful thing. But a FAQ cannot stand on its own.

As reported on recently by CIO.com’s Shane O’Neill, the Forrester report outlines four pitfalls to avoid during upgrades: underestimating compatibility issues, leaving workers to figure out the migration with no assistance, assuming workers will use the software’s new features, and neglecting to emphasize peer-to-peer learning.

Here’s what we’ve been saying: Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Office 2010 CIO.com, Excel, Forrester, Microsoft, productivity, shadow support, SUMIFS

Matt LeBlanc (not the actor) lines up his toiletries in the order in which he uses them. I’d say he takes “doing more with less” a little to the extreme, but that’s his job as an efficiency expert.

The whole point of upgrading to Office 2007 is to utilize new or improved features.

LeBlanc was the subject of a piece last week on NPR’s Planet Money program, and his profession is a particularly timely subject in the current economic climate where “more with less” is the mantra and efficiency and productivity are the only goals. (Listen to reporter David Kestenbaum’s interview with LeBlanc.)

LeBlanc works for a global shipping company, and his role is to find ways to streamline processes. He is sent to different locations and told, for example, to save the company $500,000.

As he explained in his interview with NPR’s David Kestenbaum: When he tells people that he can save thousands of labor hours just by moving a printer, they don’t believe him.

This company, PC Helps Support, is also in the efficiency business. (We’re a desktop application and mobile device support provider.) But instead of demonstrating how moving a printer can save money, we show how eliminating shadow support and increasing productivity can influence their bottom line. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program, Worker Productivity David Kestenbaum, efficiency, hidden demand, Matt LeBlanc, NPR, shadow support

Perhaps this scenario describes your desktop software situation: Half of your end users 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 listened to endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

Third in a four-part Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

In part one of this series, I highlighted the reasons an estimated 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT departments are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. Part two offered information on how to complete the migration with minimal downtime. This post lays out a project timeline and readiness checklist.

You want successful transition to Office 2007 and early ROI. In order to meet those goals, you need to keep your employees informed and trained before, during and after deployment. With a plan in place, you will minimize or eliminate dips in productivity and give your workers confidence to use the tools they rely on every day. This is what you should expect from a migration partner: Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Finish What You Started, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program Help Desk, learning curve, Office 2003, Office 2007, recession, shadow support, the Ribbon, Training

Perhaps this scenario describes your desktop software situation: Half of your end users 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 listened to endless grumbling about their frustration with Office 2003-incompatible files created by colleagues.

Second in a four-part Office 2007 migration series.

It needs to be said: Finish what you started.

In part one of this series, I highlighted the reasons an estimated 50 percent of enterprise-sized IT infrastructures are running mixed Microsoft Office end-user environments. This post offers information on how to complete the migration while minimizing downtime and frustration.

Most IT leaders realize that an Office 2007 deployment requires coordination, planning and oversight. As a result, many bring in a third party for migration assistance.

The support options and partnerships are abundant, including training companies, consulting firms, domestic and offshore outsourcers, and certified Microsoft Office 2007 migration launch partners. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Finish What You Started, Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program Help Desk, learning curve, Office 2003, Office 2007, shadow support, the Ribbon