Three-plus years later, why is the ribbon still an issue?

“[One] way we use the data is by looking for frequently used features that are hard to get to today. Any time we see this, it represents people overcoming the user interface to use a buried feature because it’s so important.

“A great example of this is ‘superscript’ in Word. In Word 2003, it must be added to the toolbar manually through customization. Yet, even as a non-default toolbar button, it gets more clicks than 30% of the buttons on the Formatting toolbar. The opportunity here is to discover the things that people love and that even more people would use if they knew they could.”

Harris makes oodles of sense. (So much so, it makes me want to uninstall my copy of OpenOffice.) Still, almost four years after it was unveiled, Microsoft’s ribbon continues to confound end users and IT departments.

And “confound” is not an exaggeration: According to a recent report sponsored by Dell KACE and conducted by Dimensional Research, of those IT leaders surveyed, 45 percent said their greatest concern in upgrading to 2010 is the ribbon.

So, three-plus years later, why is the ribbon still an issue?

It could be that, despite the fact that it has been around since 2007, the ribbon is relatively new to the majority of end-users. After hearing horror stories, many companies chose to skip the Office 2007/Vista upgrade and wait for the next version.

That version is here: Office 2010, complete with ribbon, and Windows 7.

So the old concerns are new again. Features workers have used for years are suddenly somewhere else. The interface changes in Office 2007 and 2010 are substantial enough that without training and support before and throughout a migration, even the most experienced users will be lost.

Here’s an interesting metaphor from one of our readers: It’s as if Office was an automobile, and the manufacturer put the steering wheel in the trunk and the gas and brake pedals on the ceiling.

In the Dell KACE study, participants were asked if migrating to Windows 7 and Office 2010 would be combined in a single effort. Thirty-eight percent reported that they were combining an upgrade to the productivity suite and operating system either to reduce training costs, reduce deployment costs or both.

An operating system upgrade is onerous enough. Throw in a new Office interface, and you have a recipe for productivity meltdown.

In reality, business cannot be put on hold while users adjust to a new software version.

At PC Helps, the Office 2010 calls have quickly increased from a trickle to a stream. Most 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 to throw a few challenges the way of end users and IT departments. Adjusting to the new ribbon interface is often the first obstacle. Once users adjust, plenty more follow.

Below we present the top five end user challenges so your IT department knows what to expect during the migration crunch.

1. Adjusting to a materially different interface

The “ribbon” and other new aspects of the Office 2007 interface reflect major changes in the look and feel of the core Office applications. In Office 2010, these differences carry forward and are coupled with the incorporation of the ribbon into Outlook, impacting usability of this critical communications application.

User confusion and frustration is almost guaranteed when attempting to learn and work with the ribbon for the first time. Basic functions that were performed without effort in the past, such as opening and closing files, managing day-to-day calendar and meeting entries, and applying formats, require a relearning process with the new application versions. For some users, relearning these basic functions is fairly straightforward, and for others it takes a more effort and help. More complex tasks in PowerPoint, Excel, Word or Access often require a combination of training and support in the migration process.

2. Recreating and reformatting important documents

As with any new or changed software, incompatibility with prior versions may require users to manually rework documents. Compatibility of versions has been a focus for Microsoft over the years, and improves with every new release. But users don’t always follow the best practices when creating documents, and end up with versions which are not automatically converted with an upgrade.

Files received from outside the organization in older formats may not open properly and need some rework or, sometimes, may need to be resent. Files with links, Access databases (especially if they integrate with other systems or use extensive code), and custom animations in older PowerPoint versions may be corrupted or impacted by compatibility issues. In cases where users have documents they regularly use, often containing complex formulas or formatting, and which need to be updated to the new versions, there can be a significant amount of time spent on reformatting and recreating documents.

3. Dealing with deadlines and urgency

In reality, business cannot be put on hold while users adjust to a new software version. Critical deadlines loom, and day-to-day urgent matters still need to be handled. During a migration, end users may find themselves stymied by lack of familiarity with a new Office application just at a time when they are facing these deadlines.

Of particular note among these end users are administrative support staff, who are often managing calendars and communications for managers and executives. Downtime is not an option for them either. In these circumstances, self-help, training and tutorials often compound frustration.

4. Using Office across a range of mobile devices and computers

The proliferation of new and different mobile and computing devices is changing the corporate computing landscape. (See Oct. 8’s blog post for recent stats about the iPhone and Android in the enterprise.) Employees now access standard Office applications across a range of devices and often from remote locations. Adapting to and syncing upgraded software and OS versions impacts end users in these mixed environments.

For example, to edit documents in the new Office 2007 file formats on a Windows Mobile device, an Office Mobile upgrade is required. Many users are not aware of this and don’t understand why they cannot successfully use the application. Another example, this one from the Apple side: The settings to sync an Entourage calendar to an iPad are not entirely obvious, and end users must also make sure they have the latest updates from Microsoft.

Many help desks have altered their policies to allow outside devices but are not able to offer support for these non-company issued devices. End users often search on their own for “how-to” support in online help communities and in-product menus. Even worse, they attempt workarounds that bypass updates and patches altogether, forgoing improved functionalities or simply not making full use of the devices or applications.

5. Finding help when it’s needed

According to a May 2010 Gartner report, one of the Windows 7/Office 2010 migration pitfalls to avoid is not seeking professional help early enough.

“Don’t underestimate the requirements for skills and services. It is often common to enlist an external service provider, especially for help with design and planning features,” writes Gartner researcher Michael Silver in Computerworld article about the report. “In addition to proper training for technical staff, make sure the service provider is contracted to transfer sufficient skills so staff can manage the new environment after the cutover.”

In addition to help with migration design and planning, help is needed on the end user side as well. As the migration process unfolds and users begin incorporating new or upgraded software into their everyday routines, it is essential that they quickly master tasks and processes relevant to their specific jobs in the new software environment. It is also important that they have access to additional help if they need it – which may be at points before, during or beyond the migration dates. Issues and causes users experience related to finding help include:

• Training was taken at the time of the upgrade, but a particular application or function has not been used since, and the user has forgotten how to use it. (Classic “use it or lose it” scenario.)

• Training and tutorials were planned by the user, but not completed due to limited time availability, and user now has an urgent need. Executives and higher level staff, or personnel who spend most of their time on the road, frequently experience this situation.

• General training and help tools may not be specific enough to the users’ particular needs.

• For a variety of reasons, in-product help and search tools do not provide the help needed, or are considered inadequate by certain user groups.

• Some personnel may rely on an assistant for support, and with that person unavailable, may not know how to access certain critical documents or handle certain tasks.

When employees find themselves in these situations, they often need help right away. They can’t afford the downtime associated with submitting a help desk ticket or waiting for next-day follow up. If they can’t get the application expertise needed from the help desk, they will seek out help from their co-workers, struggle with generic help menus, look to hand off the work to a delegate if they have one, or just not complete the task.

Can your company afford that?

(Jen Sweeney)

For further reading:

From NetworkWorld: 5 tips for a smooth Windows 7 migration

From Computerworld/Gartner: Pitfalls to Avoid on the Road to Windows 7 and Office 2010 Migration

When half your knowledge workers are using one version and the rest another, that’s a whole lot of lost functionality — and wasted time.

The recession and Office 2007’s immense learning curve are partly to blame, but, ultimately, it’s you, the IT leader, who must take responsibility for diminished return on investment. There’s still time to finish your migration; here are six reasons why you should:

1. ROI: You purchased X number of licenses and only have migrated half. You do the math: You purchased the upgrade for a reason — to take advantage of new and easier to find productivity features.

2. The dreaded Office 2007 learning curve: As evident in the hundreds of expletive-laced Tweets about Office 2007, the new user interface is a downright shock to many knowledge workers. Where’s the file menu? How do you save a document? What is this Ribbon? If you finish your migration, you will not have to face these questions again when you decide to upgrade to the next version (which also has a Ribbon interface).

3. New features: As stated in Reason No. 1, you purchased the upgrade for a reason — to increase worker productivity from the new and improved features (for example, Excel 2007 includes new formulas such as IFERROR, and more columns and rows).

4. The Ribbon is here to stay: Despite the existence of third-party add-ins that make 2007 look and act like 2003, installing them is counterproductive. The beta version of Office 2010 includes the Ribbon interface, and I suspect future versions will too. Embrace it.

5. Document compatibility: When you save 2007 documents in earlier formats, they lose some functionality. When half your knowledge workers are using one version and the rest another, that’s a whole lot of lost functionality — and wasted time.

6. User frustration: See Reasons 2-5.

Time to finish what you started.♦

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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:
Before

• Educate employees about what’s to come via e-mail, newsletters or the company intranet
• Create an employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Offer instructor-led, Web-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Office 2007 audio and video tutorials
• Train internal IT staff on basic, intermediate and advanced Office 2007 frequently asked questions
• Alter voice response unit (VRU) message to address specific migration calls

During

• Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Office 2007 audio and video tutorials
• Provide immediate, expert support on Office 2007 applications, 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Deliver “type 2″ and related topic training to all employees during and following support calls
• Offer live, Web-based training sessions covering specific applications: Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook; beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Select group, individual or customized sessions

After

• Continue employee education campaign, with live, expert training and support
• Continue to offer instructor-led, Internet-based training
• Provide access to a self-service learning portal with hundreds of Office 2007 audio and video tutorials
• Solution-based call details, productivity measures
• Call analysis identifying targeted training needs
• Quality assurance program measuring user satisfaction, call complexity reporting and downtime analysis
• Monthly e-mail newsletter featuring Office 2007 tips, tricks and shortcuts

If you were surprised by the amount of work that goes into a migration, remember that you are part of the way there. It’s not a simple upgrade, but it can be done with minimal pain.

Stay tuned for part four, our free, downloadable Migration Assurance Program Kit.

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Case Study | Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program | Migration Readiness Checklist | Migration Competitive Analysis | Contact PC Helps

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.

Whichever partner they choose, IT leaders need to keep in mind that, to prove ROI, they need to place a priority on early adoption levels, limiting downtime, maintaining productivity and cost expectations. What’s more, providing on-demand, expert support and training to information workers before, during and after deployment is critical for a successful migration.

Below are four Microsoft Office 2007 myths and realities to keep in mind:

Myth No. 1: 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. 2: 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 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. 3: 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. 4: 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? ♦

Stay tuned for Part 3: The Readiness Checklist. Click here to read Part 1.

MORE INFO IN: Office 2007 Migration Case Study | Office 2007 Migration Assurance Program | Migration Readiness Checklist | Migration Competitive Analysis | Contact PC Helps

One reader asked Baker if she was “jealous much?” Another comment accused her organization of hypocrisy.

Ribbonize: (verb, derogatory) To remove universally familiar software menus and put in newfangled, Microsofty ribbons.

On Sept. 22, Computerworld magazine ran a piece titled “Mozilla plans to ‘ribbonize’ Firefox.” A week later, the magazine ran another piece, this one with the headline “Mozilla denies it will ‘ribbonize’ Firefox.”

What gives?

It seems the original Mozilla documents on which Computerworld writer Gregg Keizer based his story were “worded kind of poorly” (that came from Mozilla’s mouth, and was reported by Computerworld).

Keizer simply reported what he read, which is what reporters do. Mozilla, however, was unprepared for the backlash.

According to Keizer’s second piece, Firefox users voiced their opposition with Mozilla, and on the Computerworld comment boards. (A sampling: “Has Microsoft sent Jim Jones type enforcers around squirting Microsoft Kool-Aid down the throats of the Mozilla folk?”)

Mozilla is standing behind its promise not to ribbonize. It will, however, “streamline” the popular browser. Expect a minor upgrade in the March 2010 release.

Browser Soup: (noun, derogatory): A stew of browsers in one “frame,” where each browser has its own set of features, etc., that behave differently.

On Sept. 28, former Mozilla CEO and current Mozilla Foundation chair Mitchell Baker panned Google’s new Chrome Frame plug-in as “browser soup.”

“For many people,” Baker wrote in her blog, “Chrome Frame will make the web even more unknowable and confusing.”

Comments in response to her post were abundant. One reader asked Baker if she was “jealous much?” Another comment accused her organization of hypocrisy: “You’re doing exactly the same thing (possibly even more so). Google just beat you to the punch, and Google has a lot of really popular websites that will help the widespread acceptance of this plug-in.”

I will keep checking back. Soup is always better a few days later. (Jen Darr)

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