DeskTopics from Harness Technology

It’s not uncommon for companies to stay with an IT support company even if they are not getting the service they deserve. That’s because there is a perception that it is difficult change vendors. Not so.

We’ve have transitioned many clients from other support providers and have developed a methodology for a seamless move that ensures no interruption of service and a network that’s protected exclusively under new management.
The key elements to a successful and secure migration are:

• A full accounting of all IT assets, passwords and remote access paths. Often, a customer doesn’t even know what information to ask for. Not to worry – we can provide a complete list of  critical passwords and other items.
• A documented review of the network design, security, website, contracts. This document not only assures you that there are no missing links in your infrastructure, it also forms a solid footing for network management going forward.  [Note: Harness technology provides this free of charge].
• A brief and well-timed transition that includes total lockout of the current vendor

There is a right way to make a transition to improved support. It is not difficult but does require experience.

It’s hard to believe but it has been 15 months since the release of Windows 7. We’ve been around for plenty of Microsoft PC operating system releases but this one is like no other. There are a couple of reasons that make the transition to Windows  7 unique:

• Pent up demand = more enthusiasm. Let’s face it Windows XP was around a long time and when Vista came along and tanked, the older OS went on extended life support. As solid as XP is, it’s a testament to Microsoft’s endurance that we all put up with a single platform for almost a decade. By the time Windows 7 came out (October 2009) the world was ready to get on board as long as it wasn’t terrible.

• Difficult in-place upgrade. Very few of us upgraded to the new platform on our current PCs for one very simple reason – they made it too difficult. To go from XP to 7 you had to re-install all your programs! Ouch. So most of us waited for new hardware. This relaxed upgrade scenario is easy on IT budgets because there’s no compelling reason to get everyone on the new OS anytime soon. By attrition, I think most corporate desktops/laptops will run Windows 7  by the end of 2012.

No one was a bigger Vista-basher than yours truly. I detested its bloaty performance so much that I switched to a Mac for about 15 months.  Take that into consideration when I say I think Windows 7 is excellent. As many have said, it’s what Vista should have been all along. I switch back and forth between PCs and my Mac and I have to say the Win 7 is every bit as good as OS X.

We look forward to bringing Windows 7 into our client’s networks and helping users take advantage of new features. It’s the best part of the job when you can show someone a new way to do things like “Send me a picture of that error using the Snipping Tool. Can’t find it? – just hit the Windows key type snipping”

One day it became apparent that I had to go back to a Windows laptop as my main computer. It certainly wasn’t because of any complaints with the MacBook Pro. Three things tipped the scales:

1. I had converted our ticketing system to ConnectWise which is a Windows program

2. I wanted to switch to Exchange for the company and Entourage just doesn’t cut  it.

3. An increasing number of important web-based services don’t work in Firefox or Safari.

All of this meant that I would be spending most of my time in virtual PC mode on the Mac. What’s the point?

So I am back in the world of Windows (except I still use the Mac to handle photos, videos and music) and there have been some surprising pluses.

Alt & Ctrl keys – it’s just a better and more consistent way to perform alternate commands. For example, on the Mac you might use Apple-V or Ctrl-V to paste. It depends on what you are doing at the time. Windows always uses Ctrl-V.

Delete Key – Thank you! Why doesn’t Apple have a Del key? It’s ridiculous that it takes 2 keys to delete the character you are on.

Right-mouse. Again, what is Apple thinking? Their Mighty Mouse has a right-button why doesn’t the touchpad? It’s an adherence to tradition for no particular reason.

Lastly, this low-end Dell Vostro doesn’t have the same quality feel of the Mac but it cost $500, not $2000!

I have no regrets about this round-trip excursion. At least I now know what all the hoopla is about. Both the Apple-bashers and Windows-haters of this world need to calm down. Both platforms let you do many incredible things and stay mosty invisible in the process.

Many blog entries have been posted by various technoids who have made make the illogical leap from Windows to Mac. I took the plunge in April 2008. Keep in mind that my entire business life centers around providing support in Windows environments.

My twisted reasoning when something like this: It was time to replace my aging Toshiba notebook but what t buy and, more important, what OS to get? I am solidly Vista-resistant but figure I might have to learn it to keep my knife sharp. The irony is that, by buying a Mac with Parallels software, I didn’t really have to make that choice because either Windows OS could be booted inside a OS X window. That and an overriding temptation to see life outside of Microsoft pushed me to get a MacBook Pro.

While there are som application that exist on both platforms (Firefox, VPNC)  the big science projects for me were about finding Apple equivalents for very familiar Windows tools. The migration map nows looks like this.

• Outlook -> Entourage
• SonicWall VPN -> VPN Tracker 5
• UltraEdit (favorite text editor) -> Coda
• Remote desktop client – CORD
• CuteFTP -> Cyberduck

What was surprising was that the most difficult transitions centered around the keyboard. Those handful of keyboard combinations I did in my sleep had not obvious equivalents on an Apple keyboard. An example: in Windows Firefox Alt-D selects the current URL so you can quickly go to another site. There is no intuitive replacement for the Mac it is surprisingly tedious to find the answer (Command-L)

Now I’m completely comfortable with my Mac and really enjoy the serious performance boost over XP (and certainly Vista). On the other hand I would kill for a real DEL key

Every so often we run up against a situation where users in a client’s branch office are hampered by very slow connections to the database application in the main office. Usually they have already done the hard part – connecting the office through a site-to-site VPN. But when the application is loaded on the remote end it tries to bring big chunks of data across a relatively skinny pipe. Result: hourglass from hell.

This is a perfect scenario for bringing in Microsoft Terminal Server. The steps are simple

1. Buy a dedicated server to run terminal services. We usually spec out a low-end server like a Dell PowerEdge 840 with 2 modest drives mirrored running Windows 2003 Server. It’s important to max out the RAM at 4GB. You also need terminal server licenses at about $80 per user or device.
2. Set up the server, add terminal services and terminal server licensing as Windows components
3. Now that is TS running you install any applications that users will need. This is done by kicking the server into “install mode” via command line.
4. Use another command line to put it into share mode and you’re all set

Now users use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the TS, then they run the same application that was giving them nightmares. The difference in performance is often dramatic. We recently installed this solution at a client with remote locations in Atlanta and Salt Lake. It was a pleasure to walk the remote user through the new procedure. We would get to the critical point of launching the application on the terminal and, without exception, we would hear “Wow!”