Windows Updates - WaaS - The Grangeside Group

Transitioning to a business as usual update model

What are the problems and consequences associated with the twice yearly update model that is now favoured by Microsoft?

Problems

Companies from certain business sectors are governed by regulatory compliance.
- E.g. Pharmaceuticals adhere to GxP standards.
Project and Change Management for this activity becomes a rolling process.
Existing applications are desktop based and were not built on the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) model.
Specialist hardware drivers for manufacturing require updating.

Consequences

Applications will need to be re-certified/qualified to work on the new image.
Application testing becomes a BAU activity due to the frequency of EverGreen (WaaS) updates.
The standard operating environment will go through twice yearly testing cycles rather than once every 3 years.
Update deployment becomes an almost constant change process to ensure business impact is minimised.

Benefits

TGG have years of experience managing their clients Operating System Deployment (OSD) activities. As a result, we are well versed in the pitfalls and challenges that this change can present to organisations.

As with a hardware refresh, knowing when the end user application footprint is in a state of readiness proves vital in creating a deployment plan. It is this plan that allows an enterprise to seamlessly move through the update implementation with the minimum of impact to the business caused by Windows as a Service EverGreen approach.

TGG have assisted their clients move through the various different implementations of software deployment including the migration from Long Term Service Branch (LTSB) to Current Branch (CB) System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) servers and onto the newer designations of Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) and Semi-Annual Targeted Channel (SAT-C).

The deployment method covered by the Global PC Update (GPCU) is referred to as an in-place upgrade.

Whether you are deploying GPCU or a hardware refresh, the high-level deployment strategy remains the same,

Software Asset Management (SAM)

SAM is often overlooked and undervalued by IT/IS functions due to misconceptions about cost, complexity and misguided confidence in existing data assets that have little to no business intelligence providing a true reflection of the application estate.

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Hardware Refresh

Any type of device refresh requires a high level of stakeholder engagement to ensure success criteria is met for all areas of the business, rather than meeting only what IT department see as success.

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Intelligent Client Function

TGG offer an Intelligent Client Function (ICF) which places our Project Management, Assurance, Governance, Compliance & SAM services at the heart of the four main deployment activities detailed above and places your IT department in a position to exceed year on year, as well as driving out cost savings.

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Application Governance (WAGB & DAL)

Every IT/IS function will have an overreaching IT Strategy covering both Infrastructure and Applications; however, in TGG’s experience, governance of the latter is generally either unstructured and without authority or missing altogether.

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