Microsoft has said a few times that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows, and that updates would be continuous with no plans for a Windows 11 release. With their latest announcement of a pay as you go subscription for Windows 10 Enterprise E3, we understand why. They will start making Windows 10 available for $7 per user per month subscription, but the new offering only applies to enterprises, for now. The news came from Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Canada this week.
As the Windows ecosystem evolves, IT processes will have to evolve as well. It is no longer an option to migrate the enterprise to a version of Windows, and then hold that standard until they are ready to move to another version. Often organizations stayed on one version of Windows for a long time and then skipped a version to migrate to the most current release. This happened most recently with Windows 8, where most organizations stayed on Windows 7 and are now making the jump to Windows 10.
To keep up with Windows 10 updates and prevent enterprise applications from suddenly and unexpectedly stop working, organizations need to mature their Application Readiness. It starts with a process to continually identify installed applications in your environment. This provides visibility into how many different versions and editions of applications you have and the information you need to make decisions about which apps to retire, consolidate, or move to the new OS. Using application rationalization to right size your application portfolio will help reduce costs and make continual transitions to the next update more manageable.
Application Readiness
The task of application readiness never ends. There are always new apps and updates. Flexera’s AdminStudio greatly reduces the burden and saves time.
Automatically testing application compatibility and validating to ensure they run as planned under a new Windows update—on every platform from desktops to smartphones, can help IT identify problem applications and remediate issues quickly. AdminStudio Application Compatibility reduces the time and effort involved in testing applications for Windows 10 compatibility. In fact, it’s so easy to use, IT can quickly initiate a test of hundreds of applications and performance levels across multiple platforms with the push of a button.
Besides Windows 10 application compatibility testing and remediation, the enterprise edition of AdminStudio can use the bulk loading of Web site addresses to ensure an organization’s Web properties and the applications running on both Internet Explorer and the new Windows 10 Edge browser.
Windows 10 is certainly a new type of OS with new modes of upgrades and pricing. Pairing its deployment with automated application rationalization, testing, and remediation capabilities like Flexera’s AdminStudio Suite can ensure a smooth upgrade path for your organization.
