AMWAY MIGRATES OFF OF WINDOWS XP AND INTO THE FUTURE
COMPANY Alticor
SUBSIDIARIES Amway Access Business Group Alticor Corporate Enterprises
LOCATION Ada Mich
FOUNDED 1959
EMPLOYEES 28000
TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT STAFF 600
BUSINESS Alticor is best known for Amway the multilevel marketing company specializing in nutrition wellness beauty and home products Featuring more than 3 million independent business owners Amway operates in more than 100 countries and territories across five continents Access Business Group manufactures develops and distributes products for Amway and other companies Alticor Corporate Enterprises maintains a global portfolio of companies with premier health wellness and beauty brands
At a Glance
Upgrading desktop and notebook operating systems is a critical piece of the companyrsquos technology modernization puzzle
Amwayrsquos migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 leaves the company better positioned to leverage new technology much more quickly says Director of End User Technology Database and Production Support Services Carl Wiegand and Manager of Desktop Engineering Michael VanderMey
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
TWEET THIS
2
For the better part of a decade Alticor mdash parent company
of Amway mdash clung tightly to Windows XP as its client PC
operating system About three years ago like a lot of
businesses it realized it had to bite the bullet retire XP and
move on to a more modern OS
So Alticor implemented project Next Generation Desktop
(NGD) which turned into more than a mere OS upgrade
NGD facilitated a fundamental shift in how the company
approaches technology
The company needed to change from being a slow adopter
of new technologies to ldquofast followersrdquo says Carl Wiegand
Amwayrsquos director of end user technology database and
production support services and sponsor of the NGD project
ldquoWe recognized we canrsquot survive by being slow adopters
of new technologyrdquo he says ldquoWe in IT have to be more
proactive so we can deliver computing strategies to the
business instead of waiting for them to knock on the
door and ask us for things The NGD initiative gives us the
foundation to do that in a more controlled wayrdquo
ReconciliationBefore the NGD project Amway operated an open-
computing environment That meant full administrative
rights for users who could install any application desired on
their desktops says Wiegand
The result massive application sprawl
At the time Amway began its XP migration it
uncovered more than 19000 applications installed
on the companyrsquos 4500 domestic desktops and
notebooks mdash everything from line-of-business
applications to personal-finance software and shareware
That raised all kinds of problems including app
redundancy and software compliance issues So the first
big challenge was to reduce the number of approved
apps to a manageable amount says Michael VanderMey
Amwayrsquos manager of desktop engineering
ldquoThe first thing we had to do was discover the size of the
beast we had to tacklerdquo he says Using tools like Microsoftrsquos
Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) and LANDesk the IT
staff went from department to department to inventory all
the apps that had been installed on each machine
ldquoThen we started doing reconciliation and elimination
getting rid of the 15 different screen capture apps to
get down to the two or three that met the needs of
everyonerdquo he says ldquoWe partnered with our users and had
conversations about what software they wanted to use
going forwardrdquo
Over nearly two years VanderMeyrsquos team whittled the
number of approved applications down to roughly 1300 That
helped reduce both licensing costs and complexity he adds
ldquoWe eliminated a lot of license fees via our app
reconciliation projectrdquo he says ldquoSo for example instead of
using a dozen different organizational chart programs we
settled on onerdquo
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
TWEET THIS
ldquoWe canrsquot survive by being slow adopters of new technology We have to be more proactive so we can deliver computing strategies to the business instead of waiting for them to knock on the door and ask us for thingsrdquo mdash Carl Wiegand director of end user technology database and production support services Amway
38008004239 | CDWcom
Keys to OS Migration SuccessGather your source code A key ingredient in making a
migration project go smoothly is to quickly locate the
sources of applications says Amway Manager of Desktop
Engineering Michael VanderMey ldquoIf yoursquore not able to locate
apps and get enough information to automate them that
can really slow a migration project downrdquo he says
Make the geeks go first When Amway began its Next
Generation Desktop project it started by upgrading IT
department desktops ldquoWe believe in eating our own dog
foodrdquo says VanderMey ldquoIf we run into issues or areas of the
process that need to be worked out we wanted to do that
with the people in IT By the time we got into the larger more
sensitive departments the process was completely smooth
and had far less impact on our operationsrdquo
Get support from above Executive sponsorship made
the migration possible says Amway Director of End User
Technology Carl Wiegand ldquoOnce the executive leadership
was made aware of what our environment really was like
they were supportive from day onerdquo he says ldquoThey helped
champion the message throughout the organizationrdquo
Raise your sights Ask yourself why you are doing this
advises Wiegand ldquoIs it just to get the latest version of the
software or are you trying to create a foundation you can
build on moving forward You need to look at what you can
do to enable yourself to become a fast followerrdquo
Compatibility ChallengeChanging OS platforms almost always means encountering
compatibility challenges as legacy software often cannot
run on newer operating systems The pleasant surprise
for Amway was the relative lack of incompatible apps
says Paul Bateman a consulting engineer for CDW who
specializes in Microsoft and spent 18 months in Amwayrsquos
offices helping to package and automate application
installation
ldquoNormally when you go from a completely unmanaged
application portfolio to a managed one itrsquos like the Wild
Westrdquo says Bateman ldquoLocating all the installation sources
and documenting each installation is usually a huge
challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot
been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with
Amwayrdquo
Bateman and his crew developed workarounds for
mission-critical apps that would not run under Windows 7 by
altering folder permissions using terminal emulation taking
advantage of Windows 7rsquos XP mode and deploying apps via
virtual desktops
ldquoWe had to isolate a few legacy apps for our research
and development and marketing departments where the
apps would have cost several million dollars to life-cycle
and replacerdquo says VanderMey ldquoWe did that primarily
by virtualizing them or putting them in a terminal server
environment And we were able to eliminate the majority
of incompatible apps by choosing other apps that did the
same thing but were compatiblerdquo
It was a time-consuming process says Bateman
Automating a single application took about eight hours on
average and often much longer if they ran into snags
ldquoWe had one Cisco app that integrated with a lot of other
apps but wouldnrsquot work with Lotus Notes when we did the
auto deploymentrdquo he says ldquoI had to create
some custom scripts to make it do what
the vendor couldnrsquot make it do which took
me five days of workrdquo
You Canrsquot Touch ThisAmway implemented a department-by-
department wave deployment strategy
says VanderMey While one group
performed app discovery another might
be executing app reconciliation packaging
and virtualization or deployment
ldquoAt any time we might have four or
five different departments actively in one
process of the NGD projectrdquo he adds
Though VanderMeyrsquos team ended up replacing about 400
machines that were near the end of their four-year refresh
cycle the vast majority took in-place upgrades of the OS
and apps usually done remotely via Microsoft System
Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) When all went well
the Amway team could upgrade as many as 300 machines
over the course of a weekend
ldquoWhen users left on Friday they left
their machines logged in and dockedrdquo
he says ldquoOn Monday theyrsquod find a new
operating system and new apps with
their legacy data in place Occasionally
wersquod run into an issue we needed to
troubleshoot like a disconnected LAN
cable or a failed hard drive so wersquod have
to plug in the cables or swap out the
system But for the most part it was all
zero-touch or light-touch deploymentsrdquo
No Place Like ChromeAn essential component of Amwayrsquos
NGD project involved recovering
46
Microsoft OS Market
ShareWindows 7
Windows XP 31
Windows 8 8SOURCE NetMarketSharecom
8008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121668 mdash 131126 copy2013 CDW LLC
The CDW WayLike many successful partnerships Amwayrsquos collaboration
with CDW on its Next Generation Desktop project began
with a conversation
Although parent company Alticor originally considered
moving to a virtual environment it quickly became apparent
that intermediate steps were needed says Kathi Grumke
a CDW solutions manager who attended the opening
discovery meeting
ldquoAlticor initially wanted to talk about virtualizing its desktop
platform but by the end of the session we had to tell them
they just were not readyrdquo she says ldquoThey needed to back
up get their environment in shape and then come back and
talk about virtualization Thatrsquos where it all beganrdquo
Over the course of several months CDW subject matter
experts met with executives at Alticor learning about
the companyrsquos existing environment mapping out new
architectures and breaking the project down into more
manageable segments Finally with a solid plan in place
CDW consultants starting helping with the implementation
and rollout of Next Generation Desktop CDW Professional
Services employees then spent many months onsite to assist
with application discovery reconciliation and packaging
ldquoWhen wersquore talking about a project that has as much
impact on a business as a migration you want as little
disruption as possiblerdquo Grumke says ldquoThat means taking
more time up front inventorying the environment and
working closely with the business units A lot of customers
donrsquot understand and think of it as simply an IT project but
itrsquos much bigger than thatrdquo
4
administrative rights from employees so that only
approved applications could be installed That proved
to be a bigger sticking point than almost anything else
admits VanderMey Users really want to be able to
choose their own tools especially when it comes to web
browsers
ldquoWe started with 15 different browsers in the
reconciliation process and ended up with twordquo says
VanderMey ldquoBecause some of our major business apps
require Internet Explorer we standardized on IE And
because we do have some Macs and iOS devices we had
to support Safari But itrsquos been two years and our Chrome
users are still howling Browsers are a personal thing like
cellphones Some people feel the company doesnrsquot have
the right to tell them which ones they can userdquo
Wiegand adds that Amway is constantly re-evaluating
its technology needs and if a case can be made for
adopting a particular piece of software his team will not
hesitate to deploy it
ldquoIt all comes down to the question Is this software going
to advance our business processesrdquo he says ldquoIf you need
it to do your job we will absolutely provide it As long as
there is a business case we want to be partners in thatrdquo
Modernizing the companyrsquos desktops was a critical piece
of the puzzle says Wiegand But itrsquos only the beginning
Now that the Windows 7 migration is complete for
corporate users Amway is partnering with its affiliates to
deliver consistent services on a global scale Office 2013
is already packaged and ready to be pushed out to US
desktops for example And the company is retiring Lotus
Notes and adopting a cloud-based version of Microsoft
Exchange It also plans to shift to a Cisco WebExJabber
solution for instant messaging video and collaboration
says Wiegand
ldquoThe organization saw this only as a Windows and
Office upgraderdquo Wiegand adds ldquoFor IT it was a global
technology rollout that lets us deliver software in an
automated fashion gain more flexibility in the services we
deliver and create a foundation we can build upon in the
future Now wersquore in a position to leverage new technology
much more quickly and get the most out of itrdquo
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
ldquoLocating all the installation sources and documenting each installation is usually a huge challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with Amwayrdquo mdash Paul Bateman consulting engineer CDW
Pho
togr
aphy
by
Stev
e Je
ssm
ore
TWEET THIS
2
For the better part of a decade Alticor mdash parent company
of Amway mdash clung tightly to Windows XP as its client PC
operating system About three years ago like a lot of
businesses it realized it had to bite the bullet retire XP and
move on to a more modern OS
So Alticor implemented project Next Generation Desktop
(NGD) which turned into more than a mere OS upgrade
NGD facilitated a fundamental shift in how the company
approaches technology
The company needed to change from being a slow adopter
of new technologies to ldquofast followersrdquo says Carl Wiegand
Amwayrsquos director of end user technology database and
production support services and sponsor of the NGD project
ldquoWe recognized we canrsquot survive by being slow adopters
of new technologyrdquo he says ldquoWe in IT have to be more
proactive so we can deliver computing strategies to the
business instead of waiting for them to knock on the
door and ask us for things The NGD initiative gives us the
foundation to do that in a more controlled wayrdquo
ReconciliationBefore the NGD project Amway operated an open-
computing environment That meant full administrative
rights for users who could install any application desired on
their desktops says Wiegand
The result massive application sprawl
At the time Amway began its XP migration it
uncovered more than 19000 applications installed
on the companyrsquos 4500 domestic desktops and
notebooks mdash everything from line-of-business
applications to personal-finance software and shareware
That raised all kinds of problems including app
redundancy and software compliance issues So the first
big challenge was to reduce the number of approved
apps to a manageable amount says Michael VanderMey
Amwayrsquos manager of desktop engineering
ldquoThe first thing we had to do was discover the size of the
beast we had to tacklerdquo he says Using tools like Microsoftrsquos
Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) and LANDesk the IT
staff went from department to department to inventory all
the apps that had been installed on each machine
ldquoThen we started doing reconciliation and elimination
getting rid of the 15 different screen capture apps to
get down to the two or three that met the needs of
everyonerdquo he says ldquoWe partnered with our users and had
conversations about what software they wanted to use
going forwardrdquo
Over nearly two years VanderMeyrsquos team whittled the
number of approved applications down to roughly 1300 That
helped reduce both licensing costs and complexity he adds
ldquoWe eliminated a lot of license fees via our app
reconciliation projectrdquo he says ldquoSo for example instead of
using a dozen different organizational chart programs we
settled on onerdquo
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
TWEET THIS
ldquoWe canrsquot survive by being slow adopters of new technology We have to be more proactive so we can deliver computing strategies to the business instead of waiting for them to knock on the door and ask us for thingsrdquo mdash Carl Wiegand director of end user technology database and production support services Amway
38008004239 | CDWcom
Keys to OS Migration SuccessGather your source code A key ingredient in making a
migration project go smoothly is to quickly locate the
sources of applications says Amway Manager of Desktop
Engineering Michael VanderMey ldquoIf yoursquore not able to locate
apps and get enough information to automate them that
can really slow a migration project downrdquo he says
Make the geeks go first When Amway began its Next
Generation Desktop project it started by upgrading IT
department desktops ldquoWe believe in eating our own dog
foodrdquo says VanderMey ldquoIf we run into issues or areas of the
process that need to be worked out we wanted to do that
with the people in IT By the time we got into the larger more
sensitive departments the process was completely smooth
and had far less impact on our operationsrdquo
Get support from above Executive sponsorship made
the migration possible says Amway Director of End User
Technology Carl Wiegand ldquoOnce the executive leadership
was made aware of what our environment really was like
they were supportive from day onerdquo he says ldquoThey helped
champion the message throughout the organizationrdquo
Raise your sights Ask yourself why you are doing this
advises Wiegand ldquoIs it just to get the latest version of the
software or are you trying to create a foundation you can
build on moving forward You need to look at what you can
do to enable yourself to become a fast followerrdquo
Compatibility ChallengeChanging OS platforms almost always means encountering
compatibility challenges as legacy software often cannot
run on newer operating systems The pleasant surprise
for Amway was the relative lack of incompatible apps
says Paul Bateman a consulting engineer for CDW who
specializes in Microsoft and spent 18 months in Amwayrsquos
offices helping to package and automate application
installation
ldquoNormally when you go from a completely unmanaged
application portfolio to a managed one itrsquos like the Wild
Westrdquo says Bateman ldquoLocating all the installation sources
and documenting each installation is usually a huge
challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot
been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with
Amwayrdquo
Bateman and his crew developed workarounds for
mission-critical apps that would not run under Windows 7 by
altering folder permissions using terminal emulation taking
advantage of Windows 7rsquos XP mode and deploying apps via
virtual desktops
ldquoWe had to isolate a few legacy apps for our research
and development and marketing departments where the
apps would have cost several million dollars to life-cycle
and replacerdquo says VanderMey ldquoWe did that primarily
by virtualizing them or putting them in a terminal server
environment And we were able to eliminate the majority
of incompatible apps by choosing other apps that did the
same thing but were compatiblerdquo
It was a time-consuming process says Bateman
Automating a single application took about eight hours on
average and often much longer if they ran into snags
ldquoWe had one Cisco app that integrated with a lot of other
apps but wouldnrsquot work with Lotus Notes when we did the
auto deploymentrdquo he says ldquoI had to create
some custom scripts to make it do what
the vendor couldnrsquot make it do which took
me five days of workrdquo
You Canrsquot Touch ThisAmway implemented a department-by-
department wave deployment strategy
says VanderMey While one group
performed app discovery another might
be executing app reconciliation packaging
and virtualization or deployment
ldquoAt any time we might have four or
five different departments actively in one
process of the NGD projectrdquo he adds
Though VanderMeyrsquos team ended up replacing about 400
machines that were near the end of their four-year refresh
cycle the vast majority took in-place upgrades of the OS
and apps usually done remotely via Microsoft System
Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) When all went well
the Amway team could upgrade as many as 300 machines
over the course of a weekend
ldquoWhen users left on Friday they left
their machines logged in and dockedrdquo
he says ldquoOn Monday theyrsquod find a new
operating system and new apps with
their legacy data in place Occasionally
wersquod run into an issue we needed to
troubleshoot like a disconnected LAN
cable or a failed hard drive so wersquod have
to plug in the cables or swap out the
system But for the most part it was all
zero-touch or light-touch deploymentsrdquo
No Place Like ChromeAn essential component of Amwayrsquos
NGD project involved recovering
46
Microsoft OS Market
ShareWindows 7
Windows XP 31
Windows 8 8SOURCE NetMarketSharecom
8008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121668 mdash 131126 copy2013 CDW LLC
The CDW WayLike many successful partnerships Amwayrsquos collaboration
with CDW on its Next Generation Desktop project began
with a conversation
Although parent company Alticor originally considered
moving to a virtual environment it quickly became apparent
that intermediate steps were needed says Kathi Grumke
a CDW solutions manager who attended the opening
discovery meeting
ldquoAlticor initially wanted to talk about virtualizing its desktop
platform but by the end of the session we had to tell them
they just were not readyrdquo she says ldquoThey needed to back
up get their environment in shape and then come back and
talk about virtualization Thatrsquos where it all beganrdquo
Over the course of several months CDW subject matter
experts met with executives at Alticor learning about
the companyrsquos existing environment mapping out new
architectures and breaking the project down into more
manageable segments Finally with a solid plan in place
CDW consultants starting helping with the implementation
and rollout of Next Generation Desktop CDW Professional
Services employees then spent many months onsite to assist
with application discovery reconciliation and packaging
ldquoWhen wersquore talking about a project that has as much
impact on a business as a migration you want as little
disruption as possiblerdquo Grumke says ldquoThat means taking
more time up front inventorying the environment and
working closely with the business units A lot of customers
donrsquot understand and think of it as simply an IT project but
itrsquos much bigger than thatrdquo
4
administrative rights from employees so that only
approved applications could be installed That proved
to be a bigger sticking point than almost anything else
admits VanderMey Users really want to be able to
choose their own tools especially when it comes to web
browsers
ldquoWe started with 15 different browsers in the
reconciliation process and ended up with twordquo says
VanderMey ldquoBecause some of our major business apps
require Internet Explorer we standardized on IE And
because we do have some Macs and iOS devices we had
to support Safari But itrsquos been two years and our Chrome
users are still howling Browsers are a personal thing like
cellphones Some people feel the company doesnrsquot have
the right to tell them which ones they can userdquo
Wiegand adds that Amway is constantly re-evaluating
its technology needs and if a case can be made for
adopting a particular piece of software his team will not
hesitate to deploy it
ldquoIt all comes down to the question Is this software going
to advance our business processesrdquo he says ldquoIf you need
it to do your job we will absolutely provide it As long as
there is a business case we want to be partners in thatrdquo
Modernizing the companyrsquos desktops was a critical piece
of the puzzle says Wiegand But itrsquos only the beginning
Now that the Windows 7 migration is complete for
corporate users Amway is partnering with its affiliates to
deliver consistent services on a global scale Office 2013
is already packaged and ready to be pushed out to US
desktops for example And the company is retiring Lotus
Notes and adopting a cloud-based version of Microsoft
Exchange It also plans to shift to a Cisco WebExJabber
solution for instant messaging video and collaboration
says Wiegand
ldquoThe organization saw this only as a Windows and
Office upgraderdquo Wiegand adds ldquoFor IT it was a global
technology rollout that lets us deliver software in an
automated fashion gain more flexibility in the services we
deliver and create a foundation we can build upon in the
future Now wersquore in a position to leverage new technology
much more quickly and get the most out of itrdquo
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
ldquoLocating all the installation sources and documenting each installation is usually a huge challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with Amwayrdquo mdash Paul Bateman consulting engineer CDW
Pho
togr
aphy
by
Stev
e Je
ssm
ore
TWEET THIS
38008004239 | CDWcom
Keys to OS Migration SuccessGather your source code A key ingredient in making a
migration project go smoothly is to quickly locate the
sources of applications says Amway Manager of Desktop
Engineering Michael VanderMey ldquoIf yoursquore not able to locate
apps and get enough information to automate them that
can really slow a migration project downrdquo he says
Make the geeks go first When Amway began its Next
Generation Desktop project it started by upgrading IT
department desktops ldquoWe believe in eating our own dog
foodrdquo says VanderMey ldquoIf we run into issues or areas of the
process that need to be worked out we wanted to do that
with the people in IT By the time we got into the larger more
sensitive departments the process was completely smooth
and had far less impact on our operationsrdquo
Get support from above Executive sponsorship made
the migration possible says Amway Director of End User
Technology Carl Wiegand ldquoOnce the executive leadership
was made aware of what our environment really was like
they were supportive from day onerdquo he says ldquoThey helped
champion the message throughout the organizationrdquo
Raise your sights Ask yourself why you are doing this
advises Wiegand ldquoIs it just to get the latest version of the
software or are you trying to create a foundation you can
build on moving forward You need to look at what you can
do to enable yourself to become a fast followerrdquo
Compatibility ChallengeChanging OS platforms almost always means encountering
compatibility challenges as legacy software often cannot
run on newer operating systems The pleasant surprise
for Amway was the relative lack of incompatible apps
says Paul Bateman a consulting engineer for CDW who
specializes in Microsoft and spent 18 months in Amwayrsquos
offices helping to package and automate application
installation
ldquoNormally when you go from a completely unmanaged
application portfolio to a managed one itrsquos like the Wild
Westrdquo says Bateman ldquoLocating all the installation sources
and documenting each installation is usually a huge
challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot
been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with
Amwayrdquo
Bateman and his crew developed workarounds for
mission-critical apps that would not run under Windows 7 by
altering folder permissions using terminal emulation taking
advantage of Windows 7rsquos XP mode and deploying apps via
virtual desktops
ldquoWe had to isolate a few legacy apps for our research
and development and marketing departments where the
apps would have cost several million dollars to life-cycle
and replacerdquo says VanderMey ldquoWe did that primarily
by virtualizing them or putting them in a terminal server
environment And we were able to eliminate the majority
of incompatible apps by choosing other apps that did the
same thing but were compatiblerdquo
It was a time-consuming process says Bateman
Automating a single application took about eight hours on
average and often much longer if they ran into snags
ldquoWe had one Cisco app that integrated with a lot of other
apps but wouldnrsquot work with Lotus Notes when we did the
auto deploymentrdquo he says ldquoI had to create
some custom scripts to make it do what
the vendor couldnrsquot make it do which took
me five days of workrdquo
You Canrsquot Touch ThisAmway implemented a department-by-
department wave deployment strategy
says VanderMey While one group
performed app discovery another might
be executing app reconciliation packaging
and virtualization or deployment
ldquoAt any time we might have four or
five different departments actively in one
process of the NGD projectrdquo he adds
Though VanderMeyrsquos team ended up replacing about 400
machines that were near the end of their four-year refresh
cycle the vast majority took in-place upgrades of the OS
and apps usually done remotely via Microsoft System
Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) When all went well
the Amway team could upgrade as many as 300 machines
over the course of a weekend
ldquoWhen users left on Friday they left
their machines logged in and dockedrdquo
he says ldquoOn Monday theyrsquod find a new
operating system and new apps with
their legacy data in place Occasionally
wersquod run into an issue we needed to
troubleshoot like a disconnected LAN
cable or a failed hard drive so wersquod have
to plug in the cables or swap out the
system But for the most part it was all
zero-touch or light-touch deploymentsrdquo
No Place Like ChromeAn essential component of Amwayrsquos
NGD project involved recovering
46
Microsoft OS Market
ShareWindows 7
Windows XP 31
Windows 8 8SOURCE NetMarketSharecom
8008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121668 mdash 131126 copy2013 CDW LLC
The CDW WayLike many successful partnerships Amwayrsquos collaboration
with CDW on its Next Generation Desktop project began
with a conversation
Although parent company Alticor originally considered
moving to a virtual environment it quickly became apparent
that intermediate steps were needed says Kathi Grumke
a CDW solutions manager who attended the opening
discovery meeting
ldquoAlticor initially wanted to talk about virtualizing its desktop
platform but by the end of the session we had to tell them
they just were not readyrdquo she says ldquoThey needed to back
up get their environment in shape and then come back and
talk about virtualization Thatrsquos where it all beganrdquo
Over the course of several months CDW subject matter
experts met with executives at Alticor learning about
the companyrsquos existing environment mapping out new
architectures and breaking the project down into more
manageable segments Finally with a solid plan in place
CDW consultants starting helping with the implementation
and rollout of Next Generation Desktop CDW Professional
Services employees then spent many months onsite to assist
with application discovery reconciliation and packaging
ldquoWhen wersquore talking about a project that has as much
impact on a business as a migration you want as little
disruption as possiblerdquo Grumke says ldquoThat means taking
more time up front inventorying the environment and
working closely with the business units A lot of customers
donrsquot understand and think of it as simply an IT project but
itrsquos much bigger than thatrdquo
4
administrative rights from employees so that only
approved applications could be installed That proved
to be a bigger sticking point than almost anything else
admits VanderMey Users really want to be able to
choose their own tools especially when it comes to web
browsers
ldquoWe started with 15 different browsers in the
reconciliation process and ended up with twordquo says
VanderMey ldquoBecause some of our major business apps
require Internet Explorer we standardized on IE And
because we do have some Macs and iOS devices we had
to support Safari But itrsquos been two years and our Chrome
users are still howling Browsers are a personal thing like
cellphones Some people feel the company doesnrsquot have
the right to tell them which ones they can userdquo
Wiegand adds that Amway is constantly re-evaluating
its technology needs and if a case can be made for
adopting a particular piece of software his team will not
hesitate to deploy it
ldquoIt all comes down to the question Is this software going
to advance our business processesrdquo he says ldquoIf you need
it to do your job we will absolutely provide it As long as
there is a business case we want to be partners in thatrdquo
Modernizing the companyrsquos desktops was a critical piece
of the puzzle says Wiegand But itrsquos only the beginning
Now that the Windows 7 migration is complete for
corporate users Amway is partnering with its affiliates to
deliver consistent services on a global scale Office 2013
is already packaged and ready to be pushed out to US
desktops for example And the company is retiring Lotus
Notes and adopting a cloud-based version of Microsoft
Exchange It also plans to shift to a Cisco WebExJabber
solution for instant messaging video and collaboration
says Wiegand
ldquoThe organization saw this only as a Windows and
Office upgraderdquo Wiegand adds ldquoFor IT it was a global
technology rollout that lets us deliver software in an
automated fashion gain more flexibility in the services we
deliver and create a foundation we can build upon in the
future Now wersquore in a position to leverage new technology
much more quickly and get the most out of itrdquo
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
ldquoLocating all the installation sources and documenting each installation is usually a huge challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with Amwayrdquo mdash Paul Bateman consulting engineer CDW
Pho
togr
aphy
by
Stev
e Je
ssm
ore
TWEET THIS
8008004239 | CDWcom
This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified121668 mdash 131126 copy2013 CDW LLC
The CDW WayLike many successful partnerships Amwayrsquos collaboration
with CDW on its Next Generation Desktop project began
with a conversation
Although parent company Alticor originally considered
moving to a virtual environment it quickly became apparent
that intermediate steps were needed says Kathi Grumke
a CDW solutions manager who attended the opening
discovery meeting
ldquoAlticor initially wanted to talk about virtualizing its desktop
platform but by the end of the session we had to tell them
they just were not readyrdquo she says ldquoThey needed to back
up get their environment in shape and then come back and
talk about virtualization Thatrsquos where it all beganrdquo
Over the course of several months CDW subject matter
experts met with executives at Alticor learning about
the companyrsquos existing environment mapping out new
architectures and breaking the project down into more
manageable segments Finally with a solid plan in place
CDW consultants starting helping with the implementation
and rollout of Next Generation Desktop CDW Professional
Services employees then spent many months onsite to assist
with application discovery reconciliation and packaging
ldquoWhen wersquore talking about a project that has as much
impact on a business as a migration you want as little
disruption as possiblerdquo Grumke says ldquoThat means taking
more time up front inventorying the environment and
working closely with the business units A lot of customers
donrsquot understand and think of it as simply an IT project but
itrsquos much bigger than thatrdquo
4
administrative rights from employees so that only
approved applications could be installed That proved
to be a bigger sticking point than almost anything else
admits VanderMey Users really want to be able to
choose their own tools especially when it comes to web
browsers
ldquoWe started with 15 different browsers in the
reconciliation process and ended up with twordquo says
VanderMey ldquoBecause some of our major business apps
require Internet Explorer we standardized on IE And
because we do have some Macs and iOS devices we had
to support Safari But itrsquos been two years and our Chrome
users are still howling Browsers are a personal thing like
cellphones Some people feel the company doesnrsquot have
the right to tell them which ones they can userdquo
Wiegand adds that Amway is constantly re-evaluating
its technology needs and if a case can be made for
adopting a particular piece of software his team will not
hesitate to deploy it
ldquoIt all comes down to the question Is this software going
to advance our business processesrdquo he says ldquoIf you need
it to do your job we will absolutely provide it As long as
there is a business case we want to be partners in thatrdquo
Modernizing the companyrsquos desktops was a critical piece
of the puzzle says Wiegand But itrsquos only the beginning
Now that the Windows 7 migration is complete for
corporate users Amway is partnering with its affiliates to
deliver consistent services on a global scale Office 2013
is already packaged and ready to be pushed out to US
desktops for example And the company is retiring Lotus
Notes and adopting a cloud-based version of Microsoft
Exchange It also plans to shift to a Cisco WebExJabber
solution for instant messaging video and collaboration
says Wiegand
ldquoThe organization saw this only as a Windows and
Office upgraderdquo Wiegand adds ldquoFor IT it was a global
technology rollout that lets us deliver software in an
automated fashion gain more flexibility in the services we
deliver and create a foundation we can build upon in the
future Now wersquore in a position to leverage new technology
much more quickly and get the most out of itrdquo
CASE STUDY SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
ldquoLocating all the installation sources and documenting each installation is usually a huge challenge Some clients are pulling out apps that havenrsquot been updated for 15 years But that wasnrsquot the case with Amwayrdquo mdash Paul Bateman consulting engineer CDW
Pho
togr
aphy
by
Stev
e Je
ssm
ore
TWEET THIS