In this case study, we walk through some of the challenges we faced and the strategy we used when successfully delivering a Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 migration for a local council.
Challenges
- We needed to perform in-place upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11 for ~3000 devices over the corporate wireless network and VPN, ensuring that we didn’t disrupt day-to-day business operations and maintained network performance.
- The council utilised applications that were heavily-reliant on Microsoft Excel macros, integration with Microsoft Outlook, and legacy Microsoft Access forms. Many applications initially failed with Microsoft 365. We remediated each to ensure business continuity.
- We needed to identify the critical business applications and prioritise testing and remediation of these applications prior to commencing the rollout. The council was migrating from Microsoft Office 2016 (32-bit) to Microsoft 365 (64-bit), which presented architectural challenges.
Planning and Strategy
We developed a comprehensive migration plan covering:
- Identifying Incompatible Hardware – We identified devices that did not meet Windows 11 requirements and defined swap-out criteria for hardware refresh.
- Application Testing and Remediation – We identified 85 critical business applications and their owners. We then created a SharePoint list and a bespoke PowerShell application that used Graph API to facilitate our testing and note-taking, providing management with real-time updates on progress.
- Pilot Deployment Rings – We created deployment rings to facilitate application testing/remediation, Windows 11 operating system deployment testing, and general performance/usability testing. The pilot deployment rings included select IT users, application owners, digital leaders and finally dynamic deployment rings that enabled us to scale up/down the rollout council-wide depending on network performance.
- Communication and FAQs – We utilised Microsoft Bookings to facilitate scheduling of user acceptance testing, and contributed to comprehensive help documentation for Microsoft 365 and Windows 11.
- Real-Time Updates – We built dashboards to give management real-time visibility of rollout progress.
Application Packaging and Remediation
Not all applications were ready for Windows 11 or Microsoft 365 out of the box. We performed:
- Application Remediation – We packaged and remediated troublesome applications in MSI, App-V and PSADT formats. We also scripted disk clean-up on remote endpoints, purging temporary and cached application data to ensure Windows 11 deployment success.
- Complex Debugging – We debugged integration issues between business applications and Microsoft 365 components using Process Monitor, updating Office 365 cloud policies where appropriate with trusted locations, file block settings, ActiveX settings, macro settings and otherwise.
- Macro Rewriting – We rewrote legacy Microsoft Excel macros to ensure compliance with modern Microsoft 365 standards, ensuring business-critical spreadsheets continued to function post-migration. We also re-authored Microsoft Access forms that used legacy 32-bit components no longer supported on 64-bit versions of Office.
Outcome
The project was a resounding success. We successfully migrated ~3,000 devices to Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 with zero disruption to business operations:
- 100% of critical business applications were successfully tested and remediated to work with Microsoft 365 and Windows 11. All applications are now recorded in a centralised SharePoint repository with comprehensive notes and assigned owners.
- Our dynamic deployment rings enabled us to scale our rollout in accordance with network monitoring performance metrics. This proved highly effective since the council were heavily reliant on their wireless network.
- Users have access to comprehensive help documentation, highlighting fundamental differences in functionality between Windows 10/Windows 11 and Office 2016/Microsoft 365.
The council can now benefit from improved security, performance, and collaboration tools across Microsoft 365 and Windows 11.
