

                 Where is Windows95 in Corporate America?

                    Copyright 1995 by Paul Williamson


 Even though Windows 95 made a triumphant debut, many business users wont
 see it on their desktops at work until the corporate MIS organizations
 first solve many issues.

 This isn't a matter of why corporations arent using Windows 95 as their
 desktop operating system, but really of question of when.  A recent
 survey of corporate MIS mangers indicate that approximately 80% of
 corporations will wait until sometime in the coming year, or later,
 before more than half the desktops will be using Windows 95. In an
 Information Week survey of 75 Information Managers, the majority of
 nearly 50% said they prefer to wait and see because they dont have
 enough information yet to make the monumental decision.  On the other
 hand, many large corporations have already begun the move.  Dow Chemical,
 Chevron and Ford are a few that have started the mass installation or
 will shortly.  Others, like Chase Manhattan Bank, haven't completed the
 data gathering yet, but have committed to the switch.

 Before considering installing Windows 95, or any operating system for
 that matter, a thorough evaluation needs to be completed in several
 areas.  These areas should identify whether or not the operating system
 meets the needs of the end user and the business.  The investigation
 needs to focus upon both technical and business issues.  It may be
 necessary to break the corporation into different disciplines to make the
 decision process easier.  This is especially true for large corporations.
 To start with, you may need to learn some things about these groups -

 What is the technical level of the users?  How many power users will be
 available to act as mentors for the groups? What hardware is currently
 being used? What software is in use? What training resources are
 available? What is their network connectivity requirements? Is remote
 network access to the network needed?

 Once these questions have been answered, then the evaluation can begin
 based on the following criteria:

                Technical Criteria
                Ease of use
                System performance
                Security
                Networking Services and ConnectivityCompatibility:
                Hardware and Software
                Desktop Support and Administration Remote Access
                Business Criteria
                Training
                Equipment Needs
                Support Costs
                Migration Costs

 Technical Criteria and Ease of Use

 When evaluating an operating system, you must look at it from both the
 novice users and experienced users perspective.  With Windows 95, an
 additional factor must be taken into account: the comfort level of the
 user with Windows 3.1.  When evaluating this area, the following
 questions should be considered:

 Is the operating system easy to learn?

 Does the operating system provide the most efficiencies for most of the
 users? Is the users interface discoverable?  Does it reveal new
 efficiencies as the user becomes more proficient? Does the operating
 system make it easy for the novice to complete their assigned tasks,
 while maintaining flexibility for the experienced users to customize and
 tailor the way they interact?

 System Performance

 System performance is measured on how the operating system performs
 overall while running a set of broad tasks as well as the ability of
 individual components or sub-systems to perform a narrow set of
 operations.

 There are several suites commercially available which test the ability of
 the operating system.  However, benchmark suites dont necessarily give
 you the whole picture.  Good performance testing requires the use of
 broad, generally accepted benchmarking suites and programs, but these
 need to be augmented with sub-system or low-level tests to indicate how
 well the operating system can support services required by the business
 applications that will be used.  Some of the more common performance
 tests that should be run, will measure the effectiveness of the file I/O
 and printing sub-systems.  Additionally, desktop operating systems need
 to be tested in networked environments to measure the network load and
 I/O throughput, as well as the responsiveness for server functionality,
 if necessary.

 Performance measuring tests need to run on a variety of hardware
 configurations to best determine what the minimum acceptable
 configuration will be.  Also, the results of the tests should be able to
 provide guidelines in developing the standard desktop configuration and
 indicate the necessary additions for the more experienced and/or more
 demanding users.  During the performance evaluation, consider the
 following:

 Does the operating system perform well on a wide variety of
 configurations that are likely to be used in your environment? How well
 does the operating system complete a benchmark test on a given
 configuration? How well does the system perform when connected to a
 network?


 Security

 The need to protect corporate resources from unauthorized access ranks
 pretty high in most organizations.  During the evaluation of the
 operating system, a decision on the level of security required may
 immediately eliminate some operating systems from contention.  Most
 organizations should find the security built into Windows 95 to be more
 than adequate.  For those situations where a higher level of security is
 needed, such as Class C2 as authored by the United States Department of
 Defense (DOD), then Windows NT may be the operating system of choice.

 As you evaluate the operating system protection and security aspects,
 consider these questions:

 How well can a PC's data be secured against those with physical access to
 the machine? How well are server-based resources protected by the desktop
 operating systems security integration with the network? How well are
 locally shared resources secured on the network? Is there the capability
 to record both PC and network events to allow administrators to perform
 security audits and trace security breaches?

 Networking Services and Connectivity

 In most corporate environments, it is extremely important for an
 operating system to be able to provide network support for a broad range
 of clients.  If the operating system can support connectivity in a
 heterogeneous environment, it will be distinguished from all the others.
 Corporate users not only demand support for internetworking capability,
 but require that the operating system support industry-wide standards to
 prevent reliance upon a single vendor to support a multi-vendor
 environment.  While evaluating the networking capabilities, you should
 consider these questions:

 Is the operating system an open and layered networking architecture that
 will allow you to mix components from different sources at each layer?

 Does the operating system have built-in, native support for your
 networks?

 Does the operating system support a wide range of transports
 and protocols?

 Even more than you are currently using, to provide for
 future growth and expansion?

 Does the operating system provide a common, easy to use and consistent
 user interface for accessing the network and networking services and
 resources?

 Does the operating system support an open architecture to allow third
 party and other NOS vendors to easily integrate and add networking
 connectivity enhancements and/or application support?

 Compatibility: Hardware and Software

 Many organizations have invested large amounts of money in their
 applications, desktop systems, printers, modems, and other peripheral
 hardware. When you need to replace your existing operating system, a key
 question that needs to be answered in, "Can my company continue to use
 our existing applications and hardware?"  Also, as the company grows, so
 will the hardware and software needs.  The choice of an operating system
 should not restrict the anticipated growth with limited driver support.
 It must provide the capability to add new hardware to the existing
 environment.

 When examining device support of an operating system, consider the number
 of devices supported, the industry standards that the operating system
 supports, and the compatibility for using existing device drivers shipped
 with earlier operating systems or with devices themselves.

 As you evaluate the device and application support in an operating
 system, consider these questions:

 Does the operating system provide broad device support for existing
 hardware and associated MS-DOS- and Windows-based device drivers in use
 today?

 Does the operating system easily recognize, install, and configure
 devices?

 Does the operating system support running existing MS-DOS- or
 Windows-based applications as well as MS-DOS 6.x or Windows 3.1?

 Does the operating system allow easy exchange information between
 applications or support advanced inter-application communication
 mechanisms?

 Does the operating system provide services for new types of applications
 such as, multimedia, remote access, and communications-related
 applications?


 Desktop Support and Administration

 Medium and large businesses invest tens of thousands of dollars each
 year, not only on the hardware and software for new and existing computer
 systems, but also for system setup and administration.  So far, there is
 little consistency and almost no integration among available tools for
 managing and administering PCs in a networked environment.

 Standards organizations are now working to simplify the management
 scenario by developing standard ways for managing PCs.  These standards
 will mean better and more integrated management tools for the network
 administrator.  To reap any benefits, however, an administrator must
 choose an operating system that supports management mechanisms adhering
 to existing standards or one with an infrastructure designed for
 adaptability to a new standard.

 As you examine the support for manageability or administration of a
 desktop operating system, consider these questions:

 Does the operating system provide the tools and platform infrastructure
 for supporting existing industry standard management mechanisms such as
 SNMP, and provide the flexibility for supporting future standards such as
 DMI?

 Does the operating system provide tools and mechanisms for MIS
 organizations and administrators to customize and control the
 functionality and capabilities on the desktop?

 Does the operating system provide support for administering or managing
 the desktop PC remotely over a network?


 Remote Access

 To realize seamless mobility, you must be able to easily communicate and
 remain productive, whether you are in the office, at a customer site, or
 at home.  You must be able to communicate with coworkers and clients
 regardless of their location, and your transitions between home computer,
 portable computer and office computer must not interrupt your workflow.
 Support for mobility services as part of the operating system ensures
 tight integration and connectivity between portable computer and desktop
 PCs, allowing minimal interruption from real work as you switch from one
 location and/or computer to another.

 As you evaluate the operating system support for mobile services,
 consider these questions:

 Does the operating system support remote access to the key services or
 information you need on your corporate network? Does the operating system
 have robust support for the dynamic nature of mobile hardware, such as
 PCMCIA, power management, and docking stations?

 Business Criteria (Cost and Requirements)

 Training requirements
 Equipment requirements
 Anticipated support cost
 Migration cost


 Training

 End-user training and support training help ensure effective use of any
 product.  A products features and intuitiveness, however, can determine
 what and how much training is necessary.

 As you evaluate an operating systems training requirements, consider
 these questions:

 Does the operating system present any new features that may be difficult
 to use or support? Does the operating system offer on-line help to
 provide answers to common questions? Does the operating system offer
 tools that will help your support staff resolve end-user issues? What
 changes will be evident, but not intuitive?

 Equipment Requirements

 Stated system requirements are usually the minimum supported environment,
 which will normally not meet the needs of most large businesses. As you
 evaluate operating system equipment requirements, consider these
 questions:

 What are the recommended minimum system requirements?
 What is your current configuration of desktop or laptop systems?
 Can the systems be upgraded?

 Support Costs

 Support costs related to a operating system are often a byproduct of
 trainingor the lack of it. Adequate training costs money, but it can
 diminish support costs.

 As you evaluate anticipated operating system support, consider these
 questions:

 Does the operating system present any new features that may be difficult
 to  support?

 Does the operating system offer tools that will help support staff
 resolve end-user issues?

 Are advanced documentation or support tools available to reduce problem
 research time?

 Migration Costs

 Migration costs usually involve upgrading current equipment and
 installing the new software.  In large organizations, these cost can be
 significant. It has been estimated that upgrading some of todays desktop
 system to meet the needs of the user and support Windows 95 may run as
 high as $700 per PC.  However, the Gartner Group has suggested that these
 migration costs should be recoverable within a year due to lower support
 costs.

 As you evaluate the migration cost of an operating system, consider these
 questions:

 Does the operating system lend itself to an automated installation procedure?
 What is the cost to upgrade the current standard machines to the
 operating system requirements? What is the cost of the products? If manual
 installation is necessary, how long does it take?

 The close ties between Windows 95 and Windows NT may cause some companies
 not to consider Windows 95 at all, but wait until the next major version
 of NT and install the NT Workstation.  They also may decide to employ a
 test group scenario of Windows 95 users and see what develops.  Whatever
 the corporation decides, it is inevitable that the desktop user will
 eventually be using Windows 95 or Windows NT.  The IS managers today,
 have their jobs cut out for them in evaluating these two operating
 systems and planning for the implementation of one or the other or both.
 The decision isnt whether or not to move on to a new operating system,
 the decision is when can we move on and what will it take to get us
 there.

 Paul Williamson in an on-site consultant for Chase Manhattan Bank. He
 serves on the Editorial Board of WindoWatch and is a regular contributor.
 Paul is a well known DOS and Windows expert and can be found on a variety
 of networks. He can be reached at 72611,1543@compuserve.com or
 Paul_Wmson@msn.com


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