How We’ve Improved the Windows Deployment Experience (and Still Working to Make it Even Better!)
Ever since we changed the cadence of our Windows 10 updates to deliver features and security upgrades on a regular basis, we’ve heavily invested in simplifying the upgrade experience. A big part of making this upgrade experience simple is often overlooked but hugely important: Working with our global software vendor ecosystem to ensure that the apps these partners are building for Windows 10 “just work” whenever you need them and that, when you do go to upgrade your OS, that the process is seamless, painless, and simple – no matter which apps your organization is using.
One great example of this is the close partnership between Desktop App Assure and Cisco. After working closely with their engineers, the App Assure team fixed an obscure bug that required customers to uninstall and then reinstall their AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client before and after an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Now that last week’s updates to Windows 10 RS1 through RS5 and 19H1 releases are live, this issue with AnyConnect is fixed worldwide.
This may be a minor part of the larger Windows update, but work like this will have a real impact on the upgrade experience of hundreds of customers, and the time/cost savings worldwide will be big for these customers. If your organization uses Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client v4.4 or higher, in-place upgrades are now much simpler – and this fix will save about 30-60 minutes per upgrade per device. The savings for our customers quickly reach the millions when problems like this are solved.
If you’re not already familiar with the Desktop App Assure service that’s available to fix any apps you are having trouble migrating to Windows 10 or Office ProPlus, I really recommend checking out a few details below.
Since the pilot launch of Desktop App Assure one year ago (which is now globally available), the service has addressed two major issues impacting our customers:
- The fear that upgrading devices to Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus will break apps at a rate similar to the infamous Windows XP to Windows 7 upgrades. Though failure rates are incredibly low when migrating to Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus (>99% of apps have proven to be compatible), we created the Desktop App Assure program because we understood that there would still be some lingering hesitation to upgrade and that this would prevent some organizations from taking the initial steps necessary to make the desired modernizations to their enterprise.
- Helping customers who encounter an actual compatibility issue avoid the excess costs that come with needing to remediate their apps and slowing deployment progress.
Since the launch of the App Assure pilot (announced at Ignite), we’ve worked with thousands of customers and evaluated even more apps. What we’ve learned is relatively straightforward: Based on our direct customer engagements and customer feedback, all the data indicates that the vast majority of apps do work on Windows 10 and Office 365 ProPlus, and many of the real issues encountered are resolved through some simple but easy-to-overlook steps. I’ve shared several examples of the complexity of the app issues this team is equipped to solve (like this one from a logistics and supply chain management company). I encourage you to learn more by visiting our service description page and/or by submitting a request for assistance.
I also encourage you to check out how the App Assure program has been evaluated and scrutinized by tech news sites like ZDNet, ComputerWorld, Tech Republic, and OnMsft.
If you would like to learn more about the recent updates in the Windows 10 RS1 through RS5 and 19H1 releases, here is some additional info:
