CHANGING YOUR NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM: MAKING AN EFFECTIVE PLATFORM TRANSITION

Managing the Transition
The actual nuts-and-bolts of your district's transition from Mac OS to Windows NTbased network will vary quite a bit based upon your current resources and overall technology plan. However, regardless of your situation, effectively managing this transition requires effective goal setting and resource planning. (For more detailed tips on making your platform transition, see "From Mac to PC: Steps to Success" elsewhere in this article.)

Goal Setting
How do you get started, and how do you know what you need to accomplish? Your district's technology plan should give you guidance in defining the overall need for the migration. However, the finer details may be up to you. Goal setting at this level provides the input to your actual migration project plan. Professional network integrators, like Peter Roosakos of Cohesive Network Systems, emphasize the importance of setting goals in terms of people's needs, system purpose and sharing costs. "Start planning by defining your goals," notes Roosakos. "Who is the customer? How will this project be judged as success or failure?" Critical evaluation points need to be established based on the expectations of those who will use the technology, those assisting in funding your network expansion and other stakeholders to the technology program in your district. How you implement the technology to support those needs can be determined in cooperation with your hardware vendor or other consultants, but overall direction and measurement of success need to be established within your district.

Once you have an idea of where you are going, you can start defining what it will take to get you there. Roosakos also advises looking for opportunities for cost sharing from the very beginning. Is there another district that is planning a similar migration? You can often realize significant savings through the volume purchasing power of your combined districts.

Resource planning
What resources do you have in place to make this transition happen? Resources include expertise, (from staff, teachers, parents or vendors/contractors) hardware and software, plus funding and, most critically, time. Many schools make the mistake of thinking everything can be done in a much shorter time period than is realistic. Be sure to research other's experiences and manage your administration and user communities' expectations. Start with a pilot site for your network migration to test your plan (and help identify what you have left out!) determine the suitability of your current resources, and help you set a realistic timetable for the rest of the project. Clearly document and publish the time that was required for setting up the pilot sites. (Publishing these times, along with an estimate of how long it will take to implement the final plan, will be very helpful in managing parents' and administrators expectations for completion. The pilot site will also help you discover where unanticipated time expenditures (such as for setup or troubleshooting) may affect your final plan. Professional network integrators (who may be a part of your hardware vendor's staff) experienced academic computing professionals and parents with information technology backgrounds can all advise you on developing an effective plan for your network transition.

Timing
Comprehensive planning and competent installation takes time. Be sure to check with your hardware vendor or network integration consultant to establish realistic time frames for both planning and implementation. When should you plan and implement your network transition? Ideally, planning should be a process that covers a substantial portion of the academic year to research seasonal computer usage patterns, research hardware and software, and put human resources in place with implementation the following summer. Your district may not have the luxury of time due to funding or other constraints, but planning for a summer installation will give you the flexibility to respond to unanticipated problems and make appropriate adjustments.

Follow-up
The actual nuts-and-bolts of your technology transition only represents part of the story. Before the first system or software upgrade goes into place, a solid transition plan for acceptance and skills development needs to be put in place. How do you make sure that your transition to Windows is well accepted and your users well prepared? Cohesive CTO Peter Roosakos suggests asking yourself a key question. "Will the end users be motivated to take the training classes and learn a new operating system? If not, how can you add value for them to make them interested?" As with any new initiative in your computing environment, relevance to your user community is critical. Be sure to communicate clearly and repeatedly the benefits of the new platform. Provide models (tips in newsletter, success stories, demonstrations and formal skills training) for effectively using these new tools in the classroom, office or lab. (see "Managing the Transition" and "Steps to Success.") Making the actual network hardware and software transition to meet your school's needs is a fairly simple process. The greatest challenge lies in effectively planning and supporting the process through careful mapping of your school's network, technical expertise, and ongoing communication with all of those affected by the transition. Remember, your network is only as good as the people who are using it. Be sure to take the time to upgrade their skills along with the hardware and software in your network. If you do, your platform transition is sure to be a success and provide lasting benefits for years to come.

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