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Information Technology

Omar Abdi

Strayer University

Information Technology

Build up a SWOT investigation on the reasonability of moving up to Windows 8.1 for the association all in all.

SWOT analysis is very imperative for an organization when it is analyzing the feasibility of upgrading to Windows 8.1 in that it assists the organization in the gaining of an understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and also identifying the opportunities as well as the threats that it is prone in the process of upgrading. One of the strengths of the Windows 8 is that it has many features such as the Networking Stack, Parallel Session Allocation, Improved image-based installation, server core, monitoring and the Self-Healing NTFS file system among others. Some of the adaptations that this organization will enjoy as a result of upgrading its window system are; increase in the product strength, quality in referencing the client, strong customer support and also a reduction in the administration costs. On the other side, one of the weaknesses of the company is the high expenses incurred. Although the company previously had a server, it will still have to upgrade the licenses of the new servers, and thus since it has an extensive network, a high cost is likely to be incurred. The company would also need to upgrade the server so that it can have a fast memory. The other weaknesses that the organization is prone to are that upgrading to a new server would require the previous server to be removed. Also, the company would thus be forced to come up with a new way of installing the new rules or find a third party vendor to offer the new support required (Lowe, Schauland, & Vanover, 2012).

One of the opportunities that the company will have as a result of upgrading to Windows 8 is that it will have a brand new window which is more reliable and this will significantly increase in increasing the company's competitive advantage in the market. The other opportunity is that the company will enjoy inbuilt software which when applied in the windows will greatly assist in increasing the accessibility of the business's information. This will aid in ensuring a free flow of operations and speed among the employees in the handling of their assigned tasks (Nazario, & Preece, 2014). One of the threats of upgrading to Windows 8 is that improvements in the data performance usually undermine differentiation. The other threat is that Windows have a bad security reputation since the hackers use them. The experts thus consider Windows as an operating system that is most insecure. The other threat is the incompatibility of the windows with the operating system.

Upgrade plan for the organization

The upgrading plan for the organization will be looked at by the location beginning with the central office which is located in Texas. Monitoring of the compatibility log will be very imperative to ensure that the applications are transitioning properly.

1. Main Office Texas.

From the case, the office has a total of 250 users, and they are running on Windows 7 which have a server that is one-year-old that is running Window Server 2012 and has an active directly domain service that is compatible with Windows 8. In addition to this, the computers in the office which have less than 64 bits will also be updated. The laptops that are used by the 50 sales team members are five years old, and they must be secured in the cases of theft or loss to avoid the instances of a security breach to the network of the company. In addition to this, the sales team also uses Apple IPad running OS 7 to supplement the methods that they can use in obtaining or accessing the company's information while they are in the field. In the process of upgrading, the company will require replacing the old laptops with new ones which have preinstalled Windows 8 so that it can prevent the breach of the network by malware. Old laptops do not have the latest technology that prevents the attack during the process of boot loading. UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface refers to a technology which consists of a software, and it is usually designed to replace the BIOS. It is often made in such a way that it can protect the computer from the attacks by malware and it ensures the safety of the booting process to the new Windows 8 computers.

It will be easy to change to the new Windows 8 in this office because the IT staff has more than ten years experience and ten members of staff are available to assist in working on the migration. The organization should make use of the phased-in approach by location and then department. Since Texas Department has 250 employees, who are based in the five departments and they will all be transitioned to the new technology, there is a need to determine the order that will be followed. The preferred sequence of an upgrade is to start with the administration, marketing, operations, then the IT and lastly the Financial Department.

The length of time that will be needed to carry out the upgrade from Windows 7 to 8 depends on the number of staff that is available to assist in the project. Although the Texas office has ten experienced professionals in IT, not all of them are going to work on the project because they have the daily task that they are bestowed with which is the running of the company's network. In this case, the CEO can then commit 5 of the team to carry out the project while the other five continues running the network. The five IT members would thus be required to upgrade about 250 users. The five can thus update about 50 users in a day, and this will thus take about five days to complete updating the 250 users. Bearing in mind any inconveniences that may arise, the personnel is likely to take about 8-10 business days to carry out the upgrading depending on their experience. The task of upgrading should be conducted in the course of data to ensure that other applications are not corrupted, and the questions of the other staff members which may arise are answered.

One of the approaches that the IT can take to ensure that they thoroughly test business critical systems is contacting the companies where the essential business applications were licensed. In this, the IT professionals should question the companies on the ability of requests to run in an environment of Windows 8 and experiences of their customers. In addition to this, the IT professionals should contact other professionals so that they can get their opinion in upgrading from Windows 7 to 8 so that they can get to learn if there will be a difference in the performance of the application.

2. Maryland Office

This office has a total of 175 users, and it is presently running Windows 7 which have a server that is one-year-old that is running Window Server 2012 and has an active directly domain service that is compatible with Windows 8. The hardware that is being used in these offices is more than five years old, and it should thus be replaced with the new computers that have a capability of running the Windows 8. It is important to replace these computers to prevent the likelihood of malware breaches as it has the UEFI which replaces BIOS to assist in ensuring a secure boot.

The phased-in approach should also be used in this location this is because it helps in the achievement of control over the project although it takes some time. The upgrade of the Windows from 7 to8 should start with the department of HR, plant manager, line supervisor, the department of IT and lastly the line employees. Even though there are 175 users in the facility, not all of them have their computer because it is a production facility. This thus means that it is only about 100 computers that need to upgrade.

Since the IT staff in the company is less, the company will thus be forced to hire outside experts of about 3 or 4 contract workers. Who are proficient in technology to assist in the transition in the offices. They should work along one of the IT professionals in the company, and they should thus be in a position to complete the transition between 6 to 8 working days. It 's hard to give the time frame for completion due to lack of information on the particular network setup.

In the testing of the relevant business applications, the IT professionals should contact the companies which licensed the critical applications so that they can obtain information on the ability of requests to run in a Windows 8 environment. In addition to this, they should also contact the other IT professionals so that they can get their point of view. The It professionals should work hand in hand with the departments that use these applications and form a committee so that they can be in a position to address the concerns that they have about the transition from Windows 7 to 8.

3. Nebraska Office

This office has 25 users, and they are in the present running Windows 7 which has a server that is one-year-old that is running Window Server 2012 and has an active directly domain service that is compatible with Windows 8. The information on the condition of the desktops or the laptops in this location has not been given. If the hardware that is in use in this location is fro from year's old, replacement with new hardware which has UEFI technology should be done to curb the malware attacks in the process of booting.

The phased-in approach can also be used in this office by the department starting with the plant manager, the line supervisor, the production line and lastly the manufacturing. Failure to have the work schedules makes it difficult to determine if there are special projects taking place and this makes it carry out the migration in an orderly manner. The users will be allowed to have a say on the order of the migration depending on the schedules in their department, and this tends to make the process very fluid.

The length of time taken to complete the transition in this location should be less than that of the central office because it is small with a total of 25 users only. This project will thus be completed after that of the main office. Some of the IT professionals from Texas will be required to come and carry out the upgrading because the staff in this location does not have the necessary skills required to perform the migration. The period taken in this location should be roughly about three days whereby two days will be used for the installation and the other day will be used for answering the questions asked by the staff.

Having worked at the main office, the professionals at this stage should be familiar with the ways of addressing the concerns which may arise on the business critical application. In addition to this, they should work hand in hand with their colleagues so that they can consult them to address the problems that may occur.

Describe three (3) best practices for securing the laptops and tablets for the sales staff after the upgrade is complete.

One of the best practices for use in securing the laptops and tablets for the sales staff after the upgrade is complete is the BitLocker drive encryption. This is usually designed to offer protection to the data that is sensitive on a hard drive or a data drive that is removable through encrypting the drive volumes. It is possible for a drive to be accessed even though it is removed and placed on another computer. If the BitLocker detects changes in the conditions in the BIOS, it usually locks the drive volume to ensure the security of the data and a recovery key will be required to unlock the data. The second best practice that can be used for securing the laptops and the tablets used by the sales team after upgrading is the data recovery agent usually abbreviated as DRA. This refers to a user account that is used by the network administrator to recover the Bitlocker drives for the company because the network uses AD DS network. Through its credentials, the DRA can unlock the BitLocker-protected operating systems and drives using the GPO. The last practice that can be used for securing the laptops and the tablets used by the sales team after upgrading is the remote wipe. This is a very important feature in the Windows 8 in that it allows the individuals using it to reset the stolen device so that it can go back to the factory settings. The layer of protection is usually available through the Exchange Server or the Windows Intune (Boyce, & Tidrow, 2013).

Inspect the pros and cons of Configuring, AppLocker to regulate the software used by employees across the organization.

CIO and the CFO are usually concerned with the control of the ability of the user to install the updates or other applications that are unauthorized in the workplace devices. AppLocker as a feature usually assists the administrators to create the application restriction rules easily. Although the administrator still has the role of making the rules, the wizard feature often eases the task because they can apply AppLocker to the specific users or the work groups. It is possible to initiate the AppLocker through the GPO, and the four main areas of control are; Script rules, executable rules, package app standards and the window installer rules. The use of this wizard usually eases the process of restricting an application from install. It can also be constrained by the path, file or folder name or also the publisher of the certain software.

Explain the method and options available for handling application installations and updates via the Windows Store, and thus speaking the concerns stated by the CIO. 

Windows 8 usually make it possible to use the group policy in the addressing of the concerns such as those expressed by the CIO on the maintenance of control of the updates and the applications on the company’s network. The configuration that is needed to address the issues can be obtained through the implementation of the group policy for the WAN and the LAN network. The configuration entails; configuring the policy for the automatic updates, configuring the default option to install the updates and close the dialog policy, configuring the wake up to install the scheduled update policy, configuring the install updates as well as the shutdown policy dialog box. Configuring the notification policy for non-administration policy and lastly setting the intranet Microsoft update service location policy. All the above policies tend to have similar options regarding their enactment on a network in that they consists of "Enabled," "Disabled" and "Not Configured." Usage of these policies will aid in maintaining control over the capability of the users to go past the policies that have been set up by the CIO (Pogue, 2013).

References

Boyce, J. & Tidrow, R. (2013). Windows 8 Bible. Indianapolis, IN John Wiley & Sons.

Lowe, S., Schauland, D. & Vanover, R. (2012). Training Guide: Configuring Windows 8. Redmond, Wash: Microsoft Press.

Nazario, K., & Preece, C., (2014). Windows 8.1 vs. Windows 7 – Which is best for you. Retrieved from http://www.itpro.co.uk/desktop-software/21919/windows-81-vs-windows-7-which-is-best-for-you

Pogue, D. (2013). Windows 8.1: the missing manual. Sebastopol, Calif: O'Reilly.