A bit of context first for readers who are not from football (aka soccer) loving countries – the subject of winning a World Cup is one of perpetual pain and anguish for the long-suffering English fan. What does that have to do with VDI migrations in large enterprises? The steps required to set your football team up for World Cup success have parallels with successfully delivering a VDI migration project.

The same applies to any major team tournament – the Super Bowl, World Series, Cricket World Cup, Tour de France, Indianapolis 500, Rugby World Cup. Parallels can be drawn with successful teams in those competitions and the enterprise IT teams that successfully implement VDI migration projects.

Step 1: Put the Right Structures in Place at the Outset

In a football team, putting the right structures in place includes:

  • Coaching and support staff appointed
  • Budgets allocated
  • Facilities, kit, and equipment chosen
  • Partnerships established with outside experts, the coaching staff at national-level clubs, and others
  • Those with non-sporting roles in the organisation (marketing, finance, HR, etc) also need to be aligned with the team’s objectives and strategy

The same applies to a VDI migration:

  • Clear roles and responsibilities need to be assigned within the internal IT and executive teams, with defined outcomes, targets, and milestones
  • Budgets must be allocated and locked in
  • Automation tools need to be selected and integrated
  • Relationships with vendors, consultants, and other outsourced partners need to be established and defined
  • Those in business-as-usual roles need to be aligned with the VDI migration project. They may not be directly involved in its implementation, but they will be essential to its success. Therefore, it’s important they understand why the project is being implemented, how it will impact them, the support that is available, and how they can contribute.

Step 2: Practice, Sleep, Repeat

Repeated training and continuous preparation are essential if a country wants to win a World Cup. This doesn’t just mean running drills on the pitch and doing strength and conditioning training. It also includes:

  • Constantly reviewing the available pool of players to identify those with the best form
  • Continuously reviewing and adjusting off-pitch and on-pitch strategies, tactics, and processes
  • Constantly communicating with the players and other sporting staff about strategy, tactics, the need for continuous improvement, upholding team values, etc
  • Playing matches, friendly or in competition, to test players, test on-pitch formations, test playing strategies, test match preparation processes, test, test, test

With a VDI migration, there are also things that must be done repeatedly to ensure success:

  • Business plans and personnel should be continuously reviewed and adjusted to ensure milestones stay on track and are achievable
  • Technology factors should also be reviewed, with adjustments made where necessary, including in areas like performance and security
  • Communication with all stakeholders should be frequent, open, and informative, where the discussions go both ways. This includes communication with IT teams, senior management, vendors, and consultants who have direct involvement in the project. It also includes communication with all staff and anyone else who might be affected or can contribute to the project’s success.
  • Testing, testing, and more testing should be done repeatedly on everything from specific virtual desktops to stateless VDI golden images to application stability.

Step 3: Go One Step Further

Teams that win World Cups or similar top-level competitions usually have one thing in common – the ability to find that extra level of performance. They are willing to go further, harder, faster, and/or stronger than their competitors so when it comes down to the fine margins that often decide major sporting events, they are on the winning side.

In a VDI migration project, going that one step further not only ensures successful implementation, but also makes the process smoother, less stressful, more predictable (financially, technically, and in relation to people), and more structured.

Going that one step further in a VDI migration project involves:

  • Having clear oversight of the entire process through a “single pane of glass”, where you can review the status of the VDI migration, assess readiness across all areas, identify performance issues, and generate reports.
  • Train all staff on how to use and get the most out of their new virtual desktop. It is also beneficial to give staff easy and direct access to commonly requested solutions, in addition to in-person technical support.
  • Continue with the communication effort across all stakeholders, remembering that a VDI migration project is as much about organisational change management as it is about IT.

Achieving VDI Migration

There are not many people who get to win the football World Cup, lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of the Super Bowl, or wear the Maillot Jaune (Yellow Jersey) on the Champs-Élysées at the end of the Tour de France. However, we can all be part of a successful VDI migration project by following the three-step strategy in this blog.

The automation, oversight, and communication tools that are in Access Capture and Access Symphony will help you implement this three-step strategy.

You can also benefit from additional VDI migration tips that we have published on our blog:

Category: News
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Author: AccessIT

Enterprise IT Automation - More Flexibility. Increased Productivity. Lower TCO. Access IT Automation products provide proven enterprise automation solutions that help automate thousands of tedious, manual tasks while driving change at the same time.