Utah Prepared for a Smooth Windows Transition
Utah is replacing about 370 Windows 10 computers with Microsoft Windows 11 machines monthly, and the state is updating the operating system for an additional 230 existing machines each month. Troy Black, COO for Utah’s Division of Technology Services, credits the state’s centralized IT services for the rapid pace.
“We have visibility into the machines in each of our agencies, and we’re able to guide them along the way in this effort to make sure that we’re meeting our target date,” he says. “That’s huge.”
The state has proactively communicated with department heads and end users, letting them know what to expect and when. Rather than resisting the change, employees have embraced it, says Rachael Cassady, director of the state IT organization’s desktop group.
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“Overall, users have been excited about the new features,” she says. “It’s definitely improving security. Better voice typing is a feature that we’ve heard is getting a 10 out of 10 across the board. And then there are little things, such as the simplified interface and improved touch controls.”
Fuller notes that inventorying and asset management have been critical to a successful transition.
“When we first started this, we knew that some of our computers would be compatible with Windows 11 and would only need to be upgraded,” he says. “And we knew that some would not be compatible, and we would have to replace those. But at first, we didn’t know how many of each we had. After we did that work, we were able to put a plan in place to attack those two different vectors. That made a big difference.”