Migrating to Windows 11 Now Means Smoother Sailing Later
Written by Ryan SzporerWriter
Your IT team strives to keep everything in their ecosystems updated, but they are constrained by time, cost and other day-to-day headaches. Regular Operating System (OS) upgrades deliver a smart way to stay safe while boosting efficiency.
An upgrade can alleviate your current constraints and help protect your organization for the future. There’s a reason why Microsoft Windows is the OS market leader by a wide margin (64.3% in June 2023, according to Statista) — moving to the latest version of Windows 11 Pro keeps you current, protected and productive.
Windows 11 has received positive reviews across the board. It also aligns to the 99.6% application compatibility rate of Windows 10 with app compatibility being a type of tech debt — or how much it costs to rework a solution after initially going with an easier, but limited alternative. This is a challenge most organizations face when upgrading. But, since Windows 11 Pro is built on the same foundation as its predecessor, users are provided with a smoother transition. Microsoft’s App Assure program guarantees a program you can run in Windows 10 will also run in Windows 11 (with no seat requirement).
Migrating to Windows 11 Pro from 10 has also been streamlined compared to major OS upgrades of the past. First off, upgrading is free. When migrating a single PC, it can be as simple as meeting minimum system requirements and clicking upgrade in the Update & security tab in the Windows 10 Settings menu.
On an enterprise level, Windows Update for Business, a native upgrade feature, helps eliminate legacy processes and the overhead of managing custom upgrade task sequences. In the case of Intel IT’s enterprise-wide upgrade to Windows 11, migrating took weeks, not months. The result? Intel significantly reduced its technical debt by retiring custom upgrade tools and processes while saving time.
Technical debt takes different forms. It can limit a company’s ability to innovate and meet service-level agreements, according to The Path to Digital Transformation, a 2023 Foundry survey of IT leaders, commissioned by Insight.
The vast majority of respondents (86%) said they had been impacted by tech debt over the 12-month period covered by the survey.
Since Windows is the most prominent OS, the alternative is staying with Windows 10. Windows 10 may still be heavily relied on, but it will reach end of support on Oct. 14, 2025.
The clock is running, and IT teams must act sooner rather than later. The sooner an organization migrates, the more time it has before support runs out — avoiding any potential issues. It also makes sense from a productivity/profitability perspective, not to mention out of security considerations.
According to “The Total Economic ImpactTM of Windows 11 Pro Devices” — a 2022 Forrester study — “Interviewees’ organizations saw incremental gains in security protection and productivity improvements across security and IT teams through support for security features.”
From a security standpoint, Windows 11 Pro offers intelligent safeguards, including enhanced phishing protection.
“In addition, the off-the-shelf nature of Windows 11 devices with security features turned on by default and various self-service features reduces the number of incoming help desk tickets the composite’s IT department receives over time by 80%,” according to the Forrester study. Features noted by users included modern CPUs, advanced processor capabilities and requiring the enablement of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 for hardware root of trust.
The conclusion? “The representative interviews and financial analysis found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $2.45 million over three years versus costs of $702,000, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $1.75 million and an ROI of 250%,” according to the Forrester study.
Further, Microsoft Windows Autopilot accelerates device deployment, while new features promote greater end-user productivity. And technical debt is reduced through avoided legacy-solution costs.
Complete demanding workloads 42% faster on average.
Powerful out-of-the-box protection for a reported 58% drop in security incidents.
Supports the broadest app, peripheral and device ecosystem with 99.7% app compatibility.
Over 86% of employees surveyed would use AI to find the right answers.
Use our Windows 11 Pro Devices Calculator to get an estimate of the potential economic benefits of Windows 11 Pro devices for your own organization.
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The benefits of upgrading to Windows 11 Pro include the ability to leverage AI. AI is all over the news, and workers are thinking about it, too. In fact, 70% of 31,000 surveyed workers across the world say they would leverage AI to lessen their workload.
Copilot in Windows — available via the taskbar in Windows 11 and in all apps — provides centralized assistance with a variety of queries, helps users customize their work experience and lets them multitask more easily. Bottom line: teams just get more done with generative AI.
Windows 11 Pro accomplishes the same productivity boost on a larger scale. Organizations as a whole get more done, putting in perspective how upgrading right away is crucial — and easy. Get started with a technical assessment from Insight. We’ll help you determine your level of tech debt and what you need to move into this latest era of AI and computing with Windows 11.
Let Insight’s free technical assessment uncover and fix obstacles now, making your upgrade to Windows 11 a breeze.
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