We are excited to introduce you to the latest version of Dashworks, 5.3! After an extensive set of customer feedback sessions, our development team has been focusing on improving the capacity/booking slot functionality for this release. Capacity is used to set limits on the number of deployments that can happen within a specific site, business unit or time of day. Previously, Dashworks could only manage capacity by day and type (e.g. wipe and load vs replacement), but with this new release, the system can manage slots at an even more detailed level. For example, you can now have a deployment unit called 'Site A - Finance' that runs from Date A to Date B, and has 20 AM capacity slots and 20 PM capacity slots with a blackout period for end of year dates. As always, it is thanks to the insightful feedback provided by our customers that has helped drive product innovation and make the drive towards IT transformation and Evergreen IT management a possibility with Juriba Dashworks!
Dashworks 5.3 - What You Need To Know
Nov 29, 2018 8:05:00 AM / by Barry Angell
Pillsbury Law Gets Praise For Smooth Windows 10 Migration & Hardware Refresh From Its VIP Lawyers & Staff
Mar 29, 2018 2:12:24 PM / by Barry Angell
With Windows 7 approaching end of support in January 2020, most enterprises are accelerating plans to migrate to Windows 10 in 2018 to take advantage of the new or improved cyber-security capabilities, and avoid an expensive custom support agreement with Microsoft. However, at this time, fewer organizations than expected have taken the plunge because they dread the Windows-as-a-Service servicing model that requires continuous upgrades and a more agile, Evergreen IT management approach.
Ahead of the game is Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, an international law firm recognized by the Financial Times as one of the Most Innovative Law Firms three years running. Today, I want to share a little sneak peek at our latest customer case study and tell you the story of how Dashworks transformed this dreaded Windows 10 migration experience into an IT Transformation initiative that the 700+ lawyers and their staff could not only get behind, but actively participate in!
How To Streamline Your Office 365 Migration / Update Rollout In 7 Steps With Juriba Dashworks
Mar 5, 2018 7:07:00 AM / by Barry Angell
Rolling out Office 365 can be very exciting considering the value it will add to your organization in terms of unified communication, collaboration, and business processes! But it can be equally terrifying if you think about all the dependencies of users, mailboxes, delegates, mail archives, public folders, groups, instant messaging, ... the list goes on and on.
After the initial migration is completed, Microsoft will release two larger Office client feature updates and monthly security updates to increase productivity for your end users and tighten security. However, just like Windows as a Service, these larger feature updates will need to be rolled out effectively as they can also be considered a mini-migration.
Dashworks 5.2 - What You Need To Know
Feb 8, 2018 7:45:00 AM / by Barry Angell
We are excited to introduce you to the latest version of Dashworks, 5.2! This release was focussed on improving the user reporting experience and building out some Evergreen project management features to support the Windows 10, Office 365, BAU application and hardware refresh activities managed perpetually within large organisations. As always, it is thanks to the insightful feedback provided by our customers that has helped drive product innovation and make the drive towards IT transformation and Evergreen IT management a possibility with Juriba Dashworks!
Microsoft Windows Analytics (Upgrade Readiness) vs. Juriba Dashworks (Updated 4/12/18)
Oct 9, 2017 7:13:00 AM / by Barry Angell
One of the most frequent questions we get when we talk to potential customers about tooling is: "What about Microsoft Upgrade Readiness? How does Dashworks compare to that?" It's a very valid question since the Microsoft tool is available free of charge and also built by Microsoft. Since no one knows Windows 10 as well as Microsoft does, one can assume that they also know how to best ready and deploy it using proven industry practices.
Why Throwing More People At Your IT Migration Problem Won't Solve The Issue
Sep 27, 2017 5:51:16 PM / by Barry Angell
This article was also published on The Technology Record magazine here.
You know you are in a pickle when you are six months into your migration project and you still haven’t gotten any numbers on the board. As the responsible project manager, you are frustrated. There are a thousand questions running through your head: What went wrong? Where did the time go? What can I do to get this back on track? Is there a way I can accelerate this to get back on schedule? Should I increase the number of resources dedicated to this project?
Throwing more people at it certainly seems like the right thing to do. After all, you need to be seen to be doing something! This is the route that many a project manager has trodden! But what most project managers have come to realize after the fact is that throwing more people at it doesn’t always translate into a faster project. Only automation and appropriate tooling will do that.
Enterprise Windows 10 Migration Assessment: Real-World Findings from the Front Lines
Jul 12, 2017 8:17:00 AM / by Barry Angell
According to the latest Gartner Report, 85% of enterprises are planning to migrate to Windows 10 by the end of 2017. I think this number won't pan out to be that high because realistically, IT Transformation project of this size and complexity take anywhere from 44 to 124 man-weeks to complete and large organizations aren't as far along in their readiness tasks as they think they are,
But regardless of whether 70% of businesses complete their upgrade, or 85% of them are able to tackle the majority of the rollout this year, many organizations are becoming serious about starting as soon as possible! One of the biggest hurdles that project managers face when trying to get out of the gates fast, is that they struggle with understanding what they are getting themselves into. And rightfully so. For example,
- How are you going to put together a project budget if you have to base it on a vague idea or a guesstimate?
- Do you know exactly how many of your PCs are compatible, can be refurbished, or need to be replaced?
- How many, and which resources you need if you don't know how many applications you will need to test, rewrite, or retire?
Most project managers don't have any means to get this kind of information at the start of the project. This creates a classic catch-22 situation: To kick off the project, you need budget and resources, but to get budget and resources, you need to know what you are dealing with. That's why we have partnered with HP, HPE, DXC and BDNA to build a low cost, fast value technology service to provide our clients with a full, simple to understand Windows 10 Assessment. Today, we want to share some of the real-world findings from these assessments, to help inform your decisions and hopefully ease the planning process.
Tool Requirements For Optimal Windows-as-a-Service Management
Jun 29, 2017 8:02:00 AM / by Barry Angell
(Updated: This article was updated in March 2018 to reflect the latest changes. Please also note that Microsoft has extended support for versions 1511, 1607, 1703, and 1709 for an additional 6 months for all enterprise and educational customers. Click here for an extensive overview of all Windows 10 Servicing related topics!)
You probably heard about the malware attack WannaCry 2 just a few weeks ago that held 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries, including devices at the Britain’s National Health Service, at ransom. The thing is, this attack was entirely preventable — and I am not speaking about the NSA or WikiLeaks. Microsoft issued a fix for this vulnerability days before it spread like wildfire.
Dashworks 5.1 - What You Need To Know
Apr 25, 2017 9:05:00 AM / by Barry Angell
Juriba is proud to announce our first major product update of 2017: Dashworks 5.1! Having readied more than 5 million IT assets for migration across various enterprises, we continue to drive significant product innovation to help ensure that for your organization, having the right tools in place to help you get the job done as efficiently as possible, is the key to major IT transformation project success.
Boost Your IT Transformation Team's Productivity By 27% By Using Automation & Big Data
Apr 18, 2017 9:13:27 AM / by Barry Angell
Today's enterprise IT organizations are faced with a problem that seems as impossible to solve as the Penrose triangle. With stagnant IT budgets and resource/investment challenges, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage the ever-growing mountain of work, let alone deliver major upgrade projects like Windows 10 or Office 365. And as any business-minded person knows, if you have more work, but you cannot resource it properly, you basically have only two options: you either do more work with the same number of hands (which means longer hours) or you become much more efficient to create capacity within the workforce.
Since we all know that productivity (and your employee happiness!) decreases with long working hours, your focus will quickly shift to increasing efficiency. But where do you even start? Of course, you can boost performance somewhat by implementing the usual suggestion when it comes to productivity: start with proper goal setting, improve your communication and team collaboration, streamline your workflows and approval processes, and turn off any distractions.