Rolling out Office 2007
This past week I was asked about rolling out Office 2007. The question was about holding off or rolling it out. From someone who has used the new version for well over 2 years, I’m a strong supporter of the new interface. We have not announced the release date of the next Office release. I would not wait.
Users will benefit from the new interface and features in Office 2007. Any subsequent version will have the new interface, the sooner the user base uses it, the faster they will learn it. Below are a few suggestions I have about rolling it out using the benefits our SA customers already have.
Technical Roll out
- Develop a Plan. Use the desktop deployment planning services (DDPS) to devise a plan to manage the desktop and roll out Office 2007/Vista.
- Using two versions together(MDOP). If users demand to keep the prior version whey they come up to speed on Office 2003, you can use Softgrid to run both at the same time . On demand Webcast for application virtualization.
User Adoption
- Find leaders in groups. Have go-to leaders in groups that support their team and evangelize the use of the new version.
- Begin Training. Most companies have the Home Use Program as an integral part of their training. Six to eight weeks prior to rolling Office 2007, the IT teams roll out the home use program. The users begin using Office at home. Learning on their time. Once it’s rolled out company wide, the users are already accustom to the new interface. You can also roll it out in bulk.
- Training on the fluent interface. In the successful rollouts of Office 2007 (successful is defined by happy end users), the IT/training teams have concentrated on the different interface. They have not focused on how to use. Microsoft provides interactive guides and mapping workbooks.
- Training on the products. Please make good use of the software assurance benefits. Microsoft E-Learning is a great opportunity to offer training to your users on their own time. There is also interactive training and Webcasts and podcasts available to all with or without SA.
- Work with a training partner. I always suggest working with someone who has the skill set of training. There are several great partners in the area that can assist you with your training plan.
These are the comments I’ve heard from successful Office deployments. Let’s hear from you!!! What has success been? Please post a comment below on your experience.
