NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -
Short on resources, credit unions can't always plan ahead for technology upgrades, asserted Brad Williams, vice president, information technology, at $1.4-billion South Carolina FCU here.
Williams believes that leads to other problems. "If you approach Vista as a last-minute thing, it could have a serious impact on your budget and processes," he observed.
But credit unions aren't the only businesses lagging in following an adoption plan for Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows Vista. Although 86% of organizations nationwide will be forced to adopt Vista at some point, very few of them currently have a detailed plan as to how to do it, according to the results of a poll conducted last year by technology solutions provider CDW of Vernon Hills, Ill.
"Vendors at some point will abandon XP and 2000 and only support their applications at the Vista level and above," Williams agreed. "So, unless you control the development of all of your applications, you're going to have to upgrade to Vista."
"The fact that many organizations don't have a Vista adoption plan is of concern," added David Cottingham, director of product management, CDW. "You need to be prepared now, at least with your hardware, so that you won't be surprised by that incremental budget expense."
Vista, unlike its predecessors at Microsoft, could catch CUs with their pants down, said Williams and Cottingham.
"This transition is a bit different because it has been such a long time since XP was released," said Cottingham. "Vista has significant new requirements on the video side."
Hardware specifications for Vista are "above and beyond" what they were for the migration between Windows 98, 2000, and XP, Williams explained.
"Hardware wasn't really a concern for 98 or XP," he said.
Vista's graphic and multimedia features won't play well on current hardware. "Video and RAM is 90% of the new hardware requirements," said Williams. "Until that's addressed, you're not going anywhere."
South Carolina Federal hopes to avoid any nasty surprises by following an adoption strategy, in which Vista upgrades are part of its routine equipment life cycle plan, said Williams.
"At the beginning of each year, we always analyze what our desktops will need to do in the next three years," he said. "At this point, it's good to consider what the machines will need in order to run Vista. We'll replace a bunch of machines this year and get them ready with at least the minimum hardware specifications in order to load Vista to all the desktops in 2008."
Software licensing can follow suit, added Williams. Licenses that are compliant with Vista can be purchased this year and downgraded, then upgraded to adapt as the organization's infrastructure changes.
By the end of this year, then, hardware and licensing at South Carolina Federal will comply with Vista, "a big step and a relief from a lot of headaches," said Williams. Before Vista is loaded next year, South Carolina Federal will begin to ask a second question as part of its adoption plan: "How do I deal with those third-party applications that aren't compliant with Vista?" Williams said.
To that end, the CU will set up a training environment in which "even little niche" application from across the enterprise will be installed on test Vista systems, said Williams. Staff representatives from each department will use the test computers to see if they are ready to go live - and make the IT department aware of any additional, necessary applications that may have been "unofficially" deployed at the CU.
FOR MORE INFO
For info on this story:
* South Carolina FCU, www.scfederal.org
* CDW, www.cdw.com
* Summit Informations Systems, www.summitsite.net
* CU*Answers, www.cuanswers.com
* Harland Financial Solutions, www.harlandfinancial solutions.com
