MICROSOFT_PRESS_EBOOK_INTRODUCING_WINDOWS_10

CHAPTER 4
Deploying Windows 10 in the
Enterprise
For IT pros, the job of deploying computing resources throughout an organization has historically
been cyclical. A new wave of hardware becomes the catalyst for a major operating-system upgrade,
and then the priority shifts to keeping that platform unchanged (except for security updates) for the
sake of stability, often for years, until it’s time for another wave of disruptive upgrades.
That rhythm changes, dramatically, with the arrival of Microsoft Windows 10. For enterprise
customers who are currently standardized on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, the first step is to move the
organization to Windows 10. After that migration is complete, the next goal becomes finding an update
rhythm that keeps the organization current with new features. If you’re cautious, you might choose to
remain several months behind the mainstream update cycle for consumers (the Current Branch), but
that’s a far cry from the status quo, which sees entire organizations working with operating-system
versions that are five years old or more.
Microsoft’s new development process, with freely available preview releases, makes it possible for
you to get a head start on the process by testing your organization’s applications against builds that
are still months away from release. Instead of beginning your testing after a major release, you can be
well along in the evaluation process by the time that release ships.
The deployment and management infrastructure you use on your enterprise network is also
shifting to a more rapid development cadence, similar to that of Windows 10. And the next version of
Windows Server, built on the same foundation as Windows 10, is in a Technical Preview release now,
with a planned final release available in 2016. Some features in Windows 10 Enterprise that require
complementary features on the server side, by necessity, also will appear in a Windows 10 release
later in 2016. In some cases, those new features might also require updates to current Windows Server
versions.
Here’s an example of just how quickly that development cycle is moving. In December 2015,
Microsoft released a new version of System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), with support for
deploying, updating, and managing Windows 10. Less than two weeks later, the same team released
a preview update with important new features. Recent updates to older editions of the System Center
infrastructure also include support for Windows 10.
That’s a rapidly changing landscape, which is why this chapter emphasizes getting familiar with
those new deployment and management tools as part of a pilot program.
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