Chapter 3: The Migration Process

Introduction

Migrations of UNIX applications to Microsoft Windows can vary significantly in size and scope. Every organization discovers differences in the impact a migration has on the application and its development process, and on the user environment and support structures. Despite the many differences among migrations, the basic migration process is the same for every organization.

This chapter contains a high-level description of each stage of the migration process. The details of each stage are covered in later chapters.

Purpose of This Chapter

This chapter helps you understand the migration process as a whole. After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Understand what you need to plan and prepare for the migration.

• Clarify key decisions involved in the migration.

• Define procedural steps for the migration.

• Create a project-plan outline.

• Predict the impact of the migration on your organization.

Audience

The information contained in this chapter is useful for everyone who is involved in the migration process. However, it is particularly relevant to managers and project managers who are responsible for the decision and planning processes.

Scope

Every organization has its own structure, project methodology, and decision-making process; this chapter does not tell you to change these. Instead it provides the information that you need to carry out a migration within your own system and methodology.

Background and Assumptions

The information presented in this chapter is based on the assumption that you have already decided to migrate to Windows.