The Desktop Suite Migration Problem
There are few professional environments today where team members do not have a requirement on some level to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations as part of their responsibilities.   Although there are a number of software options for meeting the needs of these users, the effort traditionally involved in making a movement between software choices provided an insurmountable barrier.   These challenges include:

• Understanding user requirements and the functionality change or loss associated with the software change
• Migration of automation elements (typically embedded within templates)
• Migration of integration points with other technologies (e.g. Document management solutions)
• Migration and cleanup of high-value and / or high-complexity files (of varying importance depending on target software choice)

Indellient has developed solutions comprised of software and services, which take the risk and a great deal of the cost out of an alternative desktop productivity selection.   These software and service capabilities are offered to customers a la carte or through an integrated and proven delivery process .

IBM Lotus Symphony Software Toolsets
Indellient provides a wide variety of conversion services between multiple desktop productivity suites; however, a number of our software tools are specifically focused on customer movements from MS-Office to IBM Lotus Symphony.  The IBM Lotus Symphony solution is a chosen target platform based upon its support for open storage formats, solution completeness and rich programming / automation model. 

Understanding the Conversion Opportunity & Challenges
Indellient migration services start with the software and services necessary to understand the impact of the migration decision and identification of migration challenges.  Before starting a migration initiative, a client needs to understand impacts such as:

• What functionality will change from a user’s perspective by moving to the new platform?
• What investments in automation (templates and macros) will be lost or require re-creation?
• What assets will require additional effort to bring forward to the new platform?
• What types of technical support or additional client effort will be involved with the move?
• What will be the impact if co-existence with non-converted users is required?

The number of opinions on the scale and importance of each of the impacts above is extensive and generally inconsistent.  In order to address this inconsistency and provide customers with the clear understanding they need to make an informed business decision, Indellient created the Asset Conversion Inspector (ACI) .   ACI is a software solution which quickly and easily provides a customer with a detailed report on software features that are present in MS-Office files identified within their environment, and maps those features to specific users’ functionality requirements.
The detailed understanding of user requirements is then mapped by ACI to identify business level issues associated with migration, coexistence and long term usage of the software alternative.
The value that is obtained from ACI can be extended further to assist in the project planning process. ACI-generated results can be used to clearly determine which users in a client environment are the best candidates for an alternative software package and what steps must be completed to ensure a smooth and painless transition effort.

Proof of Concept
Proof of concept services are often required to validate a sound financial decision which could be questioned on the basis of risk aversion.  Indellient proof of concept services entail the selection and migration of key assets, typically involving the highest levels of complexity, automation and / or integration with in the client environment.
Based upon years of experience in document conversion services, the Indellient team is able to quickly convert assets to a new technology platform.  In many cases, improvements to the solution are possible based upon the best features of the targeted software platform.   
Proof of concept migration services are often a critical element in conversion projects to ensure key user / departmental buy-in and avoid last minute issues with mission critical capabilities and processes.

Focused Conversion Services
Many desktop conversion efforts are based upon an all or nothing conversion strategy.   These strategies look at conversion of all existing assets as being the business requirement.  Based upon the enormous volumes of content that are involved in such an effort, the choices for approach are often either low quality, high volume conversion, or no centralized conversion at all.
In the first of these cases, the outcome is almost always user dissatisfaction, despite the consumption of significant levels of budget, as mass conversion efforts often provide no greater fidelity than that offered by a direct conversion in the software of choice.  In the second case, the lack of any conversion services leaves inexperienced and ill-equipped end-users responsible for conversion activities.   The implicit cost of this approach, sometimes even entailing re-creation of the original assets, can be high or higher than the mass conversion approach.
Indellient approaches the conversion problem with focused conversion services.  Our strategy is to only provide conversion services for assets that are critical to retain and update.  The assets are usually high in complexity and in the case of an IBM Lotus Symphony target, involve some level of automation or integration.   Indellient offers the Document Conversion Services (DCS) solution as the vehicle to enable selective delivery of these focused services.  Customers are able to submit small batches of files (or even individual files) for processing on an ad hoc or as needed basis, ensuring that the needs of all users are met without the requirement to initiate sub-optimal conversion activities for what may be millions of individual files.

IBM Lotus Symphony Conversion Requirements
Conversion efforts for movement from MS-Office to IBM Symphony are often very minimal due to the high level fidelity of the built in conversion capabilities.  The focus of conversion activities are therefore primarily in the preservation of automation and integration elements for the clients MS-Office deployment.  Professional Services behind the Document Conversion Services (DCS) site are a key element in a risk-free and economical conversion effort.