How to Run a Microsoft-Free Shop

STEP 4 We made a searching and fearlessinventory of our network, applications, processes andbusiness rules.

Do this, literally. Write down everything. A migration away fromMicrosoft requires very real proof that the move will make yourbusiness better. But you can't prove your case without a list ofwhat's being replaced and why.

STEP 5 We admitted to ourselves - and toour CEO - the exact nature of our information systems'failings.

Victims of a hack or virus have likely already done this as anecessary step in the recovery process. To others, the major failingis this: They are locked into a Microsoft-dominated architecture thatfeeds them insecure, bloated code. Another failing is the needlesscodependencies of Microsoft products.

Perhaps the most expensive failing of CIOs' Microsoft-dominated ITshops is the upgrade cycle. "There's no other compelling reason toupgrade Office except to maintain compatibility with everyone else,"says Larry Shutzberg, CIO of packaging maker Rock-Tenn in Atlanta.