With your collaboration, IT management has conducted a slightly more extensive study, identifying some constraints and defining a plan for migration to the chosen Open Source system, Debian.

A significant constraint identified is that the accounting department uses specific software, which only runs on Microsoft Windows™. The laboratory, for its part, uses computer aided design software that runs on MacOS X™.

The switch to Debian will be gradual; a small business, with limited means, cannot reasonably change everything overnight. For starters, the IT staff must be trained in Debian administration. The servers will then be converted, starting with the network infrastructure (routers, firewalls, etc.) followed by the user services (file sharing, Web, SMTP, etc.). Then the office computers will be gradually migrated to Debian, for each department to be trained (internally) during the deployment of the new system.