A recent IDC study ((The Economic Impact of Microsoft Windows 7 Unites States) cites that for every dollar of revenue Microsoft gets for U.S. sales of Windows 7 until the end of 2010, partners will reap $18.51 dollars in related products and services revenue involving roughly 20 percent of the US IT workforce. So Windows 7 is likely to create IT employment, revenue opportunities for the Microsoft partner network and investment in products and services related to the new operating system. Regardless of the merits of the new operating system the IT industry is expected to provide a much needed fillip to the broader economy. But what would entice business users to ditch or upgrade their current systems and move to Windows 7, asks Gary Simon, FSN’s managing editor?
Ensynch Inc., a US provider of IT consulting and staffing services, said last week that a survey of business and IT executives in Arizona and Southern California, indicates that 86 percent of respondents plan on deploying Windows 7 within the next 18 months.
"These results reinforce the idea that there is tremendous pent-up market demand based on companies that skipped deploying Windows Vista and stayed on Windows XP," said Ensynch CEO Gene Holmquist. "People who talk about having to upgrade to Windows 7 because support of XP will end are missing the point of the game-changing business value provided by Windows 7 and related technologies."
Industry commentators are broadly positive about Windows 7 and consensus appears to be that it sweeps away the dark clouds of Windows Vista which by all accounts was a massive flop. Some have even gone as far as declaring Redmond’s new product a match or even better than Apple’s operating system. But is there a compelling reason to move from the safe and dependable Microsoft XP operating system?
More importantly will a new operating system and the upgrade costs – which may be substantial in a corporate setting - simply drive businesses into the clutches of cloud based application vendors who have for some time expressed the virtue of ceding responsibility for IT infrastructure to someone more expert? The danger is that the advent of Windows 7 may just be the final straw for businesses – not helped by the fact that it appears to come on day one in so many versions.
But FSN has found the supplier community very positive about Windows 7 and, for example, Ray Olds, of Cambridge Online Systems, a provider of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the mid-range ERP system told FSN, “Windows 7 has a smaller technology footprint and as such is less resource hungry which will not only add life to aging PCs which companies are loathed to replace but will also provide much quicker start-up/shut-down.”
Alistair O'Reilly, CEO, Access, told FSN, "There's no two ways about it, Windows 7 is a much leaner, less resource intensive operating system - and that's got to be good for the end user. After all, the operating system is the foundation upon which everything else sits, so in terms of productivity everyday tasks will be faster and easier. This adds up to a more positive user experience. Access is certainly all for solutions that increase efficiency and reduce complexity."
Olds also sees Windows 7 complementing cloud computing rather than competing with it. “On demand services that would have been loaded byV ista and XP are now only loaded as required so, for example, if you do not print in any one session, then print services are not loaded. Furthermore, Windows 7 supports a general move towards more direct access to web based applications via ‘cloud services’ rather than having to run windows applications installed on the desktop. This supports a much thinner client topology and will enable a greater array of mobile devices.”
However, upgrade costs could be a concern, with reports on the web suggesting Gartner estimates migrating to Windows 7 from Windows XP could cost an alarming $1,930 a seat on average “taking into account the cost and time to talk to vendors, test the applications on Windows 7 and upgrade or replace any non-compliant software.”
However, Olds does not foresee problems for Dynamics NAV users. He told FSN, “Windows 7 has an XP compatibility feature which means older versions of applications such as NAV that only support XP can still be run without having to upgrade.”
In the SME market Mamut software has been one of the first suppliers to receive the "Compatible with Windows 7" logo. Certified products include Mamut One, Mamut’s SME solution built on a software plus service platform.
Mamut’s Bryan Richter predicts that the new operating system will make Mamut’s applications easier to use, more efficient and secure. He told FSN, “The completely redesigned task bar allows users to quickly see what’s open and makes moving throughout the entire desktop much quicker. With simple mouse movements users can organise their entire desktop.”
An added bonus is that Richter expects Windows 7 to help Mamut provide more effective and accurate user support than before. “With new tools such as the ‘Problem Step Recorder’ users simply push “record” to document their input (mouse clicks, keyboard presses) along with screenshots leading up to the problem. Throughout the process, users can pause and add notes and save the report before sending it off to technical support who can see what the user is doing without actually standing over their shoulder,” he explained.
"We see the outcome of this pent-up tsunami of technology being as big of a paradigm shift as going from landline home phones to mobile phones," said Holmquist. "It`s going to be hard for us to meet the demand once customers realize what`s in front of them. We already have a waiting list of customers interested in our Next Generation Desktop Assessments, and we couldn`t be more excited."
Access' O'Reilly is more measured, ""Organisations thinking about whether they should change their software or not should compare like-for-like benefits with their current system. From a business perspective Windows 7, as with any other technology or software solution, should form part of the broader IT strategy with consideration for the direct value it will bring to the business. In essence, it's part of the mix rather than being a solitary purchase. It comes down to return on investment and how is it going to impact the bottom line," he added.
