With only 936 days until Microsoft drops support for Windows XP, a new study has shows that those upgrading to Windows 7 do so with desktop virtualisation in mind.
The study commissioned by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Dimension Data shows that 46 percent of the 546 organisations that look part in the survey had begun ‘aggressive efforts’ to migrate to Windows 7, with a further 17 percent planning to upgrade within the next year.
Other statistics included:
- 13% of respondents have completed enterprise-wide migration
- 51% of IT managers surveyed said they have linked their Windows 7 migrations to their organisation’s PC refresh cycle
- 21% of enterprises are prioritising desktop and application virtualisation over their Windows 7 upgrade
- 29% are deliberately overlapping their investments in Windows 7 and desktop virtualisation
Bradley Bunch, General Manager for Microsoft Solutions, Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, says organisations that haven’t initiated plans to migrate to Windows 7 are under increasing pressure to beat the Windows XP end-of-support deadline.
“Of somewhat greater concern is the fact that independent software vendors (ISVs) will soon discontinue developing applications for Windows XP, while hardware vendors support drivers other than those designed for XP,” he says.
A surprisingly large amount of companies have little to no operating system upgrades in place as yet.
- 22% said they do not have a Windows 7 deployment plan in place
- 13% are uncertain of how long their deployments will take
- The population of Windows XP and Vista users are 47.3% and 9.1% respectively compared to 31% of users already on Windows 7
“To reduce complexity, organisations would be advised to tie virtualisation investments into their Windows 7 migration plan,” concluded Bunch.
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