Windows Vista: Start planning now

Businesses need to start planning now for moving to Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system even if they don't plan to actually migrate until 2008, according to industry experts.

Microsoft claims Vista will be its fastest-selling operating system ever but Gartner predicts it will be running on less than 10 per cent of PCs by the end of 2007.

Many IT directors on silicon.com's CIO Jury also said they won't migrate to Vista before 2008 because of the lack of compelling business benefits.

Windows Vista - all the coverage...

♦  Cheat Sheet: Windows Vista
♦ Windows Vista fails to convince CIOs
♦  Photos: Vista behind the scenes

Ian Auger, head of IT and communications at ITN, said: "I think we will do a partial upgrade for certain parts of our business – mainly those developing products to run on the platform. This will be targeted and we will not push ahead with any large-scale plans until there is a good business reason to do so."

For others, Windows XP is still good enough. Mark Saysell, IT director at Coutts Retail Communications UK, said: "Windows XP gives our business all the functionality that we currently need. I can't justify the extra cost of upgrading, man hours of planning and rollout, user training and potential hardware upgrades to run Vista. Maybe I'm missing something, but I really can't see any major business benefits from upgrading."

But even for those waiting a year or two until the first Vista service pack irons out the launch bugs, the planning should start now, according to Gartner, who say companies should expect to spend 18 months testing, planning and piloting Vista before any large-scale mainstream business deployment.

Frank Foxall, MD of Windows migration specialist Camwood, said the mobile access, search and Bitlocker encryption features will prove to be the reasons companies upgrade, but warned that compatibility with existing applications will be the main technical issue for most organisations.

"If companies do decide to upgrade the biggest barrier will be application compatibility - 80 per cent of your applications will work and 20 per cent won't work. The vast majority of customers we speak to are looking at 2008 to upgrade but they need to start planning now."

That view is backed by Russell Lux, MD of reseller Luxtech, who advised businesses to wait at least six months before contemplating a move to Vista.

"As with any new software, there are always teething problems. For a business you have to make sure all your packages will work with Vista. We can't run one of our bespoke pieces of software on it and the developer has said they won't look at it until Vista is out," he said.

The hardware requirements for Vista will also be a factor in the pace that businesses adopt Windows Vista, with higher-spec PCs needed to take advantage of all the operating system's new features.

Lux said: "That's the bit that's going to slow the rollout. The big banks are going to have to upgrade all their kit. But there's still a long way to go - there will be six or seven years of Vista."

Training will also be a factor businesses need to take into account for Vista. Robert Chapman, CEO and founder of the Training Camp, said his organisation has seen a lot of demand for courses around Vista.

He said: "The single biggest thing turning people on to Vista is the security and the promise of a more robust operating system."

Chapman added that there is also interest in Microsoft Office 2007, which launches at the same time as Vista.

"It also goes hand in hand with the new Office 2007 release. Although Office 2007 works on the previous version of Windows it seems to fit more hand in glove with Vista," he said.