SCC predicts pivotal phase in Windows 7 migration

SCC today said that the IT industry is entering a make or break period for organisations considering the upgrade to Windows 7.

The firm reckons that the next two years represent a critical stage in the evolution of the corporate desktop. “There isn’t one big reason why the next two years will be a pivotal point in the migration to Windows 7, but there are a lot of small ones that when combined will deliver the final push towards industry’s wholesale adoption of the system. Everything from the need for greater security and environmental performance through to user demands to work with the technologies they use at home will contribute to that,” explains SCC chief technology officer, Rhys Sharp.

SCC has seen an upsurge in demand for Windows 7 deployments, and that with Microsoft scheduled to begin withdrawing support for the XP platform in 2014, interest in migration is approaching its peak. With user concerns over application compatibility addressed and improvements in security, environmental impact and ease of management proven after a year in the wild, SCC believes that organisations will begin to significantly ramp up their upgrade plans over the next 12 months.

The company also believes that the consumerisation of IT, which is increasingly seeing workers able to walk into their work environments with devices capable of bypassing their organisation’s IT controls could have a serious impact on security.

“Windows 7 has its own place in a cultural shift where workers can become unsatisfied or demotivated if their work experience compares unfavourably with the technologies they use at home. Like it or not, the business sector is being sucked into the whirlwind that has changed the face of consumer IT in less than five years,” says Sharp.

“Equally compelling will be the fact that organisations leaving it too late to start out on the upgrade path could find themselves squeezed by an inevitable surge in demand in the final months of XP’s supported lifecycle. The clock is ticking, and for businesses that run out of time the consequences could be serious.”