New research shows businesses are ready to innovate through much-anticipated operating system
05 August 2015 – Sydney, Australia: Australian businesses are seeing the release of Windows 10 as a catalyst for significant business change and an opportunity to drive greater productivity, with new research showing almost 75 per cent are intending to adopt the new operating system within two years of launch, and 64 per cent adopting within the first year.
The survey of 301 business decision-makers, from businesses with 5-1000+ employees, was conducted by Tech Research Asia (TRA) on behalf of Microsoft and showed productivity improvements, improved security and mobile and PC integration were among the top five reasons for adoption, with 75 per cent citing the ability of Windows 10 to work across all mobile devices as important.
TRA Director, Tim Dillon said: “This research shows there is a real appetite for change and innovation amongst businesses in Australia, with many indicating that the Windows 10 system provides a strong platform on which to deliver productivity improvement solutions in the future.
“We also believe that the familiarity of Windows helps makes upgrading so much more palatable for companies.”
The research pointed to Windows 10 providing the impetus for considerable innovation and change within businesses, as 40 per cent of respondents reported the intention to adopt additional solutions within 12 months, with the main preferences being integrated security solutions, cloud, workplace service, mobile device management and unified communications and collaboration (UC&C).
Likewise with device fleets, with the mobile friendly features of Windows 10 prompting:
- 38 per cent of businesses to anticipate an increase in their PCs
- 56.5 per cent to expect an increase in smartphones under their management
- 51 per cent to expect an increase in the number of tablets.
“We think the data suggests a strong desire for organisations to drive even greater business benefits from mobility in their operations,” Mr Dillon said. “Many of the companies we talk to are frustrated by a lack of integration across mobility rather than a need to simply increase mobile devices.”
“It gives organisations secure technology productivity through the cloud, mobility and UC and people productivity through flexible ‘anywhere, anytime, anyhow’ work practices, which is a recognition of how work is changing,” he said.
Microsoft Australia, Windows Commercial Lead, Jaron Cohen said: “It is great to see such strong demand for Windows 10 from a number of Australian businesses. Windows 10 was largely built by the people who will use it and through the Insiders program we had more than 5 million customers around the world help us design the operating system.”
“Windows 10 delivers a highly personal and natural experience that will enable users to be more productive. It contains improvements to make it immediately familiar to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, while adding compelling features like Cortana*, Continuum, Live Tiles, Edge and Universal Windows Apps which are all designed to boost productivity,” Mr Cohen said.
“Given the strong importance businesses place on mobility and improved productivity to deliver innovation in the workplace, Windows 10 is available to you at all times across all devices.”
With Windows 10, businesses can protect their company against cyber-attacks, deliver experiences users will love and enable continuous innovation with the platform that keeps their organisation up to date with the latest technology.
Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions, IT Director, Richard Fox-Smith, is one who is excited at the possibilities opened up by Windows 10. The company has been one of the 5 million users throughout the world who over the past months have been testing Windows 10 and reporting back to Microsoft engineering.
“The best thing for us is the way it will enable us to easily expand our mobile and cloud computing capacity,” he said. “We decided on Windows 10 because we know that the platform will grow with us over the next few years and deliver that continual change.
“The feedback that we have had from our people who have been using it has been excellent. The functionality and the ease of use has been really well-received and the change-over has not been an issue.”
It is a similar story with Makita Australia. Assistant IT Manager, Shaun Adams said Makita was in the process of updating much of its IT infrastructure.
“Over the next 6 months we’re going to be implementing a totally Virtual environment through Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, we’re upgrading all our servers to Microsoft Server 2012 R2, replacing our current email system, and adopting a Windows 10 Pro based platform,” he said.
“At Makita we strive for excellence in everything we do and we’ve seen the Windows 10 product, we’ve tested it, we’ve used it, we love it and we’ll push it out as quickly as we can.
“We are upgrading all our devices, we’ve introduced Office 365 and Windows 10 direct access is being set up to use Exchange and Skype for Business. The changes in the real business process aren’t all coming from Windows 10 but the new operating system definitely enables all the other products to work together to form a seamless bond,” Mr Adams said.
Michael Chanter, the general manager of Microsoft partner Thomas Duryea Consulting, said he believed “the release of Windows 10 brings a quantum leap in terms of usability, cloud integration and a more personal and human experience.”
“The integration between on premise, cloud, and devices has never been so well expressed in a desktop operating system.”
Mr Chanter said the release represented a huge opportunity for Microsoft partners.
“There is no doubt that the time is ripe to capture a generational change for the Windows platform. Customers and end users have a truly compelling solution no matter what legacy operating system they are running, and partners with deep expertise in managing that change will do well.”
Windows 10 will be available on PCs and tablets as a free upgrade on qualifying Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices until July 29, 2016*.
About the Study
The on-line survey of IT or line of business decision makers from 301 companies in Australia was conducted in May and June this year. The study grouped the respondents into groups according to employee numbers, from 5-24, 25-99, 100-249, 250-499, 500-599 and 1000+.
Cortana Availability *
Cortana will be arriving to Windows Insiders in the coming months before general availability.
Windows 10 Upgrade *
The free upgrade offer applies to Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, and Windows 10 Mobile for genuine Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices that upgrade in the first year after launch. Other editions, such as Windows 10 Enterprise, do not qualify for the free upgrade offer, but as with prior versions, active Software Assurance customers in Volume Licensing can upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise as part of their existing Software Assurance benefits.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. More information can be found at: www.microsoft.com.au
About Tech Research Asia
Tech Research Asia specialises in helping vendors create independent, trusted relationships with the enterprise and government sectors in the Asia Pacific technology markets. More information can be found at: http://techresearch.asia/
