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Gartner Says Most Organisations Should Be Planning and Testing Windows 7 in 2010 and Try Eliminating Windows XP by End of 2012

(PresseBox) (Stamford, Conn., )
Most organisations should be planning and testing Windows 7 this year, and most organisations should try to eliminate Windows XP by the end of 2012, according to Gartner, Inc.

Gartner analysts said organisations need to decide when to begin their migration to Windows 7, set a target date to have Windows XP out, and decide whether to deploy Windows 7 to all PCs, only to new PCs, or to a mix.

"In various Gartner polls and surveys, 80 per cent of respondents report skipping Windows Vista. With Windows XP getting older and Windows 8 nowhere in sight, organisations need to be planning their migrations to Windows 7," said Michael Silver, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "Windows 7 has been getting positive reviews, and many clients report that they have plans to start their production deployments, but there are some that are still undecided about when to start and how quickly to do the migration."

Gartner believes that organisations need to get Windows XP out before Microsoft ends support for it in April 2014, and if possible, they should eliminate it by the end of 2012 when new versions of many applications are not expected to support XP, and independent software vendors (ISVs) will increasingly eliminate XP support.

Once a target end date has been set, the approach to deployment must be decided. This could take place all at once, in a "forklift" project, or over time, through attrition, as they replace their PC hardware.

"Organisations wanting to do as much of the migration as possible though PC refresh or attrition, should begin by deciding on a start date," said Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner. "These organisations should take into account when their ISVs will provide sufficient Windows 7 support for their applications and when they will have enough time to test applications, build images and pilot Windows 7. This will give them their start date."

Taking the attrition approach will immediately identify the time scale for the project. Organisations should consider their PC refresh rate and their target end date in order to determine how many PCs can be moved to Windows 7 by attrition. However, based on the typical PC refresh rate, many organisations will not be able to get Windows XP out by their target end date by moving to Windows 7 by attrition alone.

To determine the length of the migration when using the forklift approach, organisations need to work backward from their target end date to find the latest date they can begin the actual deployment, and continue working backward to understand the latest starting dates for piloting and testing. Most organisations need 12 to 18 months for planning, testing and piloting.

In both scenarios, the length of time for the actual migration should take into consideration the cost of supporting an environment with multiple versions of Windows, as well as the cost to deploy a new operating system to every user - which, for organisations without Software Assurance on Windows, would also include the cost of buying additional Windows upgrade licenses.

Additional information is available in the report "Creating a Timeline for Deploying Windows 7 and Eliminating Windows XP" which is available on the Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/....

Gartner UK Ltd

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technologyrelated insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in hightech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,800 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,300 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 80 countries. For more information, visit gartner.com.

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The publisher indicated in each case (see company info by clicking on image/title or company info in the right-hand column) is solely responsible for the stories above, the event or job offer shown and for the image and audio material displayed. As a rule, the publisher is also the author of the texts and the attached image, audio and information material. The use of information published here is generally free of charge for personal information and editorial processing. Please clarify any copyright issues with the stated publisher before further use. In case of publication, please send a specimen copy to service@pressebox.de.