In spite of all the buzz and positive press that Windows 7 has gained, over half of IT decision makers don’t plan to adopt the upcoming OS, according to a new study.
An online survey of 1,100 IT decision makers conducted in June by systems lifecycle management vendor ScriptLogic found that interest in a new version of Windows to replace Vista and XP may actually have been growing as Windows 7’s ship date nears.
Yet ScriptLogic said that hasn’t been enough to convince most IT buyers — 59.3 percent — to trade up to (NASDAQ: MSFT)’s newest offering, which is slated for its debut in late October.
“Nearly 60 percent of IT administrators do not plan to migrate to Microsoft Windows 7, despite the operating system’s acclaim and notable user interface improvements from Windows Vista,” a ScriptLogic spokesperson said in an e-mail to InternetNews.com.
“I don’t think anyone would be shocked that 60 percent are not planning to go to Windows 7 at this time,” Nick Cavalancia, ScriptLogic’s vice president of Windows management, told InternetNews.com.
But the news isn’t all grim for Microsoft.
Cavalancia added that just because respondents don’t have plans today, more than three months before Windows 7’s official launch, does not mean that they won’t decide to deploy it once it is released.
And while many IT shops say they’ll be holding off on Windows 7 for now, those who are weighing the new OS may be adopting it more aggressively than Windows Vista.
According to the study, 40.8 percent of the respondents to ScriptLogic’s poll have or likely will have plans to deploy Windows 7 by the end of 2010. These new figures may indicate a change in demand from other recent surveys, even as recent as four months ago.
In March, a survey commissioned by systems management appliance vendor KACE, reported that 83 percent of IT decision makers will wait at least a year after Windows 7 ships before beginning deployments.
Only 17 percent said they would deploy Windows within 12 months of the ship date.
The findings could also signal a return to a tighter timeline when it comes to rolling out new Windows editions. Conventional wisdom was that many IT shops typically hold off on even planning deployment of a new Windows version until they’ve had time to test the software. That wait period has often been seen as lasting between a year and 18 months.
Yet two years into Vista’s corporate availability, it’s clear that the conventional wisdom had failed.
But now, their reluctance to upgrade to Vista may be a factor in IT decision makers’ willingness to begin testing Windows 7 faster than usual. ScriptLogic found that about 34 percent of the survey’s participants will “likely deploy” Windows 7 by the end of 2010, while 5.4 percent plan on deploying the new system by the end of this year.
Part of the apparent shift may go down to many IT shops no longer being able to put off system upgrades. The ScriptLogic survey, for instance, found that 34.8 percent of respondents in June said they have “skipped upgrades or delayed purchases” in order to save money.
