The complexity of Microsoft's Windows Vista and Office products creates plenty of opportunities for channel companies.
Complexity is the definitive description for changes to the new versions of Microsoft's Office and Windows. For customers, increased complexity can create huge headaches, particularly during migration to Office 2007 or Windows Vista from older versions. But what's bad for customers could be a boon for the channel. All that complexity increases the need for service and, more important, training and support.
The potential windfall is enormous. A recent IDC study concluded that for every buck Microsoft makes off Vista, the channel will reap another $18. Better still, businesses are going to take their time evaluating and testing both products before deployment, stretching out channel services and consulting opportunities. Gartner surveys show that most businesses won't begin early Vista deployments until the third quarter of 2007, with most waiting until the second quarter of 2008.
Vista security changes will contribute to deployment delays, particularly as businesses evaluate existing security policies and changes to user rights. The operating system uses a token-based rights mechanism that views all users as standard users, even those designated as administrators. The change will affect some software that expects administrator privileges to be enabled, which also should create services opportunities. Business customers will need assistance evaluating BitLocker Drive Encryption and setting up key management services. If an encryption key is lost, with it will be all the data on the Vista PC's hard drive.
Vista's prospects look blurry to read more.
In addition, some businesses will need to establish volume license key servers for Vista. Microsoft's newest volume licensing platform requires that Vista reactivate within every 180 days. Businesses will need to establish and implement policies that ensure remote or mobile workers will be reactivated; otherwise, Vista essentially will shut down 30 days after failure to validate.
Protracted evaluation and deployment services are only part of the good news. Softchoice estimates that 95 percent of business PCs in North America aren't capable of running Vista Premium. The channel has an opportunity to provide additional service, support and sales around hardware upgrades or even new PC purchases.
Once Vista is deployed, the channel can offer training and support services. Vista's overhauled user interface and security changes are sure to cause user confusion. In fact, Gartner warns the security changes will be perhaps the biggest factor slowing down Vista deployments. New features such as improved wireless network detection look simple but may require additional training.
The UAC (User Account Control) feature and Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 introduce a plethora of new security prompts, some of which will cause user confusion. For example, if running with standard privileges, users will find that they cannot change the date and time without an administrator's approval and password. Microsoft took this approach because of malware that uses date and time for nefarious means, but such a change can create problems for mobile workers traveling across time zones. Someone is going to have to establish policies to cover Vista changes, answer support calls and provide user training.
Office 2007 introduces a radically new UI that cannot be switched off. Microsoft has provided no switch for flipping back to the older Office UI. ÒI decided: Let's pull people forward,Ó said Julie Larson-Green, corporate vice president for Windows Experience program management at Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash.
The change creates opportunity for the channel to offer support and training services around the new UI. Finally, Microsoft has introduced a new Office file format, creating yet another place for the channel to consult, train and service.
Joe Wilcox is editor of eWeek Microsoft Watch (www.microsoft-watch.com). He can be reached at joe_wilcox@ziffdavis.com.
