-- Industry: Only 1.5 percent of Computer Equipment and Peripherals
companies plan to adopt Vista in 2007.
-- Geography: 18 percent of European companies plan to upgrade to Vista
in 2007, well below the 25 percent global average.
-- Job Function: 89 percent of Finance/Accounting Managers in decision-
making positions rejected the notion of a Vista upgrade in 2007.
In making a business case for immediate Vista adoption, Microsoft will have
to convince prospects that the operating system can contribute to a
company's return on investment (ROI), and is reasonably bug-free. These
concerns were foremost on the minds of several Aberdeen Report respondents.
"Although [Vista] file access will be more efficient, it won't bring any
near-term ROI," claims Bob Newman, President of Technovisor. "I don't want
to implement a system that doesn't have all the bugs worked out," explains
Kerry Durham, IT Manager for Burks & Associates.
If there is a silver lining for Microsoft in the Aberdeen Report's
findings, it rests in the fact that users identified desktop applications
such as Microsoft Office as being the most impactful technologies on their
organization over the past two years, nudging out Enterprise Resource
Planning solutions (31% vs. 29%). "Regardless of comments and criticism
associated with stability, security and user interface design, Microsoft's
desktop and productivity offerings remain indispensable to the majority of
users," explains Peter Kastner, Research Director, Information Technology
at Aberdeen.
The data points referenced herein are part of the 2007 Aberdeen Report,
scheduled for release next month (April, 2007). Spanning five years, two
million respondents, and over 644,000 organizations, the Aberdeen Report is
one of the deepest available research documents on the state of technology
and business. The first in a series of annual reports by the Aberdeen
Group, the research looks at industry, geography, organizational size, and
role across various business drivers and outcomes. The $1,995 report will
be made available free of charge to the first 2500 registrants. End users
may pre-register for their complimentary copy at
http://www.aberdeen.com/2-0/pre_registration.asp
About AberdeenGroup, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market
intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more
than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely
positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating
demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment
analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets,
corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in
context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's
analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of
Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement -
Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role
Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit
Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more
about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.
Contact Information: Media Contact: Stephen Gold Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (925)264.1840 Stephen.gold@aberdeen.com
