Stan Beer
Sunday, 26 November 2006 09:18
Opinion and Analysis
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Thursday, November 30 2006, may be a day for corporate historians to note as a turning point for the world's largest software company. On that day this week Microsoft will take its first step to convince corporate clients to make the move to its first new core software products in some years. It's going to be a tough sell and Microsoft knows it.
Windows Vista has been five years in the making and is long overdue. It was meant to be delivered in 2003. Now three years on, Microsoft because of its virtually monopoly in the the desktop computing space can simply force its Vista upgrade on consumers. The business space is a tougher sell and the IT departments of enterprises are looking at possibly cheaper alternatives.
Earlier this year, Linux vendor Novell's chief marketing officer John Dragoon pointed out that the upgrade to Vista from Windows XP will not be a trivial one. Mr Dragoon pointed out that the complexity of the upgrade will make it almost obligatory for cost conscious enterprises to explore the option of moving to Linux on the desktop. Linux has already mounted a serious challenge to Microsoft in the server space.
To make things worse for Microsoft, the Linux community can now even point to a few medium and large enterprises that have made the move.
Microsoft, of course, is fully aware of the Linux threat to the adoption of Vista in the enterprise and is attempting to cover its bases. Microsoft has moved to forge alliances with Linux vendors such as Novell and has made implied threats of legal action for patent infringements against Linux users.
Whatever problems Microsoft may face on moving corporate clients over to Vista, however, are likely to small compared to convincing those clients that they need to upgrade to Office 2007. Aside from Windows, Microsoft Office is the company's biggest revenue and profit spinner. However, it's use in both the consumer and corporate space has just about reached saturation point. While Windows sales continue to grow slowly, growth in Office sales has almost stalled.
