So my talk today with Mike Nash was about the white paper mentioned in this blog post:
This one is for all you IT professionals out there. A lot of you are probably having discussions inside your company about when to deploy Windows Vista, or you've deployed it and want to know which of the new capabilities can have the biggest impact on your business.
To help in your evaluations we've released a new white paper, The Business Value of Windows Vista: Five Reasons to Deploy Now. (Download the XPS or PDF.) This document summarizes the top enterprise features, latest customer case studies, and research on the capabilities of Windows Vista all in one place.
What are the top 5 reasons? Here's a peek at what's inside the doc:
- Improves the Security of PCs and Confidential Data. Windows Vista Enterprise had 20% fewer security vulnerabilities than Windows XP SP2 did in 2007-and it includes BitLocker Drive Encryption to help protect your confidential data.
- Unlocks the Potential of Today's Mobile PCs. Windows Mobility Center helps users quickly access key mobility settings all in one place and research shows that Windows Vista can help customers save as much as $251 per mobile PC, per year.
- Makes You and Your People More Productive. Find the information you need on your computer and reduce time spent searching for information by up to 42%.
- Speeds ROI with Rapid Deployment and Migration. New imaging technologies and free deployment tools make the process of deploying Windows Vista easier than with any previous version.
- Reduces Support and Management Costs. The costs saving can come from multiple places including reduced help desk calls, less time spent on image maintenance, or a lower energy bill.
This document is designed for you to use and share with others in your organization that may have questions about Windows Vista. You can also find this whitepaper and others on the Windows Vista Enterprise Web site.
They really do have a good case for Vista in businesses here, though of course the iCabal will simply say this is just the latest attempt by Microsoft to prove that Vista isn’t a failure. (Arguably the latest Apple ad is just the latest attempt at the reverse.) Whatever. This ties in, I think, to my assertion from earlier today that Microsoft needs to separate out its consumer and business efforts. The needs of these markets are just so very different, and Microsoft is already approaching them completely differently. Let’s just take the extra step to formalize this process logically.
I’m going to write something about the business value of Vista within the week, but I would like to do it in such a way that it doesn’t read like another “in defense of Vista” article. It’s time to move on from that obviously flawed notion.