For the past few years, organizations large and small eschewed Windows Vista and stuck with old reliable XP. Those days are coming to an end: ESG Research indicates massive migration plans to Windows 7 over the next two years. Large organizations should proceed with their eyes open so they can take advantage of other Windows functionality to improve security, reduce operating costs, or align Windows 7 upgrades with desktop virtualization initiatives. Technology vendors must also be ready for a tidal wave of support requirements and Windows 7 opportunities.

• Windows 7 upgrades could impact virtualization plans. Windows 7 could be synergistic with desktop virtualization for several reasons.  First off, the biggest impediment to any desktop upgrade is application testing and compatibility.  Rather than go through this tedious process, large organizations could use application virtualization technology from Citrix, Microsoft, or VMware to continue to run a native XP application independently from Windows 7.  Second, CIOs may want to bundle Windows 7 and desktop virtualization deployment together in order to minimize business interruption and user productivity issues.  In the end, either transition will result in users running Windows 7 either locally or as a virtual image on a data center server.  Finally, the upgrade to Windows 7 provides a great opportunity to create a standard corporate desktop image which could be used as a foundation for desktop virtualization.  Large organizations should study these options even if they mean slightly delaying their Windows 7 implementations.  Vendors should be prepared with configuration options, ROI metrics, professional services, and migration tools.

Read Mark’s other blog entries at Liquefying IT.

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