For most companies, the answer is yes. Windows 8 doesn't have any
ground-breaking features that alter business as we know it. With that said,
there are a lot of operational efficiencies a company can gain from Windows 8.
Therefore, your IT and business management need to run through some questions to
decide if Windows 8 can help move your business forward.
Are we a "Microsoft Shop"?
I am not really sure when I first heard this term, but for anyone not familiar
with it, it basically means your company invests heavily in Microsoft
infrastructure. For example, your company may actually strive to be a Microsoft
Business Partner because your company develops software or sells computers, and
everything you do is around Microsoft products. Or, maybe your company is just
"Microsoft-Centered" as I call it. This might be a typical example of the
software your company has:
- Windows XP or 7 (for employee computers)
- Windows Server
- Exchange Server
-
Microsoft Office
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- Visio
- SQL Server
- Visual Studio
- Internet Explorer
If you fall into any of the descriptions above, and your company usually tries
to keep up with the latest technology offerings, the simple answer on whether or
not to go to Windows 8 is yes. The reasoning is that your cost to upgrade will
generally be lower because of licensing agreements and other discounts. I will
throw out the disclaimer that you will need to do a full software and hardware
system review to make sure upgrading to Windows 8 will not negatively impact any
other software or hardware currently in your company, unless you plan on
upgrading that as well.
Are we mobile?
A really simple question that can make your life easy is if your company is
mobile. Mobile can mean that your employees use laptops or tablets instead of
desktops, most of your employees work from remote locations, and/or a large
percentage of your employees are on the road and/or in field offices. If the
answer is yes, Windows 8 has a lot of great tools to aid in keeping your
technology footprint light while still having tons of security and flexibility.
BitLocker and Trusted Boot are two applications that come with Windows 8, and
they are pretty solid. There are also a lot of other tools that help with mobile
broadband, remote desktop, file sharing, and more.
If the answer is no, this does not mean you should not consider Windows 8.
However, depending on your current IT infrastructure, both hardware and
software, you may not see the ROI you want or any ROI at all by getting Windows
8.
What is the average technology learning curve of
each employee?
This question can tend to be a huge unknown if a company does not have a tech
support department or tech support department doesn't have a useful reporting
system to capture metrics. If you know the learning curve is large, stay away
from Windows 8, as you will never see the return you will be hoping for, despite
the amazing benefits you can get from Windows 8. If you have no idea, then a
good benchmark would be something like "How painful was it upgrading Internet
Explorer from version 6 or 7 to version 8?" Or "How hard was it for users when
the company upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007?" If it went pretty well, then you
can assume that the learning curve will not be too bad overall.
Do we have the hardware in place to leverage all
Windows 8 has to offer?
This is a complicated question. The benefits from Windows 8 unfortunately come
with the synergies of the other Microsoft software; Office or Office 365,
SharePoint, Exchange, etc. Although, from a system resource perspective, Windows
8 is more lightweight than Windows 7, if you are upgrading from Windows XP to
Windows 8, your computers, servers, and even your network may not be able to
support the system requirements. Also, you have to worry about older software
being compatible with Windows 8, or more importantly, loss of functionality of
older software in Windows 8. I already said this, but can't emphasize it enough;
a full impact analysis must be done before upgrading to Windows 8. As a matter
of fact, you should ALWAYS be doing an impact analysis, even on software
patches. SQL Server is notorious for its patches messing things up.
Conclusion
Sure, there are many other questions, but I wanted to provide some key ones to
ask. Windows 8 is not like any other prior Windows OS release, and needs to be
treated as such. It has amazing capabilities and is a great step forward for
personal and business computing. However, most people and businesses are not
ready for that leap, as there is always fear and resistance to drastic change of
any kind.
I am a technology advocate and believe that a company should stay as current
with technology as their business operations demand. So, do you need to upgrade
to Windows 8? Maybe not, but it may be worth it.
