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Cost advantage propositions for enterprises with Windows 7
Ramesh G, Director -- Windows Client, Microsoft
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
We understand that our enterprise offering is about 8 yeas old, and the
challenges faced by enterprises have drastically changed over the years. Windows
7 features various features targeted at making corporate computing more
efficient, affordable and goes in line with business objectives.
To round off the cost benefits to enterprises, Windows 7 can be expected to
bring down power costs per PC by about Rs. 4,000, which is a 50% reduction from
versions off the operating system. This is a combination of component-level
energy saving like dynamically making CPUs go into sleep mode even when certain
light applications are running in the background, and group policies that can be
set by the administrator, depending on usage and expected performance spikes.
Online and Cloud-based features
Besides full backup and restore features being built into Windows 7, it
provides the option of Home Groups, where multiple Windows 7 machines can be
connected via a peer-to-peer network to create a crude work group. Since it
works on a peer-to-peer network architecture, the CPU capacity is not affected
and sharing of documents, applications and other data can seamlessly be
performed between machines.
Typically, 8 machines can be part of a home group, making it ideal for small
businesses. In addition, businesses are also offered 25 GB of free space on
Windows Live, which resides totally on the Cloud and corporate data can be
invoked as and when the business demands.
Troubleshooting features
Windows 7 features something called Action Center, a menu option built into
the UI which gives you a list of troubleshooting tasks that are pending on the
machine – ranging from device driver updates to virus warnings to accessibility
rule updates – on clicking the specific troubleshooting tasks, the necessary
installations are automatically performed or in the case of external downloads,
the necessary websites are pointed to.
Another enhancement is the ability to recognize an external device – like a
USB stick – and automatically download the drivers if necessary, going a step
further and downloading the instruction manual – of a digital camera or flash
storage device for instance – by linking up to the external vendor's website. To
ensure complete security, it also has the ability to recognize and certify
digital security signatures and access rights.
Licensing and upgrade models
Existing Microsoft customers are already part of an Enterprise Agreement,
which covers their migration to Windows 7 seamlessly and in some cases,
free-of-charge. Windows 7, like its predecessors, comes in a range of options –
Starter to Professional – and in India, the expected prices are between Rs 1,500
to Rs 6,500. Microsoft has consciously kept the prices competitive to the extent
that for a customer, the price to upgrade from an older version of Windows and
the price to buy a new pack of Windows 7 is almost the same, and the strategy is
to reduce upgrades and increase the number of genuine Windows 7 packs sold. In
case a customer desires to upgrade from say a Starter to a Professional version,
he can do so by procuring a code – pretty much like a prepaid card -- and
entering it online. This form of key-based upgrade is a first for Windows 7.
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