What Will The Launch Of Windows 10 Mean For The IT Industry?

Microsoft’s launch of Windows 10 this week was met with a range of reactions from the technology industry. Featuring a variety of improvement and new services, including an eye-catching virtual reality interface, Windows 10 looks sure to shake up the Business IT as it becomes more widespread – but what do some of the industry’s key voices think?

Paul Russell, director of technical and cloud solutions, Ricoh UK

“The question for businesses isn’t ‘do I need Windows 10?’ The question is ‘how do I view my future workforce, and can Windows 10 play a part in that vision?’

As businesses change their buildings many workers move within offices and between them, work from home and in transit. Shifting between devices expecting a unified experience from each is a key requirement for modern workforces.

Microsoft’s strategy is to deliver that unified experience with a common platform across all devices. If you are looking seriously at how to make your workforce more productive and mobile, Windows 10 is something you should consider as part of that.

It may seem like another hurdle, especially if you’ve just migrated to Windows 7, but if you are serious about worker productivity the move could make sense long term.

On the other hand if you view your desktop as a means to an end, then a big upgrade, may not be so attractive when balancing costs and return on investment.

At the end of the day any move must be driven by a conscious strategy, not a product. The launch of Windows 10 is a good opportunity to review perhaps for the first time, how technology and people can work better together and may appeal not just to CIOs but also HR Directors as well.”

Frank Gillett, Forrester Research

“Windows 10 is in effect a huge invitation to software developers to write exciting, powerful applications that will draw consumers.

“My hunch is that they can succeed in getting a new generation of PC and tablet applications. The challenge is getting people interested in its phones.”

“Voice is a going to complement other ways of interacting with the computer not be a substitute,” he said.

“If you had to say every command instead of touching or clicking, then that would be annoying.

“But if you can quickly say to Cortana, for example, schedule lunch with my mum next Tuesday, then that is powerful.”

David Johnson, Forrester Research

“It’s extremely important for Microsoft to get Windows 10 right,”

“Windows 8 is only being offered to employees by about one in five organisations right now. Windows 7 is still the de facto standard for enterprise in the desktop environment.

“For Microsoft to continue to be able to get the best and latest technology in the hands of the enterprise workforce all over the world, it has to have a vehicle to do that – and Windows 10 is its best shot.”

Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst, Technalysis Research

“The challenge that remains—and I’m still concerned—is, I don’t think (Windows 10) changes the needle on mobile phones. But the PC and tablet story is very strong, and the fact that it’s all free, I think, is just going to encourage doing additional feature updates.”

Simon Townsend, chief technologist, AppSense

“The release of Windows 10 re-enforces the fact that IT is in a state of constant migration.

It wasn’t that long ago that IT teams were concerned with how they should migrate the business from one version to another. Migration was a task that ran every two to three years. Organisations had an element of time on their side as they knew when the OS was going end-of-life, having time to plan, to test and then to execute. Migration was also just a one way move – it was never thought that you may have to move back as well as forward.”

How much do you know about Microsoft’s Windows Phone? Take our quiz here!