It’s really hard to put numbers on the benefits of many products or services. For example, could you justify upgrading from an old banger to a new Jaguar based on having a better infotainment system? (Making such a decision is definitely tricky – if anyone can help me make my case to my financial advisor, please let me know!)
However, many (if not most) businesses try to apply some kind of financial benefit test to any form of major investment including desktop and server operating system (OS) upgrades even if the benefits aren’t easily quantifiable. Of course, that’s sensible financial management. But OS upgrades are perhaps the most difficult of decisions to make based on purely financial grounds. If your priority is to keep workers focused on their day job with the least interruptions possible then most PCs would probably still be running Windows 95. Inertia is a powerful force.
But people aren’t still running Windows 95 (or at least not the majority). Windows 7 saw a massive adoption from Windows XP for many reasons – better user experience, faster, and more secure were all benefits of Windows 7. But how were those benefits measured (if they were) to justify such an upgrade?
Justifying an OS upgrade is a hot topic again as many companies are in the process of making the move to Windows 10 and trying to work out the cost/benefit of the change and how quickly it should happen.
Microsoft have just published a Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) report that is a massive help to understand the normally intangible benefits of moving to Windows 10. The TEI methodology considers aspects like security breach remediation, improved customer experience and productivity, as well as simple costs. By considering the benefits realized at a variety of different companies that have already made the move, the TEI approach should make the results relevant to a broad range of organizations. Importantly, they also include the on-going costs of maintaining Windows 10 as Microsoft have introduced their new servicing model that will require more frequent system updates in the future.
One of the issues that perhaps isn’t well covered in the report is the process of rolling out Windows 10 to large numbers of systems in hundreds of locations while also enabling the new security features in Windows 10. They consider the time required for initial planning, application testing etc. but it’s not clear they’ve factored in the effort required for scheduling migrations especially when enabling full Windows 10 security features requires a manual intervention with every machine.
This is where the 1E Window 10 Now solution fits – with its unique automation for deploying Windows 10 without the need for remote servers, converting from BIOS to UEFI automatically and refreshing end-user applications as needed. Even without those advanced features, 1E’s Nomad can greatly simplify the network infrastructure required for rolling Windows 10 out to end users while reducing hardware and personnel costs.
Visit https://www.1e.com/products/ for more information.
Now, I’ll get back to my Jaguar cost justification project …
