Helping small businesses not just survive but thrive is key to our global economic recovery. Together, small and midsize businesses employ the majority of the world’s workforce and as we all know, will be the key to future job creation.

Cutting costs and being more productive are top of mind for all of us, including small business owners who had to hunker down over the past couple of years. As a result, many are now faced with aging hardware that doesn’t meet the demands of today’s business environment. Small business owners are ready for new PCs but are wondering if now is the right time to make that investment.

Market research firm Techaisle conducted a survey with 1000 small businesses in the US, UK, China, Brazil and India, funded in part by Microsoft and Intel, and found that having older PCs negatively impact small businesses in several ways, including productivity and maintenance costs. What’s more, the study found that 40 percent of PCs in small businesses are more than 3 years old, and many are still running Windows XP (which was released about a decade ago and whose support is about to end.)

Techaisle’s research showed that there are five main ways small businesses can benefit from newer PCs, including better security, improved productivity (40% less downtime than older PCs,) often 1.5 times less costly to maintain, they can take advantage of newer applications and enhanced support – all benefits that should save small businesses real time and money.

Looking at specific hardware and software innovations that help make new PCs more efficient and the people that use them more productive, Techaisle pointed out the benefits such as improved graphics, energy efficiency and wireless communication in PCs with faster, multicore processors, including those in Intel’s 2010 Core vPro processor family. Techaisle suggested upgrading to Microsoft’s Windows 7, in particular Windows 7 Professional, rather than Home Premium, for its advantages in stability, security, collaboration, manageability and compatibility with older applications.

We’re glad to see these benefits coming through for small businesses because they helped us build Windows 7 Professional and identify the benefits that mattered most on a variety of new business PCs. Our passion is helping small businesses thrive – we encourage small businesses to go to our Windows for Small and Midsize Businesses site to learn more about Windows 7 Professional.

And if you’re wondering where to find out about the new, hot business PCs available out there – check out our blogs on Dell’s new Vostro 3000 (announced today!), HP’s new PCs for businesses, and Lenovo’s new ThinkPads.

We also want to hear from you how we can take your technology experience to the next level for your business – drop us a note!

As I’ve shared on this blog before, we’re always eager to hear about our Windows 7 customer experiences and how we can improve our support and tools we offer them through their deployment. So today, I’d like to share some insightful findings from a February 2010 report from Forrester Research, written by Ben Gray, “Lessons Learned from Windows 7 Early Adopters,” as well as feedback about our newly announced App-V 4.6 from several Microsoft Valued Professionals (MVPs) at our recent 2010 MVP Global Summit. My hope is that sharing this feedback will better help our other customers during their deployment planning and rollout.

Forrester’s report asked 40 early Windows 7 adopters about their experiences to help IT managers develop their Windows 7 migration strategies. Overall, they found Windows 7 to be a “solid release,” with IT managers all over the world saying the benefits they’re seeing with productivity, security, management and green IT costs are well worth the effort. Customers are experiencing faster startup and shutdown times, more reliable sleep mode and overall stability of the OS, faster access to data and applications through improved search, and a superior mobile and branch office connectivity experience.

Here are a few of the lessons Gray touched on in his report:

• Don’t underestimate the application compatibility challenge: While we’ve done a better job preparing the hardware and software ecosystem for Windows 7, work still remains for IT managers responsible for application inventorying, testing, remediation, and packaging. We offer a number of free tools, such as ACT and MDT 2010, to automate many of these processes.
• Tie the OS upgrade to the natural PC refresh cycle to ensure hardware compatibility: Many IT managers look at hardware and OS upgrades as one in the same, meaning they purchased or leased new desktops, laptops, and netbooks from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others with Windows 7 preinstalled. However, one-fifth of the firms with which Forrester spoke treated Windows 7 as an opportunity to extend the life of their existing hardware by another two to three years because it delivers a lighter and snappier user experience that utilizes resources more efficiently than both Windows XP and Vista.
• Invest in a client management suite to automate the deployment and ongoing management: With the emergence of netbooks and heterogeneous clients, along with the accelerating shift from physical to virtual clients, additional importance has been placed on having the right systems management tools in-house.
• Don’t overthink training, but shrink the delivery time and get creative: Even with all the enhancements and benefits that come along with Windows 7, the user experience hasn’t changed significantly from Windows XP and Windows Vista and shouldn’t require a large effort on training. Still, IT is encouraging users to attend training by shrinking the time required and embracing Web 2.0 delivery mechanisms such as collaboration portals, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and two-minute tips and tricks videos.
• Explore client virtualization as a means to accelerate Windows 7 deployment: Application and desktop virtualization provide a less expensive, less complex migration path to Windows 7. Application virtualization in particular helps to significantly reduce application regression testing cycles and the deployment process, and firms can package their applications in a matter of weeks or days rather than months, with little to no risk. 

Along these lines, we asked several MVPs at the 2010 MVP Global Summit, here on Microsoft campus, what they thought of App-V and what it means for IT Pros during their migration to Windows 7 – see the video below or read more about App-V 4.6 and MED-V 1.0 SP1 RC on the MDOP blog.

Forrester’s findings are in-line with our tips for Windows 7 adoption, particularly as tools like Windows Anytime Upgrade and Windows Easy Transfer make the upgrade process smoother while compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7 remains straightforward. For Windows XP users, the Windows Upgrade Advisor is a valuable tool to determine system requirements before you perform a custom installation (you can find more detailed instructions here on that process, along with an FAQ here. 

Looking for additional background? 

• Read more about Microsoft Services here.
• IT Pros can also visit the Springboard Series on TechNet for a variety of valuable resources.
• Businesses of all sizes can find more information on how Windows 7 meets their specific needs here.
• If you’d like to hear how other customers have used App-V and MED-V, please visit these recent case studies: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Purdue, Bethel Park School District (BPSD), Florida International University, Indiana University, CDW, AppServ and Sporton.

As always, I welcome you feedback and look forward to hearing how your Windows 7 deployment goes.

- Gavriella

This week, the Healthcare IT Conference and Exhibition 2010 (HIMSS) takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, where hundreds of educational exhibits will be on hand to showcase the latest in healthcare technology. While Microsoft is showcasing a variety of new solutions and health applications for improved collaboration with doctors, care facilities and patients (more on the conference here), we also wanted to share a few healthcare customers who are seeing the benefits from Microsoft technology and Windows 7 deployment. Particularly within the high-speed environment of a healthcare facility, boosts in increased productivity, time savings and easier manageability are of utmost importance for staff and the patients they work with – we’re very excited to help make this possible.

Sinofi-avantis: Sanofi-aventis, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, wanted its 100,000 employees around the world to have the most current operating system on their desks so that they could communicate and innovate – which is why they chose Windows 7. Employees will be better able to help the business fulfill its transformation goals by tapping into the latest productivity and collaboration technologies.

Darryl Corum, Senior Director of Client Engineering Services at Sanofi-aventis:

I am convinced that the improved performance of Windows 7, combined with the higher performance of new solid-state disk drives, will drive productivity up and costs down. Startup and shutdown times are greatly reduced, performance penalties from data fragmentation have been eliminated, disk failure rates are expected to be reduced, and lower power consumption results in longer battery life in portable computers. This all contributes to an improved user experience. End users are excited at the increased responsiveness of their PCs.

F. Hoffman – La Roche: Based in Basel, Switzerland, F. Hoffmann-La Roche is a leader in researched-focused healthcare. As part of its IT plan to simplify its computing environment, the company upgraded users’ computers to the Windows 7 operating system. As a result, Roche is benefiting from enhanced IT security, streamlined IT management, increased system performance, and an improved user experience.

Dieter Reichert, Program Manager of Workplace Solutions at Roche:

(With Windows 7) Employees don’t have to worry about manually synchronizing their data—it’s now synchronized automatically, and users have access even when they are disconnected from the network. This is a big win for our users.

Partners HealthCare: Boston’s Center for Connected Health, a division of the Partners HealthCare medical network, recently found they needed to create a flexible technology platform to help patients manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, outside traditional medical facilities. Using a mix of Microsoft products and Software plus Service solutions (with plans to roll out Windows 7 this summer), Partners HealthCare was able to provide a communications gateway for patients and healthcare providers to collaborate on treatment programs.

Douglas McClure, Corporate Manager for Technology and Operations at the Center for Connected Health:

Using software-plus-services, we were able to develop the Connected Health Care Suite relatively quickly without going through a huge, time-consuming evaluation of all the products on the market and trying to figure out how to integrate them into our solution. Instead, Microsoft technologies and the software-plus-services approach allow the CHCS to plug in to existing systems and devices with ease.

RehabCare Group: RehabCare Group, which plans to roll out Windows 7 this year as well, provides rehabilitation program management services for more than 1,200 facilities across the United States with 150 specialized applications and 2,500 desktop and laptop PCs among a highly mobile staff. With Microsoft Application Virtualization and System Center Configuration Manager, RehabCare cut the time for large-scale deployments of new applications from weeks to less than one day, delivered application updates 80 percent faster for a savings of 1,200 IT staff hours per year, improved asset tracking, and enhanced reliability and service for widely dispersed employees. With all this increased productivity, therapists could more easily focus on the most important piece of their day – their patients.

Mike Brimberry, Lead Systems Engineer for RehabCare Group:

Using Microsoft application virtualization and management technologies has had a huge impact. By helping us streamline and strengthen key processes, Microsoft enables us to efficiently handle the needs of a growing business.

For more information on Windows 7 for large, medium or small businesses, check out our business site, or read more enterprise company case studies or SMB case studies. We also have a resource dedicated to IT professionals: the Springboard Series on TechNet offers information, tools and guidance for migrating to Windows 7.

Wow, can you believe it’s already been four months since we launched Windows 7? I wish I could say we’ve all been on vacation, but we’ve actually used much of this time for in-depth conversations with our customers, partners and analysts to find out what they really think of Windows 7 and how it’s influencing their business. I’d like to share what we’ve heard in terms of economic impact and how today’s launch of App-V 4.6 and release of the MED-V SP1 Release Candidate will help customers deploy Windows 7.

Analysts Share TEI Results and Migration Considerations

We asked Forrester to explore the Windows 7 deployments of several enterprises to see what customers can expect to see with Windows 7. Some of their key findings in this Total Economic Impact (TEI) study include:

• Big ROI – the return on investment for customers roughly equates to 129% over three years, with a breakeven point of approximately thirteen months after deployment.
• Cost savings in the time IT spends in application testing, PC deployment and reduced number of help desk calls.
• Improved remote worker experience – users have smoother connectivity and IT has better management.
• Greener PCs – Windows 7’s more efficient use of electricity means lower greenhouse gas emissions and power management savings.

In a webcast this morning, Ben Gray and Jeffrey North of Forrester discussed the results of the TEI study I mentioned a bit ago. Available for replay here, I encourage you to watch to see their analysis of Windows 7 impact and see if your business could be benefitting from Windows 7.

We’ve heard about what our customers who’ve already started the process to deploy Windows 7 think, but what about those that are still considering how they would migrate? A recent IDC study (which will be posted online shortly) has told us that not only will the performance enhancements in Windows 7 change the dynamic of Windows 7 deployments, but that existing hardware can be used for Windows 7 deployment. This is something we’ve talked about before, but the additional research IDC conducted backs up this claim. Key takeaways from the study include:

• Windows 7 can be deployed on existing hardware – no need for costly bulk hardware refreshes, a critically important consideration for those with tight IT budgets, which are most companies right now.
• With Windows 7, IT can quickly diagnose and fix any compatibility issues – tools like the Application Compatibility Toolkit in Windows 7 help inventory apps, assess compatibility and mitigate any incompatible apps.
• Windows 7 presents solutions for apps that only run in Windows XP – virtualization offerings like Windows XP Mode, App-V and MED-V.

For customers who are debating whether or not Windows 7 will be worth the investment, we worked with Alinean to create an ROI Calculator that enterprises can use to find out the savings Windows 7 may offer their company. We recommend you check it out!

How to Think About Optimizing Your Application Migration and Management

As part of our goal to provide guidance on how customers can optimize their desktop, I’d like to delve a little deeper into the best way to optimize application management to help ease the transition to Windows 7. Over the past several years, application portfolios have organically grown and become more and more expensive to service and manage. Many organizations will discover thousands of apps they were not managing – some critical to the health of the organization. The challenge is meeting users’ expectations as efficiently as possible and keeping those processes flexible. 

New technologies like App-V and MED-V (both included in MDOP) combined with System Center Configuration Manager provide new ways to package, deliver and manage locally installed and virtual applications in ways previously inconceivable.  These along with other technologies and best practices form Application Optimization, a term we use to describe a holistic approach to managing your application portfolio, enable testing and mitigating compatibility issues, packaging applications easily for faster delivery to the user, and managing applications pivoted on the user and not the device.

Essentially, Application Optimization helps keep the desktop service more streamlined and modular while adding flexibility to desktop provisioning for Windows 7 roll-outs and beyond. And with the latest virtualization technology, they have options that were not available when they planned their Windows XP deployment 10 years ago, making the job of today’s IT pro a lot easier.

As I mentioned above, App-V 4.6 RTM and MED-V SP1 RC are now available, but what does this really mean? With App-V 4.6,which is available via MDOP 2010, customers can have access to apps from anywhere, improve app delivery and management, and accelerate migration to Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 as virtual apps can be deployed in many desktop scenarios including VDI, TS, and local desktop. Both the Windows and Office teams have collaborated closely to improve Office 2010’s Virtual App experience. App-V can actually expedite the upgrade process to Office 2010 while also providing IT Pros additional time to test and migrate apps that have dependencies on older versions of Office, meaning customers are able to deploy Windows 7 immediately.

Existing MDOP customers can access App-V 4.6 by downloading MDOP 2010 at the Microsoft Volume Licensing Site (MVLS). For IT Pros who’d like to test MDOP 2010 before purchasing, it can be downloaded from MSDN and TechNet. See below to learn more about what we’re hearing from some of our App-V 4.6 early adopter customers.

In addition to the newest version of App-V in MDOP 2010, today we are also releasing MED-V 1.0 SP1 RC, which provides full support for Windows 7. For incompatible apps that cannot be fixed to run natively in Windows 7 or are dependent on Internet Explorer 6, MED-V allows IT to create managed virtual machines running previous versions of Windows and Internet Explorer so users can upgrade to Windows 7. The Release Candidate of MED-V 1.0 SP1 is also available for download and evaluation here. I recommend reading the MDOP Team Blog and Springboard Blog for more details on how App-V 4.6 and MED-V 1.0 SP1 can help customers’ migration to Windows 7 even easier.

It’s been reassuring to see the immediate benefits our customers have realized when using Windows 7 and we will continue to listen to feedback to improve the ever-evolving solutions we offer our business customers. I’m happy to say that based on what we’ve heard, we wholeheartedly recommend that our business customers immediately start testing and piloting Windows 7 along with MDOP 2010 to enable a simple and fast migration!

- Gavriella

App-V Customer Testimony:

Doug Miller, Practice Architect, CDW:

The combination of Application Virtualization, System Center Configuration Manager, and Windows 7 makes for a complete, high-performing application deployment solution. Everything works great together.

Ramon Garo, IT Security Engineer, Florida International University:

Managing a multi-user environment is much easier now. Our turnaround for deployments is faster, staff members have more time to focus on their other IT responsibilities, and users get better service.

Jeron Mehl, IT Manager, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology:

Everyone gets the applications they need regardless of where they are or what computers they are using. In a shared, mobile environment like ours, this is incredibly valuable.

Rick Becerra, Senior System Administrator, University of Central Florida:

Our desktop computer environment is very stable. We don’t have to spend time troubleshooting application-related issues because they just don’t exist anymore.

Janssen Jones, Associate Director, AIT Infrastructure, Indiana University:

This will give employees the chance to become comfortable with the new version at their own speeds. And we won’t have to wait until everyone has been trained and is ready to transition before we deploy Microsoft Office 2010.

Graham Clarke, Managing Director, Appserv:

Using Application Virtualization, we can provide much more responsive service… We can bring new customers on board, and update and change applications for existing customers very quickly.

Ron Reye, Director of Technology, Bethel Park School District:

BPSD has much greater control over its application environment. A virtualized application is a managed application. Using the App-V management console, we have visibility into applications that we never had in the past. This helps us to address issues immediately instead of having to send a technician out to troubleshoot and fix problems.

Last week Steve Ballmer spoke at the Global Energy Forum in Houston, Texas and discussed the ways information technology is used in the oil and gas sector. Specifically, Steve touched on how the industry is impacting the development of new technologies and how existing technologies are aiding the industry’s innovation. Beyond the Global Energy Forum, the world is abuzz with conversations about how energy, oil and gas companies can create solutions that will reinvigorate the state of the industry. As a recent Microsoft News Center release noted, “Wild swings in supply and demand, volatile prices and shifting worldwide energy policies have made exploration and production more complex than ever.”

We’re pleased that Windows 7 is able to reduce headaches for IT Pros in this industry and enable them to improve productivity, enjoy a faster and more reliable management experience, and reduce costs. Check out customers below for more information:

• Moscow Integrated Power Company: Increased Employee Productivity - “Windows 7 and Internet Explorer deployment brings a new level of uninterrupted user support; now we are able to react to any software faults instantly, increasing our service sustainability,” explains Alexander Lebedev, CIO at Moscow Integrated Power Company.
• E.ON: Heinz Kohler, Vice President of Infrastructure for E.ON, says, “With E.ON Standard Desktop Version 3 based on Windows 7 we will give all E.ON market units working in different environments and with widely varying requirements the technology and tools that best support their goal to be amongst the leaders in the energy market.”
• Statoil: Improved Access from Branch Locations - by using BranchCache, workers based in remote Statoil branches will improve their productivity through faster access to resources. With BranchCache, employees at remote offices can access files more quickly than before. “In some of our locations where sufficient bandwidth is not easily available, being able to access a file locally using BranchCache will save our workers time,” says Petter Wersland, Leading Advisor for IT Infrastructure at Statoil. “Employees gain fuller, quicker access to a wide range of internal resources, so they can more fully participate in collaborative initiatives with colleagues worldwide.”
• Public Power Corporation (PPC): Reduced IT Costs - “With Windows 7, we will gain better, centralized control over all our computers so that we can better serve users while maintaining an up-to-date and secure environment,” Head of Office Systems in the PPC Information Technology department, Ioannis Symeonidis says. “We expect to cut our desktop deployment time, and costs, by one-third and thus increase by 50 percent the number of PCs deployed each day.”

For more information on Windows 7 for large, medium or small businesses, check out our business site, or read more enterprise company case studies or SMB case studies. We also have a resource dedicated to IT professionals: the Springboard Series on TechNet offers information, tools and guidance for migrating to Windows 7.

I’m Erwin Visser and I’m the Senior Director for the Windows Commercial Product Marketing team at Microsoft. In my role, I have the pleasure of working with Windows business customers and partners in the Enterprise, Mid-Market and Small Business segments.

Microsoft is at the National Retail Federation Conference & Expo this week, so we thought it would be a good time to talk about what Windows 7 has to offer Retail customers and share stories from some of those who are deploying Windows 7.

In the Retail space, we’re seeing the demand chain replace the supply chain as the main driver, which puts consumers in control and makes the shopping experience an important differentiator. Smart retailers are tracking data to gain insight and deliver an engaging shopping experience across all channels. Windows 7 features enable retailers to make users productive in the store, at headquarters, and on the road. They can enhance the customer experience by bringing new opportunities like multi-touch capabilities to their stores. PC Management becomes streamlined with easy migration options, power saving features, centralized management and virtualization capabilities.

We’ve heard from several of our Retail customers on the benefits they’re finding with Windows 7. If you’re interested in learning more, check out these case studies:

Bergen County Camera: Better Device Management - As a camera store, Bergen Country Camera has continued to put Windows 7 device management through its paces, according to Carl Mazzanti, CEO of eMazzanti, BCC’s IT consultant. Employees are able to connect the cameras to their computers and Windows 7 brings up not just the name and picture of the camera, but provides a menu of camera related items.

Hidrau Torque: Faster File Navigation - Being the largest tractor distributor in Latin America, Hidrau Torque processes thousands of supporting documents that include emails, word files, spreadsheets, and other operational documents. Windows 7 is speeding up the workflow according to Adilson Fernando, IT Manager, Hidrau Torque. “Juggling product documents, price lists and stock availability reports is now significantly easier with Jump Lists, Pinning and Aero Interface features like Snap, Peek and Hover. These features speed up our workflow and help increase personal productivity.”

Ames Golf & Country Club: New OS 30-Percent Faster, More Reliable - According to Cory Strait, general manager, Ames Golf and Country Club, Ames is in a unique position to compare old and new operating systems. "We're now running and comparing three different operating systems. The new OS wins the speed contest delivering a 30-percent faster computing. Windows 7 is the golf equivalent of a hole-in-one." For many small businesses, the ultimate test of new software—especially an operating system—is that it works. "My job isn't computers, it's running a golf course and country club. So far, Windows 7 has been extremely stable and reliable… just what I expected,” noted Strait.

Galaxy Hotel: Continuing Efficiency End-to-End - According to Yogesh Kumar, IT Director of Galaxy Hotel, Windows 7 has become a key component of Galaxy Hotel’s operations, by improving system performance, employee productivity, and information security. “We are seeing efficiency improvements in virtually every facet of our internal operations, from guest registration and check ins, to accounting and IT support – all due to Windows 7,” says Kumar.

For more information on Windows 7 for large, medium or small businesses, check out our business site and click on the size business applicable to you. We also have a resource dedicated to IT professionals: the Springboard Series on TechNet offers information, tools and guidance for migrating to Windows 7.

A month and a half past the Windows 7 launch we caught up with one of our Windows 7 partners, Carl Mazzanti, CEO for eMazzanti Technologies, to hear how small and midsize businesses are benefitting from Windows 7. For more information on how small and midsize businesses are deploying Windows 7, check out this PressPass story and if you’re a small or midsize business you can check out our Windows 7 Business Site for detailed information.

Sandrine Skinner: Tell me about eMazzanti Technologies.

Carl Mazzanti: We work with small and midsize businesses (about 90 percent of our customer base has 100 or fewer PCs) to help them use technology to their best advantage. We operate in the New York Metropolitan area with clients in several countries.

Sandrine Skinner: What kind of demand are you seeing for Windows 7 among small and midsize businesses?

Carl Mazzanti: We already have a thousand-hour backlog of deployment commitments, with many of these already paid for in full. It’s great that the hardware requirements for Windows 7 is the same as it was for Windows Vista – small businesses can really stretch their IT budgets and most people feel like they got a brand new computer when they switched to Windows 7. That said, about half are buying new hardware and there are some cool new PCs out right now for small and midsize businesses. I expect attention will become even more focused on hardware next year.

Sandrine Skinner: What’s the main reason your customers are upgrading to Windows 7?

Carl Mazzanti: The value to the customer is very clear: it helps businesses work the way they want, get more done and it safeguards their work. Every time you save productivity is real money saved for businesses, and this matters in any economy. And for small businesses, we usually recommend Windows 7 Professional – this version offers a good value and the key features small businesses need without paying for features they don’t need. Windows 7 has features like Advanced Backup, Encrypting File System (EFS) for data protection, Location-Aware Printing, the ability to run older productivity applications through Windows XP Mode, and the ability to securely connect to different company networks with Domain Join.

Sandrine Skinner: Can you give us some examples of customers that are benefitting from Windows 7 Professional?

Carl Mazzanti: We have a manufacturing customer with a large sales force – so these guys are always on the go, visiting customers, and they constantly need to connect to a network and also print documents from anywhere (customer’s site, car or home office). Easily connecting to a network, the location-Aware Printing feature and even the Presentation Mode feature in Windows 7 Professional saves them a few minutes in each location and saves them a lot of time in the long run.

Security is another real benefit. With Windows 7, you only start the services you need when you need them (called trigger start services,) so you massively decrease the potential for someone to find a security vulnerability. Windows Defender in Windows 7 Professional helps keep businesses up and running by offering enhanced protection from Internet threats, spyware, and other forms of malicious software. Real estate offices really benefit from this security since they do so much of their business online. Real estate agents go through PCs like they’re going out of style and need their computers to perform. They can’t risk being in the middle of a closing and have their PC go down because of malicious software.

Sandrine Skinner: What do you find most important to small and midsize businesses when it comes to technology?

Carl Mazzanti: Businesses are interested in getting more out of what they already have. The reality is that many businesses need to get more done with less staff and leverage existing infrastructure, and Windows 7 Professional helps them do that.

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As you can see, small and midsize businesses are already reaping the benefits of Windows 7 Professional. Stay tuned for more customer and partner stories.

It’s been a very exciting several of months for us here at Microsoft, and for many of our customers and partners, sharing the excitement of Windows 7. Since its release to manufacturing in July, through this week at TechEd Europe, we’ve had a lot of Windows 7 and MDOP activities, including countless in-person launch events held around the world. We’ve also had an estimated one in two IT Professionals worldwide try Windows 7, we’ve seen hundreds of community led events, and millions of you have visited us on the Springboard Series on TechNet to get information, tools and guidance for migrating to Windows 7.

I have personally visited 12 countries in the last 2 months and had the chance to speak with many customers and partners to learn about your experiences with Windows 7. Several themes are consistent. You tell me your users are incredibly excited about the performance and productivity improvements of Windows 7 and your IT organizations are seeing great value in the enhanced security and management. I am hearing how you can both pull cost out of your organization and provide greater productivity to your users. It is very encouraging to hear this positive impact you’re seeing with Windows 7 in your organization.

You heard from some of our customers during the TechEd keynote, and we thought you might like to hear the experiences of several other customers that we have worked with and how they realized and quantified significant cost savings. We have also included some useful guidance below to help you with your deployment planning

• International energy company Statoil is deploying Windows 7 along with Windows Server 2008 R2 to provide their travelling employees with seamless access, improve information access in their branch offices, and further enhance their IT security. By using DirectAccess, BranchCache, and BitLocker, Statoil is able to provide their users with mobile and remote access as well as the satisfaction that their data is protected. Check out this Q&A with Statoil for more on their Windows 7 deployment.
• F. Hoffmann-La Roche, a Switzerland-based healthcare company, is working towards their goal of deploying Windows 7 to 5,000 of their PCs to take advantage of BitLocker’s ability to protect data stored on hard drives as well as removable USB sticks. Roche is working closely with Microsoft Services to plan and deploy their new Active Directory infrastructure as well as their Group Policy management rollout.
• The Ministry of Defense in the Netherlands is working to upgrade 50,000 of their PCs to Windows 7 through 2010. By starting their application compatibility testing early – on Windows Vista last year – they were able to get a jump start on their Windows 7 deployment plans and begin their pilot of 200 users, who have expressed excitement over the enhanced user interface and their ease of data access wherever they are.

You can hear from more customers during our live monthly Webcasts on the Windows Enterprise website. For more information specifically on cost savings early Windows 7 adopters have experienced, visit the following total cost of ownership studies:

• Getronics is seeing direct IT labor savings of $111 per PC per year
• Baker Tilly is reducing their IT labor costs by $191 per PC per year
• City of Miami is reducing their IT labor costs by $148 per PC per year

So how can we help your organization realize the benefits of Windows 7? Microsoft has an extensive set of partners that are trained and ready to help you with your deployment planning and migration to Windows 7 - since January this year we have trained more than 110K partner individuals on Windows 7 worldwide. These partners can help you assess your readiness for a Windows 7 migration, they are able to help you develop a deployment plan and can provide services to assist you in the deployment, migration and ongoing management and support of your environment.

Additionally, Microsoft Services has consultants and support professionals in 82 countries to help you out. They offer specialized services based on best practices developed in coordination with product groups and early adopter customers to help you test your applications and jumpstart your deployment, including:

• Desktop Planning and Deployment services, which provide a framework for planning and deployment of Windows 7 operating system and desktop applications. It includes planning and architecture design, proof of concept, and pilot deployment that determines the optimal way to deploy Windows 7 and Microsoft Office based on customer business requirements and organizational readiness.
• Microsoft Services Desktop Application Compatibility offering provides an end-to-end application compatibility solution to ensure that business applications and data can be used more effectively in the new desktop environment with Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8 and the latest version of Microsoft Office.
• Desktop Image Engineering creates a standardized corporate desktop image that takes into account hardware, security, performance and localization requirements, in addition to applications, deployment and management. Consultants also give your team guidance on future maintenance and change management.
• Desktop Deployment Jumpstart helps you understand the costs of developing an enterprise-capable desktop, including a current state assessment, gathering requirements, and a gap analysis against a Microsoft referent deployment solution architecture.

What are YOUR next steps? Here’s some deployment planning guidance which might help you:

• If your organization is still running Windows 2000, we recommend that you begin your application testing on Windows 7 and begin your deployment planning.
  • If you’ve already started a migration to Windows Vista, continue that deployment, as it will help you get ready for Windows 7 when the time is right for you.
• If your organization is on Windows XP, we recommend that you also begin your application compatibility testing on Windows 7 and begin your deployment planning.
  • If you’ve already started a migration to Windows Vista, continue that deployment, as it will help you get ready for Windows 7 when the time is right for you.
  • If you’re in the early stages of planning a Windows Vista deployment, we recommend that you test your applications and infrastructure on Windows 7 and our advice is to change to Windows 7.
• If you have just deployed Windows Vista, we recommend that you begin evaluating Windows 7, and consider Windows 7 as you refresh your hardware or deploy it to the users who’d benefit the most from its features.
• Don’t have access to Windows 7 Enterprise edition? If you’re an IT professional and don’t already have access to Windows 7 Enterprise edition, you can download the 90 day evaluation SKU here. This will allow you to begin testing the final released code with your hardware and application portfolio.
• Already running Windows 7? Tell us what you think! You can join the conversation at www.talkingaboutwindows.com.

Today at TechEd Europe 2009, one of our Windows 7 enterprise customers, Petter Wersland, Lead Architect at Statoil, participated in a panel discussion with Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft’s Business Division as a part of the keynote presentation. We caught up with Petter Wersland just before this appearance to get more information on their Windows 7 deployment.

Rich Reynolds: Tell me about Statoil and your role at the company.

Petter Wersland: Statoil is an international energy company based in Stavanger, Norway. We operate in 40 countries with 30,000 employees with an additional 10,000 consultants. With roughly 40,000 desktops under management, we have a significant IT team.

I’m the lead advisor within the IT infrastructure area covering the Windows ecosystem and storage solutions. I’ve been at the company since 1991, covering several positions in IT and Windows infrastructure.

We’re moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 and are looking forward to using the new functionality introduced in Windows 7. We’re preparing a rollout that includes a hardware replacement of most of the PCs in the entire company.

Rich Reynolds: How are you driving productivity in the organization? What results are you seeing with Windows 7?

Petter Wersland: We’re expecting productivity gains with Windows 7 and Unified Communication. The efficiencies we expect include enhancing the end users’ ability to collaborate across the organization and across borders. With Windows 7 we’re seeing three really great benefits: enhanced IT security, faster file access for traveling users within the company, and improved remote connectivity from Internet. For security, we’re implementing the Standard User security level and BitLocker for drive encryption. Because of these features, we’ll be able to eliminate the encryption software we currently use and expect to save $330,000 based on our current number of portable computers.

For our increasingly mobile workforce, we’re taking advantage of DirectAccess. With DirectAccess the users will have a seamless access to corporate services whether the users are connected to the corporate network or connected to Internet. We can therefore eliminate VPN for most users. Also the client management tool we use, System Center Configuration Manager, can maintain the PCs with updates and security patching while they are outside the corporate network.

We’re also hearing from employees that Windows 7 just makes their PCs snappier and more responsive– especially for laptop users. Employees who are already on Windows 7 are telling us that it is easier to move between meetings and start and stop laptops.

Rich Reynolds: What advice would you give to IT Pros?

Petter Wersland: I recommend IT professionals educate themselves on the enterprise functionality in Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and other Microsoft products. Features like DirectAccess, BranchCache, App Locker and other security features are important tools for implementation of Windows and can really benefit your organization.

Rich Reynolds: How do you approach getting approval on new projects? Any lessons learned?

Petter Wersland: In these economic times it is hard to get approval and it takes time for a significant project like this. We have noticed financial restrictions on new projects and in some cases projects have been postponed, but we’re balancing that with investments for the future of our IT infrastructure. For example, the PC replacements we are planning company-wide were originally scheduled for this year, but now we have postponed them to next year. When moving to a new version of the Operating System, you’ll need to plan time for application testing. We have about 1000 applications we support on the Windows Client and all of them needed to go through a formal testing process.

Last month, Gavriella Schuster discussed the features you will see in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2009 R2 and today I’m pleased to announce its availability! Over on the MDOP Team blog, Ran Oelgiesser provided details about what you can expect with the latest release and today he shares some of the customer and partner feedback, so below I’ll just touch on the highlights.

If you’re not using MDOP, we recommend you take another look because it can provide immediate savings with little IT investment, especially when integrated into your Windows 7 plans. For example:

• By using Application Virtualization, you can optimize your Windows 7 deployment by reducing PC provisioning time, simplifying application delivery and update, and increasing productivity with user roaming
• You can enhance your Windows 7 manageability by addressing common system/application failures (with DEM), repairing unbootable PCs (with DaRT), and controlling Group Policy change (with AGPM).

If you are an MDOP customer, you can now download MDOP 2009 R2 through Microsoft Volume Licensing Site (MVLS).  If you want to evaluate MDOP 2009 R2, the MDOP software is available at MSDN and TechNet (in accordance with your MSDN or TechNet agreements, except for AIS).

Beyond MDOP 2009 R2, the MDOP roadmap includes:

1. Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) V 1.0 SP1 – This updated tool will support Windows 7 and enable enterprise deployment of virtual Windows XP environments to support incompatible applications. A Beta version of MED-V 1.0 SP1 will be available by the end of 2009 and final release is scheduled for the first quarter of calendar year 2010.
2. Asset Inventory Service (AIS) 2.0 – AIS 2.0 can track your existing assets to improve Windows 7 deployment planning and will have a series of enhancements that customers have requested: Enhanced hardware inventory, new Silverlight-based user interface, scale to 100,000 PCs, improved volume license reconciliation and ability to track virtual applications. The AIS 2.0 beta is now available (registration closes by October 24th) and the final release will be available in H2 CY2010.

Encouraging feedback

Already MDOP has been licensed for over 21 million desktops worldwide and more customers are looking forward to MDOP 2009 R2 and Windows 7! Below are a few quotes from some of our top customers who are seeing real and immediate value with MDOP:

BMW completed a proof of concept of application delivery with Application Virtualization. “We expect cost savings on desktop support once we start deploying App-V with Windows 7,” said Mr. Bernhard Huber, Head of IT Workplace Systems at BMW. “We are also considering AGPM [Advanced Group Policy Management] and MED-V [Enterprise Desktop Virtualization] at a later stage of Windows 7 deployment.”

Heinz Koehler, VP of Infrastructure for E.O.N., Power and Gas Company with 85,000 desktops that are being upgraded to Windows 7, talks about MDOP: “We also expect to use App-V to help reduce the packaging and testing costs of applications and use MED-V to help resolve any application compatibility issues.”

“…MDOP, specifically App-V, has been a hidden gem our customers have found to help them quickly deploy, and then easily manage and maintain their applications in an efficient manner.  In an economy when they are being asked to do more with less, the timing couldn’t have been better for MDOP 2009 R2 to help our clients meet their IT initiatives…,” said Rand Morimoto, President of Convergent Computing.

In addition, Answers Research recently surveyed 1000 IT pros across five countries (commissioned by Microsoft) and we found out that:

• 66% of MDOP customers deployed three or more of the MDOP products
• 52% of them deployed MDOP across more than half of their PCs
• 94% of MDOP customers said they would recommend MDOP to a colleague
• When comparing MDOP and non-MDOP customers, customer satisfaction with Software Assurance increases by 25%

To sum up, MDOP 2009 R2 is available today and it’s there to help you save money and reduce complexity, especially with your Windows 7 deployment. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this new release!

As you already know, on August 7th we made Windows 7 RTM available to our Volume License (VL) customers who have Software Assurance (SA). Windows Server customers are able to download 2008 R2 as of August 14th and on September 1st, we announced VL customers without SA are able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing. With this broad availability to our business customers, I want to share TCO (“total cost of ownership”) data from early adopters, some feedback from enterprise customers, and advanced companion tools and applications to enable the best experience as businesses deploy Windows 7. We have a lot going on, so read on for all the details.

To support early migration to Windows 7, today we announced on the MDOP Team Blog that we will be releasing Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2009 R2 in late October 2009, which I’ll also talk more about in a bit.

Deployments are happening right now and your company can begin deployment as well! Several of our early adopters are already having great success with Windows 7. I thought I would share some of the TCO findings from studies of three enterprise customer deployments. Customers involved in the studies were:

• Baker Tilly (Professional Services - UK): 2,200 users
• City of Miami (Local Government - US): 2,235 users
• Getronics (IT Services - Netherlands): 14,300 users

Some of the key TCO findings from the studies include:

• Direct cost savings of IT labor dedicated to PC management are expected to be in the range of $89-160 per PC annually. That means IT Pros are saving up to two hours per desktop annually. For companies with several thousand PCs, this frees up a lot of valuable time, allowing IT departments to focus on more mission critical efforts and support their business more efficiently.
• Overall, the $70-$160 in savings per PC annually represents reduction of IT labor costs ranging from a 10-20%. For example, Baker Tilly has been able to re-focus their IT force on strategic projects and estimates they’ll save 18% on PC management costs.
• Companies are realizing power savings with Windows 7 that add to the direct savings in IT Labor. For example, the City of Miami estimates their expected power savings alone ($54 per PC per year) justifies their Windows 7 deployment.
• City of Miami also expects to save big on service desk costs. Previously, the city IT staff had to physically travel to the PC user’s location to resolve support issues. Windows 7 has advanced capabilities such as Remote Desktop, which now help the IT staff to diagnose and resolve issues remotely, saving both travel time and end-user downtime. Built-in features like the Problem Steps Recorder (PSR) have been described as a “nugget of gold in the operating system.” Specifically, PSR helps users communicate problems to the service desk, reducing the need to dispatch technicians to user locations by as much as 90%.

These TCO studies represent a few of our Windows 7 customers. You can find out more by reading the full TCO studies. Here is what other early deploying customers are saying about savings and overall value:

Gokboru Kilic, Client Systems Professional, Turkcell:

We expect support costs to drop by 20 percent with Windows 7.

Andreas Viehauser, Head of Client and Software Management, Raiffeisen Informatik:

We are able to deploy to different computer devices using the same image file—helping reduce deployment time by 60 percent. What used to take three and a half hours now takes as little as one hour.

Miguel Lopez, Project Manager, F. Hoffman LaRoche:

With Group Policies and Windows 7, we’ll have more granular control over our computers and can more easily enforce how we govern our IT environment.

Henk Siereveld, Global IT Director, Bugaboo:

Our users love Windows 7. It provides an easier way of working, the interface is attractive, and it offers more functionality than our prior operating systems.

From an IT perspective, we’ve received positive feedback on the performance and stability. For us, those are the very first things we look for in an OS for Sheraton.

John McConeghey, IT Manager, Pella

We opted to roll out Windows Server 2008 R2 in tandem with Windows 7 because there are synergies that we gain by deploying the two products together.

Similarly, customers who have deployed App-V from MDOP are also seeing significant savings. Our recent App-V Cost Reduction Study shows Microsoft App-V is THE desktop virtualization product that delivers immediate savings on the desktop. App-V is estimated to provide an annual savings of $156 in hard costs and $125 in user productivity, yielding a total savings of up to $280 per PC annually. 

We are happy to see so much excitement from early Windows 7 adopters, showing the real value Windows 7 provides enterprises. We recently asked Forrester to take a closer look at a broad set of enterprise customers to understand the real challenges of enterprises today and what is most important to them. Forrester surveyed over 318 senior IT decision makers and C- level IT executives in the US, Germany and Japan, with 78% of the respondent companies having over 500 PCs.

Key findings from their survey include:

• For 87% of companies, controlling costs is a critically or very important business priority.
• For 84% of companies, improving employee productivity is a critically or very important business priority.
• For 54% of companies, improving employee mobility is a critically or very important business priority.
• For 86% of companies, security is a critically or very important technology initiative.

As such - mobility, employee productivity and security requirements are surfacing as central challenges to the customer’s experience:

These companies support on average 174 Branch offices each; with only 38% of employees on average working in HQ; with 20% of the branch office workers dissatisfied with their access to corporate data.

• 68% of the companies struggle with the inability to manage PCs when those are not physically connected to the corporate network.
• 10% of the helpdesk calls are VPN-related.
• 23% of the helpdesk calls being related to users needing to install applications to do work and 14% of helpdesk calls are caused by users corrupting their systems by installing unauthorized software – overall an industry concern over malware management.

The study confirmed the real challenges of enterprises today which increase companies’ costs each year. With Windows 7 and MDOP, we developed Windows Optimized Desktop to target challenges to help address the customer’s most critical needs. It’s important to note that customers who deploy Windows 7 and MDOP with their existing server infrastructure will be able to expect significant value, user productivity, stronger data protection, and security and PC management. They can also expect automation improvements that can help them save costs and improve efficiency. The great news for customers here is that they do not have big dependencies on other deployment initiatives before they can realize the benefits of their Windows 7 deployment. However, if customers choose to deploy Windows Server 2008 R2 with Windows 7, they can expect even greater cost savings, reduced complexity and increased user productivity.

We also continue to innovate on MDOP to ensure it serves as a valuable enabler to the deployment and management of Windows 7. As I already mentioned, we’ll be releasing MDOP 2009 R2 in late October. MDOP 2009 R2 will add Windows 7 support for all of the tools except MED-V, which will support Windows 7 in the first quarter of calendar year 2010 via MED-V 1.0 SP1. I recommend reading the MDOP Team Blog for more information on MDOP 2009 R2.

Furthering our efforts help companies deploy Windows 7, we recently announced the availability of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010. MDT 2010 is optimized to support Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 deployments, and has built-in capabilities to support customers migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7.

With the release of both MDOP 2009 R2 and MDT 2010, and other resources available on the TechNet and Springboard websites, customers can feel confident about the deployment support available for Window 7.

Now is the time to begin testing and deploying Windows 7 with MDOP and Windows Server 2008 R2!

Last month we made Windows 7 available to customers with Software Assurance and to MSDN and TechNet Subscribers. Today I am happy to announce two more ways for businesses to get Windows 7 for their deployment and evaluation.

Volume License Availability, at a Discount
Starting today, businesses can order upgrades to Windows 7 from a Microsoft Volume License Reseller. This option is for businesses that don’t already have Windows Software Assurance and want to upgrade their existing business PCs to Windows 7. There are two editions of Windows 7 available through Volume Licensing:

• Windows 7 Professional: Designed for small and midsize organizations, Windows 7 Professional provides a PC experience you can count on, helps you get more done, and helps safeguard your work. Today, we are also starting a 15% discount on Windows 7 Professional upgrade licenses that will run until February 28, 2010. Contact your Microsoft reseller to take advantage of this offer and confirm availability in your area (discount is offered on Microsoft pricing to its channel partners; pricing offered by partners may vary).
• Windows 7 Enterprise: If you have an active Software Assurance agreement or purchase one with your Windows 7 Professional upgrade licenses or new PCs with Windows 7 Professional, you can deploy Windows 7 Enterprise. Designed for enterprises and businesses that want to optimize their desktop IT infrastructure, Windows 7 Enterprise will help make users productive anywhere, enhance security and control, and streamline PC management.

Windows 7 will run on most PCs businesses have today. More information on tools to help with your upgrade to Windows 7 is available at www.windows.com/business/upgrade. Additionally, we recommend that customers with Software Assurance purchase the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) to aid in their enterprise OS management. The MDOP subscription currently includes six technologies that help reduce the TCO of a Windows 7 desktop. MDOP simplifies application deployment and lifecycle management and provides a solution for resolving application incompatibility through virtualization. MDOP also increases IT responsiveness and user uptime through robust diagnostics and monitoring capabilities, and increases IT control by providing asset tracking and group policy change management.

Keep in mind that Windows Volume Licensing upgrades are only available for PCs that already have a qualifying Operating System, such as Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional. For a list of qualified versions of Windows 7 operating system licenses, download the Windows 7 and Optimized Desktop Volume Licensing Guide available on http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/how-to-buy.aspx.

Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day Trial
If you are an IT Pro who does not have a Software Assurance Volume Licensing agreement and are not an MSDN/TechNet subscriber, you can download the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day Trial. This is something many of you have asked for as a means to continue evaluating Windows 7 in your environment prior to deployment, and I am pleased to announce that you can download it starting today from the from the Springboard Series site on TechNet. Read all the details about this trial edition in Stephen Rose’s post.

Businesses now have access to multiple resources they can use to plan their deployment or begin upgrading their PCs to Windows 7. Beginning October 22, 2009 all customers will be able to purchase new PCs with Windows 7.

As we’ve been saying for a while, we continue hearing feedback from our customers that they are excited to test and deploy Windows 7. Baker Tilly, an accountancy firm in the UK, has taken this to the next level and has already completed deploying Windows 7 across their infrastructure. I chatted with Simon Harding-Rolls, Director of IT at Baker Tilly, to get more information on their Windows 7 deployment.

Rich Reynolds: What operating system was Baker Tilly using before their Windows 7 deployment?

Simon Harding-Rolls: Windows XP. This formed the basis of what we called "Standard Build 4" which was deployed to all desktops and laptops used throughout the firm. 

We have a policy to standardise and commoditise the provision of IT as much as possible hence the imaginatively named "Standard Build."

Rich Reynolds: Why did Baker Tilly choose to deploy Windows 7?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We needed to change, feeling that there was little more business benefit we could squeeze out of XP. After evaluating the beta versions of Windows 7 we found it to be robust, compatible with the vast majority of our applications and delivering greater performance. This was the platform we needed for (an also imaginatively named) "Standard Build 5."

Rich Reynolds: How many seats of Windows 7 did you deploy?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We have deployed to 2,318 seats over some 30 sites.

Rich Reynolds: When did you complete your deployment?

Simon Harding-Rolls: Deployment was organised by site with the last being "hit" on 17th July.

Rich Reynolds: What version of Windows 7 are you running? Assuming you’re using Windows 7 RC, when will you upgrade to the final version of Windows 7?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We have based our "Standard Build 5" on the Enterprise Edition of Windows 7 and deployed using build number 7201. This contains a number of improvements on the standard RC and was released just in time for us to deploy - but only just! A little midnight oil was required to assimilate it into our build and complete our regression testing. We plan to deploy the final version of Windows 7 during November at the same time we are rolling out Windows Server 2008 R2.

Rich Reynolds: How long did it take you to deploy Windows 7?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We deployed the system to the first site on 22nd June, so the whole task took exactly four weeks.  All the work was done outside of normal office hours so as to minimise the disruption to our users. About three hours of evening effort was required for a site of about 100 users.

Rich Reynolds: I believe Baker Tilly has a strong partnership with Dell; how did this partnership enhance your Windows 7 deployment experience? 

Simon Harding-Rolls: Our relationship with Dell was absolutely crucial in that it gave us access to the technical resources and knowledge we needed to ensure the project's success.

Rich Reynolds: What steps did you take before deploying Windows 7? Any application compatibility testing? Did you have an IT Solutions provider help outline your deployment process?

Simon Harding-Rolls: Preparation started in February and involved detailed planning, prioritising which benefits we were attempting to realise for our users, developing test builds, deploying these to a selection of users representative of the different disciplines within the firm as well as our own formal testing.  Application testing started early by completing the tests and developing regression test plans under Vista. These were then ported to the release candidate when it became available.  We have a long tradition of "self sufficiency" and therefore did not employ an "IT Solutions Provider.”

Rich Reynolds: Did you use any tools to help deploy Windows 7 across your infrastructure?

Simon Harding-Rolls: CA's Unicenter, which we have used for many years.

Rich Reynolds: Did you encounter any issues with your Windows 7 deployment? How did you overcome them?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We didn't hit any significant issues during the deployment itself. This was almost entirely down to the amount of testing we had performed prior to pressing the "green button.” Prior to the deployment there were, as you would expect, a number of issues particularly with the early builds of Windows 7: functionality not behaving quite as expected and some application compatibility issues. The former were overcome with assistance from Dell and Microsoft and the latter issues have mostly been resolved in more recent builds of Windows 7. Where this has not proved possible in the time allowed, we have deployed Terminal Server based solutions as a temporary measure to cover a couple of apps whilst the suppliers are making their software fully compatible.

Rich Reynolds: What benefits are you expecting from Windows 7? Cost savings? Energy efficiencies?

Simon Harding-Rolls: While there will be cost and energy savings, these are not our prime drivers. Windows 7 delivers greater performance and flexibility to our users. That means they can do more, wherever and whenever is most appropriate to meet the needs of our clients.

Rich Reynolds: Have you seen any benefits from your Windows 7 deployment already?

Simon Harding-Rolls: Thus far we have received over 300 emails from users. Over 70% have mentioned improved performance. That's without any prompting!

Rich Reynolds: Are there specific features you expect may save your company money?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We will be deploying DirectAccess, BitLocker and BranchCache later this year. Again, rather than pure cost saving, we will be looking to maximise the performance and flexibility of the system for our users enabling them to be more responsive to our clients' needs.

Rich Reynolds: What is your favourite Windows 7 feature?

Simon Harding-Rolls: As a partner: more productive members of staff. As Director of IT: a system that is manageable. As a user: I just love the uncluttered task bar!

Rich Reynolds: Are you using Windows Server 2008 or planning to migrate to Windows Server 2008 R2?

Simon Harding-Rolls: We are currently using both 2008 and 2008 R2 for specific production tasks. We plan to standardise our estate on R2 with the migration projects currently in development / testing with deployment planned for November.

Rich Reynolds: Are you using Internet Explorer 8?

Simon Harding-Rolls: Yes - and the users love it, both for its speed and tabbed browsing.

Rich Reynolds: What advice would you give to another corporation looking to move to Windows 7?

Simon Harding-Rolls: I'd love to say "go for it,” but every corporation's needs will be different as will their resources. For us, having seen the results of our initial evaluation, the decision was a no-brainer. In our case, programme and project risk was identified as coming from the scale of the enterprise and NOT from the fact that we were deploying new or "bleeding edge" technology.  If you do "go for it,” at the risk of stating the obvious: plan, develop, test, test again and DON’T take steps that are too big – it’s just like climbing Everest really!

Rich Reynolds: Thanks for your time, Simon!

To the other Windows 7 early adopters out there: leave a comment and let us know how you’re deployment is going. We love hearing from you and would be happy to share your story.

Hi, I’m Rich Reynolds and I am the General Manager for the Windows Commercial Marketing organization. I lead the team that drives the marketing efforts for Windows for our business customers across the Enterprise, Mid-Market and Small Business segments, along with IT Pro community engagement.

More than a week ago we shipped the Windows 7 Release Candidate to IT pros and developers, and have been taking in lots of great feedback since then. Our number one priority all along has been to deliver a well-planned, high-quality Windows release that delivers what our business customers want. The team and I have been focused on identifying and building a product that addresses our customers’ needs, and based on customer feedback, we believe we’re on the right track.

Today my boss, Bill Veghte, announced our plans to accelerate the timeframe for making Windows 7 available at retail to all customers in time for the holiday shopping season. With Windows 7 coming soon, I encourage you to download and test the Windows 7 Release Candidate in your environment and let us know your feedback. I talk to customers every day, and I wanted to share a few themes are coming through loud and clear.

Customers are telling us they worry about costs, keeping up with compliance requirements, and about the demands that mobility trends put on their infrastructure as they try to balance users’ productivity with the need to maintain efficiency and security. At its most basic level, they expect an operating system that works great. For an enterprise that means it delivers advanced security and data protection, is easy to deploy and manage, and introduces innovation to make people more productive while also retaining compatibility with hundreds or even thousands of business-critical third-party and LOB applications. Of course, these economic conditions bring unique challenges as well – such as tight budgets, and the need to be as efficient as possible.

From the initial planning of Windows 7 through to delivery of the Release Candidate, we have been deeply engaged with partners and early adopter customers to ensure we are listening to your needs and delivering a high quality product. We are working with early adopters that represent a range of global industries. These include Del Monte, BAA, Transelectrica, Continental Airlines, Pella Corporation, Bombardier Aerospace, the City of Miami, and T-Systems (Deutsche Telekom’s corporate customer unit). Partners like Intel, Dimension Data and Getronics have also helped us develop Windows 7 for their customers and also plan to deploy in their own corporate environments. Overall, we’re hearing good things. Here are a few examples:

• Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Bombardier Aerospace designs and manufactures products in the aerospace and rail transportation sectors. They’re very interested in MDOP and BitLocker – here’s what their CTO, Pietro Greco, has to say: “We are interested in Windows 7 for its enhanced security and improved manageability which will allow us to create a more productive and efficient environment.”
• Pella Corporation, based in Iowa, designs, manufactures and installs windows and doors. They’re moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. Here’s what Jim Thomas, director of IT Operations and Infrastructure, has to say – early in the process – about their deployment: “From initial testing of Windows 7 in our environment, we’ve already uncovered reasons to believe our investments in time and resources for Windows 7 will be worth it.”
• Continental Airlines’ Managing Director, Global Infrastructure, Eric Craig says: “Continental depends upon technology, but we’re not a technology company, we’re an airline.  If my team can provide an easily managed, low cost, and functionally rich infrastructure, then Continental can focus its technology resources on business specific services.  We do this with the most modern Windows environment.”
• The City of Miami is putting Windows 7 through its paces. Like many of our customers, they like the manageability and security features. They recently held a technology day, where they demoed Windows 7 and Manuel A. Diaz, the Mayor of Miami’s question was “How soon can I get it on my desktop?” We hope that’s what a lot of people will be saying soon!

We’re encouraged by the customer and partner feedback we’re receiving and will continue to work hard to deliver a very high quality product that meets our customers demanding business needs.

More customer insight can be found at our Talking About Windows site. Check it out to hear the back stories from the engineers who developed Windows 7, and the early adoption experiences from IT professionals like you. It’s a place for you to find out more about Windows 7, join the conversation and ask questions. We’d love to hear your feedback.

To give you a sense for some of the features are customers are excited about – a customer in the manufacturing industry in Europe was particularly interested in the DirectAccess capability (also delivered via Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, with IPsec and IPv6 implementation). This technology allows users to access corporate resources from the road without having to start a VPN connection. Coupled with Federated Search capability, this customer saw the opportunity to provide easier access to the information that their people need from wherever they are, while at the same time offsetting costs associated with their existing VPN solution today.

From a technology perspective, BranchCache is also getting a lot of attention. A few weeks ago I talked to a big US retailer and they were thrilled about BranchCache. This capability, delivered by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, allows the caching of frequently accessed data locally in a branch office. This reduces user wait time, saves network bandwidth, and reduces the need for servers in multiple branch offices. They liked the idea of their employees spending less time in the office and more time serving customers on the store floor.

And almost universally, business customers are excited about the BitLocker To Go capability. This not only allows users to easily encrypt the USB drives, it also provides an ability to enforce encryption on removable storage devices. A European bank was telling me how excited they are about this capability to protect their data, and they saw the opportunity to offset costs associated with their existing encryption solution.

I’m anxious to hear about your experiences using Windows 7. As you try it out, chime in below and let us know what you think. For business customers who have not yet started, I recommend you download and test the Windows 7 Release Candidate. The final version is coming soon and we want you not only to be excited about it, but prepared. At this site you’ll be able to download the Release Candidate and take advantage of a whole host of tools and guidance for IT Professionals to help you prepare. We look forward to your feedback.

The PressPass Q&A we posted today addressed a number of questions around Windows XP Mode. I wanted to clarify in more detail the differences between Windows XP Mode and MED-V and how specifically MED-V v2, a component of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), adds management to Windows XP Mode.

The main facts:

Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small-business users to run their Windows XP applications on their Windows 7 desktop.

• Windows XP Mode is available for Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Enterprise customers.
• Windows XP Mode combines Windows Virtual PC and a pre-installed virtual Windows XP environment to allow users run many older applications.
• Windows Virtual PC will enable users to launch virtual applications seamlessly from the Windows 7 Start menu.
• Windows Virtual PC includes support for USB devices and is based on a new core that includes multi-threading support.

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) is designed for IT Professionals.

• MED-V enables Virtual PC deployment in larger organizations.
• MED-V provides centralized management, policy-based provisioning and virtual image delivery to reduce the cost of Virtual PC deployment.
• MED-V v1 builds on Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to help enterprises with their upgrade to Windows Vista when applications are not yet compatible.
• MED-V v2 will add support for Windows 7 (both 32 bit and 64bit) and Windows Virtual PC.
• MED-V v2 beta will be available within 90 days of Windows 7 GA.

How MED-V adds management to Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC?

To provide a managed, scalable solution for running virtual Windows XP applications, MED-V addresses many of the IT challenges around deployment and management including:

Deployment – deliver virtual Windows images and customize per user and device settings

• Automate first-time virtual PC setup based on an IT customized script – including assignment of a unique computer name, joining to AD domain
  (for instance: assign the virtual PC a name that is derived from the physical device name or the username to simplify identification and management)
• Adjust virtual PC memory allocation based on available RAM on host, so that the virtual PC does not take significant resources from the user

Provisioning – define which applications and websites are available to different users

• Assign virtual PC images according to users and groups
• Define which Windows XP applications will be available to the user through the start menu
• Define which websites (e.g. internal sites that requires a previous version of Internet Explorer) are redirected automatically to Windows XP

Control – assign and expire usage permissions and Virtual PC settings

• Control the network settings of the Virtual PC (e.g. whether it connects through NAT or DHCP, whether its DNS is synchronized with host)
• Authenticate user before granting access to the Virtual PC
• Set expiration date, after which the Virtual PC is not accessible to the end user

Maintenance and Support - update images, monitor users and remotely troubleshoot

• Update images using TrimTransfer network image delivery – update a master Virtual PC image, and MED-V will automatically distribute and apply the changes to all endpoints
• Centralized database aggregates events from all users, and provides troubleshooting information on malfunctioning virtual PCs
• Administrator diagnostics mode allows faster resolution of Virtual PC issues

Run on multiple platforms – MED-V will work on both Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

Which customers should use Windows XP Mode standalone?

Windows XP Mode standalone is suitable for small and medium business users, who are able to set their XP applications themselves and may or may not have IT Professional staff. Each PC has its own virtual Windows XP environment that is controlled and managed by the end user. Windows XP Mode standalone is not designed for large, centrally managed deployments that have widely deployed business applications that require Windows XP.

So in summary MED-V builds on top of Windows Virtual PC and adds important management capabilities.