Why Spiceworks’ Survey Offers Hope for Wide Windows 10 Adoption

by Don Reisinger

So far, things are looking good for Microsoft, according to Spiceworks. The company found that 96 percent of IT professionals have at least some interest in Windows 10, and nearly half are “extremely” or “very” interested in the operating system.

Despite the interest in Windows 10, Spiceworks found that 69 percent of IT professionals will adopt Windows 10 on as-needed basis. In other words, they will adopt Windows 10 as they acquire new hardware or when they have to support upgraded applications.

One of the main drivers for adoption will be software. In fact, 42 percent of IT professionals say that as soon as their mission-critical applications are supported by the new operating system, they’ll jump to Windows 10. That provides plenty of incentive for Microsoft to woo corporate and commercial app developers.

When Spiceworks dug deeper into reasons for switching to Windows 10, it discovered that two-thirds of respondents said end-of-useful life support for hardware and apps would be a driving force for adoption. New features built into Windows 10 are enough for 49 percent of IT professionals to make the leap.

The Start button was viewed as the “most enticing” Windows 10 feature, with 64 percent of respondents saying they’re looking forward to it coming back. Microsoft wanted to kill the Start button at one time. Now, it needs this simple feature more than ever.

Freebies are very appealing to the enterprise, according to Spiceworks. More than half of IT pros—55 percent—say that the offer of free Windows 10 upgrades is enticing. About two-thirds of respondents indicated that the free upgrade to Windows 10 made them more likely to upgrade to the upcoming operating system.

So, when will IT actually deploy Windows 10 across the enterprise? Just 5 percent of IT professionals say they’ll deploy the OS at launch, but 35 percent expect to take the plunge within the first year. Within two years, 73 percent of companies will have deployed Windows 10, according to the data.

No surprise here, but the top concern among 79 percent of IT professionals is Windows 10’s compatibility with existing hardware and software. Another 65 percent of respondents said that they might hold off on a quick adoption to see if there are major bugs in early releases.

Before any company decides to deploy Windows 10, some boxes need to be checked. For one, 68 percent of IT professionals say the operating system must be stable, while 62 percent indicated a need for application compatibility. About half of the respondents said Windows 10 security will ultimately be a driving force in whether their companies deploy the new OS.

When asked where they plan to put Windows 10, half of respondents said that they will deploy the operating system on tablets. A surprisingly high number of IT professionals—31 percent—said that they would also use it on smartphones. This might suggest that Windows 10 could actually grab some mobile market share from iOS and Android.