Windows 8: 10 Reasons Enterprises Won’t Deploy It

by Don Reisinger

Productivity is extremely important in the corporate world. If employees are getting their work done in a timely fashion, allowing them to do more in a day, their employers are happy. If employees are unable to get work done, however, companies are displeased. Just about everyone who uses Windows 8 says that it takes time to learn to use the revised interface, effectively hurting productivity. Neither business managers nor IT managers want any part of that.

Microsoft has been touting its design achievements in Windows 8, but it’s hard to say that the company’s tile-based look and feel is really all that effective. For people who are used to the Windows of old, Windows 8’s window-less design doesn’t make all that much sense.

Vendors seemingly don’t care about Windows 8. Every single major vendor—including Dell, HP and Lenovo—is allowing customers to buy Windows 7 PCs and is hardly promoting Windows 8. If the PC makers know Windows 8 is a problem, why should the enterprise play nice with Microsoft?

Microsoft rejects the idea that Windows needs to be changed in a dramatic way. However, the company’s upcoming Windows 8.1 upgrade, which has some enhancements, still features the same basic design. For the IT side, that’s a major red flag. Companies around the globe want to know that their vendors are listening to their concerns and addressing them. Microsoft doesn’t seem to be doing that, which gives enterprise customers all the incentive they need to stick with the operating system they know and like.

It’s also important to point out that Windows 7 is by no means obsolete. Every device available right now has no problem running Windows 7 and its design makes it easy for employees to get work productively. Until Windows 7 becomes an issue, it makes no sense for the enterprise to jump at Windows 8. These days, desktop operating systems are so advanced and so stable there isn’t a big productivity incentive to upgrade to an entirely new edition just because Microsoft has released one.

Developers are having a bit of a tough time appealing to Windows 8 customers. They’re finding that trying to make their applications fit into the new design is awfully costly and time-consuming. With Windows RT now in the mix, getting their programs to every possible Windows customer is difficult. Developers really need to catch up before Windows 8 can be an enterprise favorite.

In an odd turn of events, Apple has been able to make some inroads into the enterprise with its Macs. Companies around the globe are finding that OS X is quite secure and enhances productivity in some cases. Many employees feel at home with Mac OS X’s tighter integration with iOS. Maybe OS X isn’t such a bad option for many enterprise customers.

In addition, companies are discovering that Apple’s Mac line delivers outstanding products. The typical HP or Lenovo machine is a dime a dozen. A Mac, however, typically delivers more power, has more going for it in the design department, and comes with enough enterprise controls on its operating system to make it a suitable choice for IT. Apple’s Macs can’t be discounted.

Considering the fact that employees are content with their current computers and tablets, enterprise customers are finding that it’s better to spend IT budgets on other solutions, like cloud-based platforms, than anything from Microsoft. Companies have a finite budget, and with cloud platforms offering so much in terms of productivity, it only makes sense for them to opt to spend their cash on those solutions, rather than an operating system that has yet to prove its value.

The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend might just be one of the most intriguing reasons Windows 8 is having trouble entering the enterprise. Employees are bringing their own products from home into work and completing their daily tasks with those devices. A surprisingly high number of those people are using alternatives, like Macs and iPads, to replace the Windows PCs their companies gave them previously. With BYOD saving companies so much money, it only makes sense that the IT side is letting employees do what they want.