UK businesses don't like Vista

UK firms show little enthusiasm for the Windows Vista operating system, with nearly six out of 10 businesses saying they have no plans to deploy it, research has revealed.

A survey of 100 IT directors and chief technology officers at UK companies employing more than 1,000 staff found that just 1 percent intended to implement Vista immediately, while 58 percent were not planning to roll out the new operating system.

Vista was even less popular at larger enterprises employing more than 3,000 staff, where 68 percent of respondents said they had no plans to deploy Vista, the research carried out by analyst Vanson Bourne for applications migration specialist Camwood found.

The lack of enthusiasm was reflected in the fact that few organisations had a Vista migration strategy in place. The survey found that 78 percent of respondents across all industrial sectors had no migration strategy, with the proportion rising to 80 percent among financial institutions and 96 percent in the retail, distribution and transport industries.

Problems of compatibility between Vista and businesses’ existing applications were the most frequently cited reason for not adopting the new version of Windows, with 58 percent of those polled saying this was a very important factor. Cost was cited by 39 percent, while complexity of implementation was mentioned by 23 percent of respondents.

Camwood chief executive Frank Foxall said: “We were fascinated and surprised by this research: it certainly shows that companies will migrate to Vista, but it will take time and there’s a huge amount of preparation and planning that needs to take place.”