Microsoft Suggests Move to Win 7 Due to High XP Support Cost

IDC has released the results of a Microsoft-commissioned study that lays out the reason why businesses should switch to a newer operating system, such as Windows 7.

It all comes down to dollars, and the IT labor and productivity cost factors associated with it. According to the market research firm, a five-year old system will cost an organization $766 per year in IT labor and $324 in productivity, while a two-year old system will result in $451 and $177, respectively.

IDC found that a move to Windows 7 will save 82 percent of time required for patch management for Windows XP. Windows XP requires over five times more hours per PC per year of patch management than Windows 7, the firm said. In aggregate, Windows 7 delivers 70 percent of time savings associated with tech support. In terms of downtime and helpdesk support, time savings are 79 percent. On average, 11.3 hours of time need to be spent on a Windows XP PC per year, while Windows 7 requires only 2.3 hours of investment by helpdesk staff. End users are likely to only use 1.2 hours of time with their PC per year - and 9.0 hours with Windows XP.

The improvement in Windows 7 tech stability allows companies to free up one full-time IT worker from tech support issues for every 230 PCs, IDC said.

In plain ROI terms, IDC estimates that the average corporate Windows 7 PC was purchased for $712 and delivered savings over Windows XP of $1,685 in reduced IT labor support and lost productivity over three years. As a result, Windows 7 was found to bring a 137 percent ROI per year.

The study was focused solely on Windows XP and Windows 7, with little impact on Windows 8. Windows XP is close to 11 years old and Microsoft has a clear interest to move its customers to a newer generation operation system. The message to corporate buyers is to replace XP now and not delay purchases any further. In terms of Windows 8, IDC says that no spike in sales is expected in the near future.

As qualification cycles take place and deployments are planned, no significant Windows 8 installations are predicted to happen before 2013 or 2014, according to IDC.