7 April 2008
by Paul Kunert
Microsoft’s OEM partners will be hoping that Windows Server 2008 provides a welcome boost to server sales, but resellers do not foresee a customer stampede, especially in light of the difficulties some had with Vista.
Launched last week, the OS includes virtualisation with Hyper-V for the first time and features enhanced security and management functions, which could tempt businesses to migrate from older versions of Windows.
"There are still a lot of customers on Server 2000, and there is no upgrade path to 2008. Server 2003 is pretty dominant, but there is a partner opportunity in helping 2000 users up to 2008," said a Microsoft spokesman.
In the years since Windows Server 2000 was launched, resellers had started to specialise in directory and file and print and were able to add differentiation around the product, he said.
Interest in the latest OS was also expected by Microsoft from those that were selling older products or supporting the large number of non-virtualised X86 servers, said the spokesman.
The launch of Windows Server 2008 is an opportunity for customers to review their hardware platform, said Mike Rodwell, director of corporate hardware at Computacenter.
"But we would not expect a significant number to migrate in the short term until they have had a chance to test it comprehensively," he added.
Gordon Davies, CEO at Adepteq, said some customers had delayed refreshes for Server 2008 and would not be disappointed with the security features in the OS, which allow administrators to allocate and lock down resources to individual profiles.
"However, most customers will not migrate until the OS has been out for some time, but it will provide a much needed boost to server uptake, certainly in the first and second quarters of 2009," he said.
Some customers had such a rough ride with Vista that there may be a more conservative attitude to Server 2008, said Greg Carlow, managing director at Repton. "The difficulties with Vista may make them extra cautious."
