Gearing Up for Windows 7

There's newfound optimism in the Microsoft channel community as partners gear up for Windows 7 and build a roadmap to satisfy pent-up customer demand for operating system upgrades. While not revolutionary, the latest OS from Redmond is getting thumbs up from industry experts who believe it offers solution providers a new set of talking points, as well as new sales and service opportunities with SMB and enterprise customers.

"Anytime a Microsoft operating system does well, it helps us," says Andrew Brust, chief of new technology at twentysix New York, a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner specializing in designing custom applications, business intelligence systems, and portals.

Brust speaks from experience having run the beta version of Windows 7 on an inexpensive netbook as well as a three-year-old notebook. "Windows 7 smoothes out the bumps that Vista introduced and it scales well—both up and down—on new hardware and on old," he says.

The next generation OS from Microsoft builds on the vendor's Vista operating system and boasts improved security, reliability, networking, and user experience with the support of multi-touch capability. Equally important to channel partners and their business customers is the integration between Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, which provides access to advanced features such as DirectAccess and BranchCache that address fast and safe access to corporate data when on the go.

DirectAccess links users to corporate resources from the road without a virtual private network (VPN) and BranchCache makes it faster to open files and Web pages from a branch office. Both features are included in Windows 7 Enterprise and Ultimate Editions.

Having made key investments in Windows 7, Microsoft is paving the way for partners to offer a strong foundation for addressing the enhanced computing needs of their customers' end users and IT staff.

In preparation for the release of Windows 7, reportedly before year-end, solution providers are advised to get up to speed on the new operating system if they haven't already done so, and take the beta release on a road test. Channel partners will also want to take advantage of Microsoft's online partner resources for training, deployment, and sales and marketing.

In order to know where you're going, you've got to understand what you've got. Microsoft's Gear Up toolkit is a good place for partners to get started. It outlines the value proposition of Windows 7 for business customers, summarizes the customer experience, and answers basic questions for partners about upgrading customers to Windows 7.

For example, while DirectAccess and BranchCache are two key productivity enhancements to the new OS, additional features such as streamlined PC management, and security and control enhancements such as BitLocker and BitLocker to Go, will also boost the value proposition of Windows 7 to customers.

New scripting and automation capabilities based on Windows PowerShell 2.0 are now available in the client operating system, and can reduce the cost of managing and troubleshooting PCs.

On the security front, Dan Blum, senior vice president and principal analyst at Burton Group, says that security features such as BitLocker, which is available in Vista, is more robust in Windows 7, allowing drive encryption on any drive.

"BitLocker To Go is new to Windows 7 and provides encryption of removable storage devices, which is important to companies looking to avoid data breaches when an employee loses a laptop or USB flash drive," he says.

Other features upping the security equation on Windows 7 are AppLocker, which allows administrators to control the software allowed to run on PCs through centrally managed but flexible Group Policies; and Windows Filtering Platform with improved APIs for configuring the firewall in third-party applications.

While some of these features are available in Vista, it's vital that channel partners be able to articulate the significant improvements Microsoft has introduced in Windows 7.

Ready to Roll
To get to a post-Vista world, perception is everything.

"Windows 7 is a good thing given the bad rap Vista got in the marketplace," says Jeff Dettloff, president and chief problem solver at Providence Consulting Co., a Lansing, Mich.-based Microsoft Certified Partner.

Today, both Dettloff and Brust recommend Vista SP1 to customers who are buying new hardware, especially if they have an eye towards Windows 7. "When Windows 7 becomes available, they'll be able to upgrade," says Dettloff.

For target customers, partners can deploy Vista SP1 and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) today and gain an advantage when moving to Windows 7 by easing the migration of settings and applications.

MDOP is available through Microsoft Software Assurance that also provides upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise Edition when it becomes available.

Paul DeGroot, research vice president for channel and licensing at Directions on Microsoft, an independent research company focusing exclusively on Microsoft located in Kirkland, Wash., says channel partners need to understand the different Windows 7 business options: Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise, as well as how Microsoft makes upgrades available, i.e., through volume licensing and Software Assurance.

He also notes a limited time (Feb. 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009) promotional offer Microsoft makes available for volume licensing that allows customers who purchased Windows Business or Professional Licenses with new PCs through OEMs after July 31, 2008 but more than 90 days prior, to acquire Software Assurance coverage for those licenses. The promotion is applicable for specified programs and Windows programs.

"This is an opportunity for channel partners to go to their clients who bought a PC with Vista on it since last August and sell a two-year Software Assurance License plan, which will entitle them to upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise Edition," says DeGroot, adding that this offers customers an inexpensive way to migrate to Windows 7.

While partners will have to boost many customers over the Vista hurdle, it's worth noting that Microsoft announced that Windows 7 customers will be able to downgrade to Windows XP. But let's not fool anyone—XP is an eight-year-old operating system that's in an extended support phase.

It's time to move forward. Thus far, industry consensus is that in Windows 7 Microsoft engineered an OS that's solid, stable, reliable, and runs on existing hardware. Expect Windows 7 to propel organizations to move ahead with hardware and software upgrades that were postponed to avoid Vista or because companies were squirreling away cash waiting for the economy to improve.