CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One year after the release of Windows 10, most North American businesses have yet to embrace the security and productivity upgrades of Microsoft’s latest operating system – this according to recent TechCheck™ IT asset management analysis by Softchoice, a leading North American IT solutions and managed services provider. Softchoice’s evaluation of more than 400,000 Windows-based computing devices at 169 organizations reveals less than one percent were running on Windows 10.
“It appears businesses are hesitant to take advantage of the various Windows 10 upgrades and, at least for now, are satisfied with Windows 7,” said David Brisbois, Softchoice’s Senior Manager of Assessment and Technology Deployment Services Consulting. “Historically, OS upgrades have been viewed as major time and resource-consuming undertakings, and this may be influencing the decision today to hold off on Windows 10.”
Microsoft describes Windows 10 as “the most secure Windows ever built,” with more comprehensive, built-in user authentication, firewall, anti-virus and anti-phishing technologies. It also boasts productivity tools, including touchscreen capabilities and Cortana – Microsoft’s new virtual personal assistant. Yet, Softchoice's TechCheck™ analysis finds the vast majority of North American businesses adopted Windows 7 as the corporate platform-of-choice – since moving away from Windows XP – and have yet to move in significant quantities to newer versions Windows 8 or 10.
Softchoice’s award-winning TechCheck services provide a fast, efficient and cost-effective way for organizations to understand the current state of their technology assets, and reduce cost and risk across their technology spend. As a leading North American provider of IT solutions and managed services, Softchoice offers state-of-the-art configuration, imaging and asset management services to help organizations deploy or upgrade to Windows 10. With over 150 dedicated Microsoft pre-sales, licensing and system engineers, Softchoice has worked with customers in both the private and public sectors to evaluate, optimize and deploy Windows 10 to thousands of computers and mobile devices – taking this work off the plate of internal IT teams.
Highlights from Softchoice’s TechCheck™ analysis includes:
- Softchoice evaluated 402,814 Windows-based computing devices at 169 organizations across the U.S. and Canada (from Jan. 1, 2016 through May 31, 2016).
- 0.75 percent of the Softchoice scanned devices were running on Windows 10 (2,999 devices)
- 91 percent were running on Windows 7 (an increase of 18 percent over the same period in 2015).
- 5 percent were still on Windows XP (a decrease of 20 percent from the same period in 2015).
- 4 percent of devices were on Windows 8 (up 2 percent from 2015).
- The enterprise segment has been the slowest adopter of Windows 7. Softchoice’s TechCheck™ analysis found enterprises still had the largest deployment of Windows XP. However, there was a 29 percent drop in the OS from 2015 to 2016.
“It seems businesses don’t see an urgent need to move operating systems, so long as their cloud-based applications are still running fine on Windows 7,” said Craig McQueen, Director of the Microsoft Practice at Softchoice. “In addition to the security benefits, I think once organizations grasp the user benefits – such as touch and Cortana – we will start to see a boost in adoption.”
About Softchoice
As a leading North American provider of IT solutions and managed services, Softchoice combines the efficiency and reliability of a national IT supplier with the personal touch and technical expertise of a local solutions provider. Softchoice's holistic approach to technology includes solution design, implementation, asset management and cloud services, as well as access to one of the most comprehensive and cost-effective technology distribution networks in North America. With over 1,300 employees, Softchoice manages the technology needs of thousands of corporate and public sector organizations across the United States and Canada.
