Windows 7: Innovation and IT

The changing nature of work has put an increased demand on today’s IT professionals. To help ensure their organizations’ technology infrastructure can support enhanced levels of productivity and adapt to the needs of an increasingly mobile workforce, IT pros need an operating system that is flexible and secure enough to support these business requirements. In addition, any new OS should balance a strong value proposition with innovative features that enhance productivity. It’s a tall order no doubt.

The Windows 7 operating system was specifically designed with these user concerns and issues in mind. Responding to customer feedback, Windows 7 has a number of innovative features designed to help IT pros adapt to growing business demands for productivity, security and flexibility.

A recent survey conducted by ScriptLogic—a software developer specializing in Windows management software— /recently reported that from the 1,100 IT pros surveyed, 41 per cent indicated they already have plans to deploy Windows 7 by 2010—only 14 months after its release. Considering most organizations wait until SP1 before deploying a new operating system, this percentage is quite substantial.

With this in mind, here are three reasons why organizations should look to migrate to Windows 7:

1) Boost productivity while away from the office

Today, more and more employees are now mobile to some extent—working from home, at branch offices or on-the-go. Windows 7 helps staff stay productive no matter where they’re located, or where the data they need to work effectively is hosted.

With Windows 7’s new feature, DirectAccess, workers who have Internet access can connect to their corporate network without the need for multiple layers of security. This means employees working in a public area can securely connect to the Internet using public wireless access and start working as if they were in the office. This feature allows users to access a range of office tools, including corporate e-mail, intranet sites, shared drivers and line-of-business applications. By helping ensure employees have secure, reliable access to all the corporate resources they need means they can stay productive while working outside of a traditional office environment.

2) Enhanced security

Windows 7 has powerful security features that help ensure company data remains secure for both office-based and mobile workers. These features are designed to help organizations reduce the risk of losing critical computer data or external hard drives.

For example, the BitLocker Drive Encryption feature of Windows 7 encrypts external USB drives and hard drives and provides recovery keys so that data is accessible whenever it’s needed. For organizations that require the highest levels of security compliance, IT pros can also use the AppLocker feature, which helps provide flexible security protection against malware and intrusions.

3) Better user experience

In response to customer feedback, Microsoft made the features of Windows 7 more useable and manageable to help enhance user experience. The usability of Windows 7 helps IT pros manage and deploy desktop computers, portable computers and virtual environments. It also offers advanced image management and deployment tools that allow IT pros to easily add, remove, and report on drivers and language packs, and make updates using less network bandwidth. Additionally, desktop management is streamlined, helping busy IT staff spend less time deploying Windows 7 and keep it running smoothly.

With an enhanced UI and more user-centric capabilities that allow the operating system to be more customizable and innovative, Windows 7 is geared towards helping IT pros meet today’s business needs for improved worker productivity – while ensuring maximum security for the IT network. For more information on upgrading to Windows 7, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/canada/windows/windows-7/.

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