Microsoft has left IT directors frustrated and angry
after its initial attempts to explain its decision to make its
Software Assurance licensing scheme compulsory for organisations
that want to use the enterprise version of Vista, the next Windows
operating system.
In briefings last week, it offered no clear guidance to IT
directors wanting to know how the enterprise version of Windows
Vista would be made available to firms if they rejected its updated
Software Assurance licensing programme.
Those that are not signed up to the controversial scheme will
miss out on several bundled software tools that offer significant
business benefits.
David Roberts, chief executive of the Corporate IT Forum, which
represents 150 blue-chip and public sector organisations, said he
had been frustrated by a dedicated webcast arranged by the group
with Microsoft to discuss the licensing update, in which
insufficient time had been given to answering user questions.
"Organisations are not in a position to give a considered
reaction to the recent announcements," he said.
The group will hold a workshop "to help deliver a corporate
perspective by examining new SA against real-world, large-scale
business requirements", he said.
CIO Connect, the IT directors' group, has also said it plans to
discuss SA when it next meets.
Microsoft maintains that the revamped SA programme "does not
signal a change in how Windows will be made available to our
business customers looking for a professional version".
It initially said Vista Enterprise would offer "exclusive"
benefits to Software Assurance customers, which would offer "major
advantages in terms of driving down the overall cost of PC
deployment and management in sophisticated IT environments".
* Microsoft founder Bill Gates will be guest
speaker at a British Computer Society Elite Group of IT directors
next month.
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Vista Enterprise: what's in so far
- International business users can integrate all languages on a
single hard-drive image
- A legacy hardware management tool, Fundamentals for Legacy
PCs
- Virtual PC Express, to run legacy applications on a virtual
machine
- Full Volume Encryption to enhance protection of sensitive
data
- Vista Enterprise will also support hardware data
encryption