Canadian Study Reveals Windows174 2000 Operating System Adoption to Increase in 2001
The study, Charting the Desktop and Network Operating System Market in Canada, conducted by the Ipsos-Reid Corp., found that despite the slowdown in PC sales, Canadian organizations plan on staying at the forefront of information technology.
"The future looks bright for Microsoft as its operating system market share will likely remain strong since the vast majority of upgrades will be to Microsoft174 software OS's," says Chris Ferneyhough, Vice President, Ipsos-Reid. "In addition, Windows 2000 Server will also expand market share in the coming year as a sizeable proportion of new servers and upgrades are expected to take advantage of this reliable enterprise network"
According to the study, 51 per cent of IT decision makers will upgrade their existing desktop OS's and 74 per cent of those organizations will be upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional within the next 12 months. When asked, those surveyed cited reliability (43 per cent) as the main benefit they expect to gain from Windows 2000 Professional. Other benefits expected from the upgrade are security (26 per cent) and manageability (21 per cent).
"This study shows that Microsoft Windows 2000 platform continues to be well positioned to meet the demanding needs of the enterprise," said Erik Moll, Marketing Manager for the Windows Platform at Microsoft Canada Co. "With this technology, customers and partners can create end-to-end solutions to win in a changing industry, where business agility and the use of information technology to drive revenue and profit growth are critical,"
The study also looked at the adoption and current strong positioning of Microsoft's Server OS products, Windows NT174 operating system Server and Windows 2000 Server. According to the study, 53 per cent of Canadian organizations are running Windows NT Server as their primary OS, which is more than double the market share of the next closest non-Microsoft competitor. Of the companies surveyed, 35 per cent that said they would be purchasing new servers said they will migrate to Windows 2000 Server, approximately double the number of the closest competitor.
hbc.com, the online retail store of Hudson's Bay Company, is a prime example of a company dedicated to using the best technology that has migrated to the Windows 2000 Server Platform to provide the back-end reliability it needs to services its large base of customers.
"We chose the Windows 2000 Platform because it affords us the reliability and availability we need to keep hbc.com up and running 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Tim Reid-Wilkinson, e-commerce Systems Manager, hbc.com. "Windows 2000 Server not only meets our needs, it has given us significant return on investment and is extremely scaleable, allowing us the opportunity to increase our back-end functionality as demand requires."
Results also indicate that Microsoft enjoys a solid position in the e-mail and collaboration market and that Microsoft SQL(TM) Server is the most popular multi-user relational database on the market today. Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook174 messaging and collaboration client are among two of the top three standard programs, and are considered to have the most momentum going forward. Microsoft SQL Server is installed at 53 per cent of organizations surveyed.
Methodology
Microsoft Canada commissioned Ipsos-Reid Corporation to track desktop OS and server OS inventory among medium (customers with 50-500 PCs) and large (customers with more than 500 PCs) organizations. Interviews were conducted between December 4th and December 28th 2000 via telephone with IT decision-makers across Canada in organizations with no fewer than 50 PCs.
About Ipsos-Reid
Ipsos-Reid has been tracking public opinion around the world for more than 20 years and has become a leading provider of global public opinion and market research to private, public and not for profit organizations in over 50 countries. With more than 1,300 staff in 11 cities, Ipsos-Reid offers clients a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus and online research products and services. It is best known for its line of Express opinion polls, the World Monitor public affairs journal, and The Face of the Web, the most comprehensive study of global Internet usage and trends. It is a member of Paris-based Ipsos Group, ranked among the top ten research groups in the world.
About hbc.com
Launched in November 2000, hbc.com is the newest retail business of Hudson's Bay Company. As the online shopping partner of the Bay and Zellers, hbc.com offers a selection of products from the Bay and Zellers including home decor, toys, baby needs, fragrances and gifts. Customers around the world can now conveniently shop online at hbc.com and have their order delivered anywhere across Canada.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and Outlook are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information please contact:
Erik Moll
Microsoft Canada Co.
(905) 568-0434 ext. 4526Jackie King
Hill and Knowlton
(613) 786-9936Chris Ferneyhough
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900
