Advice for Windows 8 launch strategy: Target SMB first
Summary: Microsoft will have a big task convincing large companies and consumers to embrace the newness of Windows 8. The SMB should be the target at launch.
Image credit: Brooke Crothers/ CNET
Windows 8 is not released yet but it is already something you either love or hate. The redesigned Metro interface invokes either thoughts of delight or horror depending on how each person views the sleek, modern design. Convincing folks to upgrade to Windows 8 will be a monumental task for Microsoft, even harder than most new versions. It might be a good strategy to target the small/medium business (SMB) first to get Windows 8 rolling.
Microsoft is taking the scattergun approach with Windows 8, supporting desktops, notebooks, tablets, hybrids, and possibly new formats. The Windows RT version for ARM-based devices will be aimed at consumers, which will initially be a hard sell.
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Early sales of most new versions of Windows come through the sale of new computers. That will almost certainly be the case with Windows 8, and the source of most early sales to consumers. There is no indication that Windows RT tablets and the like will initially be big movers in the consumer space, so Microsoft should go after the SMB market.
A well-designed campaign at Windows 8 launch targeting small and medium businesses will end up pushing all of the computer formats Microsoft wishes to hit. Redmond should work closely with OEMs to offer total computing solutions for those companies, integrating desktops, notebooks, and tablets.
Small businesses in particular will be a good fit for Windows RT tablets; the BYOD movement should help that along. The SMB market can support desktop, notebooks, tablets, and all formats of Windows 8 devices. Targeting it first can get Windows 8 in users' hands, something that will be critical to build up interest for the consumer market.
It might be easier to get Windows RT tablets into the small business than in consumer's homes. It will be easier to make a usage case for the workplace for them. Tablet users will end up shuttling them between work and home, so the benefits to both will be exposed. Marketers should be able to take advantage of this to get the word out to eventually get the consumers at home.
Large enterprises usually take a long time to upgrade to new versions of Windows, and the totally new design of Windows 8 will probably make that cycle even longer than usual. Smaller operations will be easier to penetrate, and hopefully the big boys will follow. That's my advice to the folks in Redmond.
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Talkback
Nope, SMB won't like this one.
Yep,
SMB has neither the time or the expertise
Windows 8 on an x86 tablet will most likely cost more than ARM tablets and low end notebooks. PC monitors will need to be replaced with monitors that support touch and don't have a raised bezel. SMBs won't be able to justify the additional expense.
Microsoft needs to provide a compelling use case.
Most consumers don't know Windows 8 exists. Let them be the guinea pigs. They'll never know what hit them.
Not downgrading to windows 8
They're not going to.
The desktop PC is no longer king, and it's time for a single, device neutral OS.
How do you know?
[i]The desktop PC is no longer king, and it's time for a single, device neutral OS.[/i]
No it's not, but we also know you have sales here to shill so we'll take that into consideration.
Can anyone benefit from Windows 8?
I can say for certainty that the average consumer will no doubt fill up support lines with questions about how to do basic things in Windows 8. Even if you have been using Windows since 3.1 like me. Windows 8 is not intuitive and has a learning curve.
Yes you can
Sort of agree.. but..
However not many end users are going to appreciate the true stars of this upgrade. Many will only see the surface (the user interface), which is meeting resistance where it's new (Metro) and indifference where it's not (Desktop)
No to Touch Screens
Prolonged use led to either shoulder pain, or long term headaches.
Long and short of it was that in a desktop work environment on a desk, you either place the monitor close enough that you strain your eyes resulting in a headache, or you push the monitor far enough back that constantly reaching with your arm introduces "carnal tunnel" for the shoulder.
I'm sure with a laptop it is good, but not with desktops.
People aren't going to gorilla arm all day
Another excuse to fight the arrogance of monopoly.
Skydrive integration?
Maybe
Good point...
Apple has something like 8% - 10% desktop OS share? Imagine the backlash for the company with 90% share.
metro sucks
Ugly?
Metro on my Windows Phone is gorgeous and I love it. Windows 8 on Desktop may not be for the traditionalist. But as technology evolves, having a touch/gesture based desktop will become the norm.
Microsoft designed Win8 the way it is for a reason. They researched their users, and guess what, the majority of users just browse the web and other basic functions on a computer. They don't really need a "Desktop." Immersive apps and live tiles make sense for them.
MS researched users must not be of this planet.
Being showing my clients Win8 preinstalled on laptops to preview what is coming down the pipe later this year.
Not an exaggeration, but 99.99% think it's ugly and only want the desktop (IE, ask if they get Win8 if I can get rid of Metro for them).
My business has been briskly picking up as these clients are telling me to upgrade or tell me to come up with a plan to upgrade them before they get stuck with Win8.
LOL!
"The redesigned Metro interface invokes either thoughts of delight or horror depending on how each person views the sleek, modern design."
'How you view the sleek, modern design'. Might as well state 'will fill you with horror or delight, depending on how you appreciate complete awesomeness'.
Nice one. Genuinely appreciated that.
XP to 7 is a stretch, let alone "Metro"
I believe Microsoft saw the run-away success that is iPad and iPhone, and viewed this within the context of their own past mistakes (Windows Vista Home Premium Ultra addition), and erroneously concluded that the solution was a one-size-fits-all operating system. And they did this without realizing that Pocket PCs shows us that a desktop user interface does not translate well to a tiny touch-screen any better than a cell-phone interface translates to desktop computers (Metro).
It appears to me that each time Microsoft releases a new operating system, they are saying "We really messed up before, so now we're changing everything. Trust us...this time it'll be great."
Also a power user and app developer
But just like the apps we develop, it should be respected that Microsoft's stuff is subject to change and growth just as much as the stuff we write ourselves. Every time you release a new version of software you develop, are you saying "I really messed up. So now I'm changing everything"? No. You're saying that you're making necessary improvements (whether others agree that your improvements are indeed improvements or even necessary will vary)
Development isn't a perfect process. It's full of refinement. If MS didn't embrace change, they'd stagnate as a company, and you would still be stuck in Windows 3.0. Many have argued that they have stagnated too long as it is, and that's why Apple has gained so much ground on them.
XP to 7 is not a change to everything. Mostly just the UI and security enhancements it inherited from Vista. In fact, from Windows 95 to Windows 7, users have basically been re-buying a majority of the same code. The problem is, you can't get away with doing that and convince people to buy it unless you make it appear different enough to the casual end user.
Windows 8 is no different. Except it's actually a new era with the introduction of WinRT and the prepared exit and deprecation of Win32/64/WOW. For all we know, Metro will go away in Windows 9 and they'll tout it as a feature. But I can virtually guarantee that the Metro-enabling WinRT core will be there going forward.