Symantec Windows Server 2012 Migration/Virtualization Survey

The good folks at Symantec sent me some information about their recently-released Windows Server 2012 Migration/Virtualization Survey. After reading through the study findings, I am impressed by how similar the results are to a study IDC executed back in 1999 when Windows NT 4 was the available Microsoft server operating system.

Here's what Symantec says about the study

Nobody can deny that the data center today is undergoing a dramatic transformation, bringing in all sorts of new technology, and constantly in a state of change. Between new devices, operating systems and service delivery platforms, change is really the only thing IT can depend on.

We set out to see how businesses are doing when it comes to navigating their way through these changes. Our recent Windows Server 2012 Migration/Virtualization Survey was created to take a closer look at organizations' attitudes towards migration, what their adoption plans are and get a closer look at virtualization trends in the market.

Some results from the study

Symantec went on to describe a few of the study findings:

Windows Server 2012 Adoption Is Happening Gradually

... we found that while many are planning to upgrade to Windows Server 2012, 93 percent haven’t actually made the move yet. For those that are planning to migrate:

• 13 percent plan to make the move after the 1st service pack
• 15 percent within the next 6 months
• 17 percent within the next 12 months
• 11 percent in more than 12 months

One significant factor that is keeping people from making the transition is the cost of the upgrade, and some businesses are slow to make the change because their current version is getting the job done. And with IT complexity increasing, there are also concerns about compatibility issues with current hardware or software.

On the flip side our survey revealed that the most important reasons companies are making the switch to Windows Server 2012 include improvements in the virtual desktop infrastructure, Hyper-V server virtualization and a more resilient file system called ReFS that improves scalability and resource management.

Adoption of new technology is often slow

The recent study came to the same conclusions that the 1999 IDC study did. The reasoning behind the slow adoption strategy is often the same as well. Here are a few of the reasons IT decision-makers are slow to jump to new releases of software:

• IT is very busy maintaining their complex, distributed systems. What they have installed is doing the job. Changing to something else is likely to create unintended, difficult-to-find-and-resolve issues.
• New features and functions aren't attractive enough to change IT decision-maker's minds about starting a complex, costly, time-consuming migration process.
• The company may have just completed a migration process in another area and are trying to recoup some of their costs.
• They may be considering another, different approach to supporting their important workloads.

I believe that some suppliers have forgotten that their customers aren't in the business of consuming their software products. They are in the business of creating, selling and supporting their own products and services. If a new piece of software helps them achieve their goals better than what they are currently using, that software will be considered. If not, they will stay the course.

If your company is a user of Windows Server 2012, I'd suggest taking the time to read through either the infographic describing some of the key findings of the study or the complete study.