BYOD Makes Windows 8 Compelling
BYOD Makes Windows 8 Compelling by UCStrategies Staff
According to Dell’s founder Michael Dell, Windows 8 could be the answer for the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend. In his words, the corporate interest for Windows 8 is “quite high,” he recently told partners and customers.
At this year’s Dell World, the annual showcase for Dell partners and customers, Michael Dell began the festivities by announcing a plethora of service offerings. These included services aimed PowerEdge server customers and an appliance for managing threat protection. However, Dell still remembers its roots as a PC supplier and therefore provided solid support for Windows 8, which includes an 18-inch all-in-one PC with a screen that snaps out to become like a tablet.
There have already been questions regarding the necessity and usefulness of the new Windows 8, as many users and customers say they prefer Windows 7 or Windows XP instead. This is also backed by findings from research firms like IDC and NPD, who found that support for Windows 8 has not been as strong as was hoped or predicted.
Yet Michael Dell, a man who built his company on personal computers and a well-managed supply chain, does not feel this way.
In his words, “As I’ve said, we strongly believe that PCs are important. There are about a quarter billion PCs sold every year. And the installed base of PCs is about a billion and a half. Overwhelmingly, PCs are how business gets done in the world today.”
“And now with Windows 8, we’re on the cusp of the next revolution of Windows hardware and software, bringing together the laptop and the touch screen,” he continues. “And as you see here in Dell World and across the expo, we have a really compelling full line of touch-enabled products from our XPS 10 tablet, to the stunning XPS 27, with its quad HD display, 27-inch touch display, and every kind of imaginable product you can think of in between.”
At the Dell World expo, Dell also discussed the upcoming 18-inch all-in-one PC, likely a variation of the One family, saying that “the screen just pops out, snaps out, just take it with you.” From there, he says, “you’ve got a full, portable, 4.5-pound, workstation or entertainment center” where “the possibilities are limitless, and as adoption accelerates for Windows 8, and for touch, it will give the billion and a half users of the installed base the reason to get a new PC.”
While Dell’s consumer argument is understood, many observers still believe that businesses will be slow in adopting Windows 8 until it has been proved, validated, and supported. Even businesses that demonstrated corporate applications running on Windows 8 at the launch would generally be considered as ambitious launch partners.
Dell’s View is Different
Dell says that “in the customer conversations that we’ve been having, the interest in Windows 8 is quite high, even with commercial customers, who would normally wait a few releases to adopt the new versions. What we’re seeing here is really an immediate need, because CIOs are worried about the ramifications of a BYOD world. With Windows 8 products... we’re pleased with the incredible experience that they expect, while you get the security and versatility and reliability that your enterprise really requires.”
It is difficult to guess how interest in Windows 8 will transfer to sales, and many analysts are anticipating mid-2013 before sales start increasing.
If Dell’s prediction is right then, this means that CIOs are apparently apprehensive of BYOD devices. Given that Windows 8 has a consumer-oriented look and feel, apparently CIOs hope that employees will be satisfied with a tablet that resembles a consumer device but was designed with the corporate IT department in mind.
But there is another problem for Windows 8: their mainstream Windows 8 devices are not selling very well. According to IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell, only about 10 percent of the touch-enabled Windows 9 devices are selling well.
In an email to ReadWrite, O’Donnell explains that “most touch screens for notebooks (basically, anything bigger than phones) are the LCD plus a separate panel bonded on” and “the problem is, the yield rate for these panels is low, the capacity is relatively low, so bottom line, we think only about 15 percent of notebooks will have touch next year. Plus, they're expensive, which just adds to the problem.”
With the touch feature emphasized in Windows 8-powered offerings, this could be positive news for Dell. Yet the question still remains – is the enthusiasm for Windows 8 by corporates able to be translated into enthusiasm for the general market?
Until Windows 8 sales numbers are officially released in January, no one is certain. (RP) Link