Microsoft's newly-launched Vista is seen as a distraction from more important issues to 49% of IT professionals polled by online research firm emedia.
Just 47% of the 150 senior IT managers and executives surveyed expect their organisation to migrate to Vista in the foreseeable future. "A reasonable majority will migrate eventually, but it may take some time," said David Clark, managing director of emedia. "Nobody wants to be the first, and a majority must fit it into a longer term plan."
Nearly two-thirds cited cost concerns as a pressure point, while just over half had concerns about application incompatibility. But the study also shows that 82% expect the new operating system to improve security and compliance - a major concern for most businesses.
"For IT managers, security is probably the most important thing," Clark said. Cost may drive some companies to consider other operating systems, but security and continuity reasons will keep most with Microsoft, he added.
But Clark explained that IT managers may feel any new release is a distraction in their already busy workdays. "It might be a little misleading as many managers are simply too busy to focus as opposed to Vista not being important... We feel that for IT managers, there's always an element of distraction with new releases."
