The Case For Supporting Always Up-To-Date Operating Systems
Executive Summary
Delivering applications to enterprise customers is a perennial challenge,
but software vendors face greater demands than ever as customers expect
new capabilities to be delivered on a regular basis. As enterprise customers
embrace the mobile channel and migrate to public cloud platforms, they still
expect up-to-date support for existing applications. Rapid updates of cloudbased software services and mobile apps are leading enterprise decision
makers to expect more frequent security updates, seamless integration
with an expanding technology stack, and consistent, fast application
support for operating systems (OS) updates across devices. In response,
we see software vendors working to accelerate their release cadence while
overcoming previous challenges with compatibility and testing, which slow
the application update process.
One emerging approach to speed up and simplify the delivery of application
updates borrows from software-as-a-service (SaaS) design principles.
Software vendors and enterprise IT professionals alike are moving
increasingly to SaaS delivery, first with web-based tools and, more recently,
with operating systems. These cloud-connected operating systems deliver
benefits such as a reduced training and deployment burden when delivering
incremental changes, fewer breaking changes, lower dependencies, upto-date security capabilities, and new subscription-based billing models.
Cloud-enabled client operating systems — which receive a regular cadence
of security and feature updates — keep systems current and reduce the
support window for older versions of operating systems.
In May 2017, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate
adoption and usage trends of cloud-enabled operating systems among
software vendors. Forrester conducted an online survey of 308 IT decision
makers at medium to large software vendors in North America and EMEA to
explore this topic.
KEY FINDINGS
›› Software vendors now favor frequent updates over periodic
overhauls. In order to keep up with their competitors and provide regular
value to customers, a majority of software vendors are moving from
major releases toward smaller and less disruptive updates delivered
using accelerated release cycles.
›› Providing support for legacy operating systems is a significant
challenge. The biggest barrier software vendors face to faster releases
is the amount of testing and support required for many versions of
supported operating systems. When only half of enterprise customers
are on the latest operating systems, software vendors find it difficult
to reduce the matrix of operating systems and devices that they test
against.
›› “Always up-to-date” client operating systems reduce support
complexity and provide measurable business benefits. Software
vendors see how operating systems-as-a-service offerings produce
value by reducing application upgrade complexity and improving
quality through frequent service updates, reduced dependencies, and
streamlined testing processes, among other benefits.
1 | The Case For Supporting Always Up-To-Date Operating Systems
Software Vendors Are Shifting From
Major Releases To Frequent Updates
Software vendors feel perennial pressure to innovate to keep pace with their
customers and competitors as each adopts new technologies — 62% rank
“increasing innovation” and 61% rank “adopting new technologies as fast
as our customers” among their top five company initiatives for the next year.
If customers accelerate adoption of new software and operating systems,
software vendors must respond. Our study found that:
›› Software vendors are accelerating their release cycles. The modern
release cycle for the typical independent software vendor (ISV) includes
annual major version releases, minor update releases every two to three
months, and quality fixes/patches even more frequently, as needed.
These smaller, frequent updates are not only necessary to keep up
with advancements in technology but are also critical for customers to
perceive value from their annual support contracts, which represent a
significant portion of revenue for many software vendors. Almost half of
our respondents (47%) indicated that accelerating release cycles is one of
their top five priorities in the next year (see Figure 1).
Figure 1
“To what extent will your company prioritize the following initiatives in the
next year?” (Percentages represent respondents who ranked each initiative
in their top five.)
62% Increasing innovation
61% Adopting new technologies as fast as our customers
57% Improving our technical competencies
54% Growing our customer base
50% Staying compatible with the latest builds
47% Accelerating our release cycles
47% Staying in compliance with security requirements
45% Growing our channel partner network
44% Building an open dialogue with our channel
Base: 308 IT decision makers at medium to large ISVs in North America and EMEA
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of
Microsoft, May 2017
2 | The Case For Supporting Always Up-To-Date Operating Systems
Increasing innovation
and keeping up with
customers are top
priorities for the next
year.
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