Of those who consider using alternative operating systems, 89 percent said it would be beneficial to use a single systems management interface to manage all types of operating systems in their environments. The research, consisting of an online survey with 961 respondents, was commissioned by KACE to gather data about the perceived impact of Vista on IT and specifically their operating system adoption strategies.

The research shows that IT departments of all sizes have grave concerns about deploying Vista, and are even choosing to deploy alternative operating systems instead. This has lead to a new set of challenges, such as the difficulties derived from managing multiple operating systems and a lack of familiarity with non-Windows alternative operating systems.

"Microsoft, up to this point, has been fighting an uphill battle with Vista largely due to software compatibility and stability issues which are scaring off IT departments from deploying it," says Diane Hagglund of King Research. "These same IT departments are evaluating alternative methods in order to stave off Vista deployment, but instead are facing new challenges related to managing heterogeneous environments. The added cost and time spent on deployment and education of alternative operating systems have brought to light the importance of systems management devices that deliver a single interface for diverse operating systems."

A summary of the key findings from the study include:

° 90 percent of participants are concerned about migrating to Windows Vista.

° 89 percent said it would be beneficial to use a single systems management interface to manage all types of operating systems in their environments.

° 53 percent do not have plans to deploy Vista at all and only 13 percent expect they will eventually be fully deployed on Vista.

° 44 percent of companies are considering deploying non-Windows operating systems as an alternative to upgrading to Vista, with Macintosh the most likely OS to be deployed as an alternative.

° 67 percent reported virtualized environments help in enabling the implementation to alternative operating systems.

The independent database of IT professionals from small, mid-sized, and large organizations were emailed and invited to participate in the web survey in November. The 961 participants represented a range of IT functions including hands-on professionals, team managers, and business owners with many participants indicating they had multiple roles within their organization.