Microsoft Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 hit ground running

Microsoft UK managing director Gordon Frazer launched their availability to businesses yesterday at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium. “These products will enable UK companies to unleash the full potential of their people to build profitable relationships with customers, spearhead new innovations, and drive business success,” he said. “Although many customers will deploy these products separately, together they will fundamentally change the way companies get value from business information.” For Microsoft and its partners, Vista et al is all about managing better in a world growing increasingly used to instant communication, expanding information and constant change. The belief: better access to more intuitively perceived, faster received and understood information from multiple sources will transform the way people help their businesses see and take opportunity and compete. How big a deal is it for manufacturers? Microsoft is casting it as the most significant product launch in the company’s history and the first simultaneous release of Microsoft’s flagship products since the joint launch of Windows 95 and Office 95 more than a decade ago. New capabilities in Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system include significant advances in graphics and pervasive support for XML. Significant server investments make the 2007 Office system a powerful platform for developing business applications to eliminate the barriers between organisations, systems, processes and information. And all of that has involved gargantuan effort and collaboration, including from Microsoft customers, who volunteered to let the R&D team watch them work in an incredible 1 billion user sessions world-wide. In fact, during testing, customers downloaded more than 5 million beta versions of the three products to provide feedback and suggestions. Says Frazer: “We’ve made extraordinary investments in R&D, and Windows Vista, 2007 Office and Exchange Server have been tested more thoroughly than any other software products in history.” According to a Capgemini study commissioned by Microsoft, early adopters expect dramatic productivity gains. “Companies we’ve talked to are looking at driving major revenue increases, improved responsiveness to customers and improved sales team win rates with the 2007 Microsoft Office systems,” said Capgemini Vice President Ken Edwards. “The early adopters are also realising costs savings through process workflow automation, easier access to information, improved collaboration with colleagues, and lower costs of compliance. It’s all about creating customer connections with your people at less cost and improved effectiveness,” he added. Microsoft CE Steve Ballmer said: “During the last decade, Windows 95 and Office 95 transformed the way people work. The three new products announced today are the most advanced work that Microsoft has ever done and I believe they signal the beginning of a new wave of innovation that will have an even more profound impact during the next decade.” Exchange Server 2007 is destined for release to organisations with volume license agreements in the next fortnight. Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system are due for release to consumers and businesses without volume license agreements on January 30 2007.