Businesses Anxious of MS Office 2010 Upgrade: Report

A new survey of Information Technology (IT) professionals suggests that business users are not rapidly adopting Microsoft's newest office application suite, Office 2010. However, the very same poll indicates interest remains high in the software, and it could be a matter of time before companies change their tune.

Dimensional Research for Dell Kace (a software management company) is responsible for the survey, which was conducted in September. Dimensional Research interviewed 935 IT professionals using a web-based poll, with most questions related to their use of Microsoft products, including Office 2010, but also the software company's newest operating system (OS), Windows 7. (Source: rcpmag.com)

Most Respondents Lack Short Term Upgrade Plans

The survey found that more than half of all respondents, about 52 per cent, say they have not yet begun the process of deploying Office 2010 in any way, shape or form. In fact, the IT pros who answered this way went so far as to say that not even testing of Office 2010 had been performed.

A very high percentage of respondents, 85 per cent, also indicated that they planned to eventually deploy Office 2010, just not in the immediate future.

Incompatibility, Navigational Issues Behind Reticence

It's suggested that the reasoning for not upgrading has to deal with incompatibility issues of application and document formats (such as those used in Office 2003). Others indicate the presence of fears about adapting to Office 2010's ribbon-style navigational tool, which was present in Office 2007, but not in Office 2003. (Source: pcworld.com)

Those who indicated that Office 2010 deployment was under way said that the process would be completed over the next twelve months.

The survey's findings in relation to Windows 7 deployment were less surprising. Almost all respondents (92 per cent) said they planned to skip 2007's much-maligned Vista and go directly to using Windows 7.