For information technology companies, Windows 8 is a new business opportunity. Their existing clients and new customers will have to switch to the new operating system sooner or later.

With an estimated conversion cost of Rs 5,000 per desktop, migration to Windows 8 is going to be a good revenue generator for IT service companies. IT majors such as Mahindra Satyam began partnering with Microsoft a few months ago to start pilots on client locations to check how their app would run on the new OS.

“We worked with a North American bank to test their applications on Windows 8 in their environment. The app (application) testing and remediation (to fix problems, if any) are going to be a good business opportunity,” Pravin Bolar, Vice-President (Infrastructure Management Services) of Mahindra Satyam, told Business Line .

He, however, felt that the clients may not rush to migrate to the new OS. “They can slowly go onto the new OS as they buy or replace new devices, or, they could jump to the new OS at one go. The latter option could result in significant costs,” he observed.

For service providers such as HCL, it will be a big transformation opportunity as most companies are looking at enabling their employees to work more productively at their desks, at home, on the road, or in a branch office, Maninder Singh, Senior Vice-President (End User Computing) of HCL Technologies Infrastructure Services Division, said. “The most significant impact of Windows 8 will be in the tablet and mobility market. With Windows being the dominant office OS, Windows 8 will provide easier application inter-operability between different types of devices and may be a deterrent to iOS and Android in the enterprise-led market space,” he said.

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