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Most technology companies have started preparations for supporting Vista, the new operating system by Microsoft, according to a market study by the Service Excellence Research Group. ServiceXRG surveyed more than 80 tech hardware, software and services companies on their Vista support plans. Most expect Vista preparations to cost an equivalent of 20.6 hours per IT support individual, with more than 70 percent of this time allocated to training.
The analysts said the release of a major new operating system by Microsoft inevitably raises crucial support questions. Will the OS work well with existing systems and applications? How much time and effort are needed for support engineers to learn the features, functions and limitations of a complex new system. What impact with this have on support demand?
"The majority -- 60.2 percent -- of companies surveyed indicate that they have begun some formal preparations to support Vista," said Ladd Bodem, principal and co-founder, ServiceXRG.
Additional highlights from the report include:

• Respondents currently preparing for Vista indicate that, on average, 66.5% of all the support cases they handle involve a product that runs on or with a Windows operating environment.
• The majority (63.2%) of respondents expect that the release of Vista will result in an increase in their overall support demand by an average of 13.7%.
• on average, the tech companies surveyed expect to devote 175 person hours updating knowledge bases with information relevant to Vista.

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About the market research survey
The ServiceXRG report, "Supporting Vista -- Preparations, Implications and Costs" (November 2006), is based on a study of 88 support organizations for technology companies to better understand the potential implications of Microsoft Vista and to assess what the industry is doing to prepare to support this new version of Windows. The study includes responses from hardware, software and service companies. Current Vista preparations and recommend actions are highlighted within the report.