Overall our government customers are excited about the technology as well as our product pipeline, said a Microsoft spokesperson in response to the news that the DoT has banned adoption of Microsoft Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7 for at least six months.
A leaked memorandum from DOT chief information officer, Daniel Mintz, confirmed that the agency outlawed the products on the grounds that there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products.
While a second memo will be issued in 180 days detailing the department’s migration plans, the memo added that at the moment there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade, including upgrade costs, compatibility concerns, limited funding, and a forthcoming move to a new headquarters.
While the memo is a blow to Microsoft as it tries to encourage early adopters to consider its recently launched Vista, Office 2007, and IE7 products, the company’s spokesperson maintained that it is just a matter of time before many government customers will upgrade.
As our customers go through the natural process of exploring the new capabilities of these products we expect they will continue to embrace Windows and Office as their departmental standard as so many agencies do today.
We respect the customer’s decision. As with any of our other federal customers, it’s our job to help them maximize the value of their enterprise agreements through the adoption of our technology, the spokesperson added. We are engaged with large, strategic customers across government at every level, and are working closely with them on these products through their participation in our technical adoption programs.
