IDC Says Windows Vista Will Create 100,000 New Jobs in US


Posted by Nick White on Saturday, December 09, 2006 1:32 PM 5 Comments

IDC is publishing a report containing new data on the impact Windows Vista will have on the IT industry and on the broader U.S. economy in 2007.  The report is based on IDC's Economic Impact Model (EIM), and is similar to the study of six countries in the European Union that the firm released in September.  (Full disclosure:  Both reports were commissioned by Microsoft in order to give us an objective measure of the potential impact of Windows Vista on local IT ecosystems and local economies.  We are often asked how a new version of Windows affects the Microsoft ecosystem and broader markets, but until now hadn't had a way to quantify it.)

One of the more fascinating findings in the study is that Windows Vista is expected to create more than 100,000 new jobs in the U.S. in 2007 alone.  According to the report, "While some of this gain would likely happen as a result of general market growth, between 2006 and 2007 Windows Vista's share of total IT employment is expected to go up by more than one percentage point -- a big number in an employment base of 10 million."  Many of these new jobs are expected to come from new hardware, software or services businesses that are geared to run on Windows Vista.  Say what you will about Microsoft or the Windows business, but new jobs are almost always a good thing, and it's exciting that IDC expects Windows Vista to create new opportunities for people.

A few more highlights from the study:

  • For each dollar of Windows Vista-related revenue Microsoft receives in 2007, the IT industry at large will reap more than $18 in revenues.
  • Microsoft partners will invest about $10 billion preparing and rolling out their Windows Vista-related products.
  • Microsoft partners and others in the IT industry are expected to generate over $70 billion in revenues in 2007 directly tied to Windows Vista.
  • In 2008, 80% of Microsoft client operating systems shipped into enterprises will be Windows Vista.

A full copy of the report is available here.  Have a read, and feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the results, or on how you think your job or business or local economy will be affected by Windows Vista.

DEC 11
 

Posted by peterkirn

Well, I hope it's not just IT! (Insert favorite IT jokes here ...)

Seriously, though, the health of the Windows platform means the health of a variety of markets. If people are having a better experience with their OS, it has a huge effect on the rest of us (and, of course, the converse is true -- which has made the evolution of this whole industry really important).

Speaking from the music + media creation end of things, it's absolutely going to have an impact on us. As a writer, it's people buying magazines, reading websites. As an educator, it's people becoming interested in producing art and performing on their computers. And as an artist, it connects directly to my own productivity.

We've seen a little bit of calculus applied to the consumer market, but always in a generic way. I think it's these secondary economies that often get ignored. They're harder to quantify than something like IT and enterprise, or even consumer through sales. But when you look at artists, musicians, DJs, writers, academia, etc., etc., while those markets may not immediately scream "profit", you have a lot of what drives the health of computer platforms and their role in the culture.

DEC 11
 

Posted by newscientist2000

Thats good news, because quite frankly the US economy isnt as strong as it used to be, GDP is horrible.  I looked at the Euro to the dollar exchange rate the other day and its embarrassing.

People can knock Microsoft due to its market dominance but so many US jobs today are the result of this dominance, having a leader in the IT field, means that software developers can focus on making aplications that can drive job growth, in a fragmented OS market this growth may be slowed down.

Job creation and growth is a good thing.
DEC 12
 

Posted by barius

Uh...are you sure MS payed for this study, because from where I sit I think Apple would be the big winner here.

Why exactly would businesses be interested in a product that increases their IT requirements in exchange for a product that is only marginally (if at all) more useful than the existing one?

The study seems to want to imply that these 'new' jobs are somehow related to new software developing around the new platform, but this is misleading.  Most of the jobs will simply be grunt work required to re-tool the existing software from WinXP to WinVista.  After that work is done, there is no more drive to develop new software than there was before.  Those 100,000 jobs will simply disappear back into the ether from which they came.

As an IT Admin at my place of work, I see Vista as nothing more than a money grab.  I have a budget to meet, and hiring more IT workers and Help Desk support staff is not helping my economy at all.  While the shift to Vista may generate more temporary IT positions, it certainly doesn't create any new revenue for my employer, and therefore doesn't benefit the overall economy of this country.
JAN 31
 

Posted by Michael_Moor

Hey "Nick White",thx for share

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http://www.dl4all.com
MAR 01
 

Posted by stevecraig

"For each dollar of Windows Vista-related revenue Microsoft receives in 2007, the IT industry at large will reap more than $18 in revenues."

So, does that mean the customer with a $1000 Vista investment will ultimately be paying $19,000 total?  

I suppose this projection makes the IT markets "happy", but they are not your customers...

Check out Amazon.com's current #1 PC sales (actually the top ten, for that matter) - see where the future is headed based on "real world facts", not theoretical projections.  

The Enterprise market is not where the big bucks are - small business drives the economy. How many small businesses are going to "prosper and thrive" with these projections?

Thanks to Linspire/Ubuntu, the (mostly open source) client/server 32/64 bit secure, productive and open conundrum will be solved - with companies willing to bend over backwards to help you make it work... I'm kinda glad MS won the legal issue over "Lindows", Linspire is much more inspirational.  The key issue of being "compatible" with MS - is no longer as important as "getting the job done as cost effectively as possible".

I'm not all negative on Microsoft or Vista - I do plan on buying a "single task" Vista box - for gaming.  DX10 rocks!
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