Where will you be when the train leaves the station?
When the Microsoft Windows® 95 operating system rolls out of the
station, make sure you have a window seat. An installed base of
more than 60 million users of the Windows® operating system
worldwide means the migration potential for Windows 95 is tremendous. And
Windows 95 is more than just a compelling upgrade for these customers;
it can be a tremendous profit opportunity for you. In addition
to creating a broad demand for migration services, Windows 95
will serve as a catalyst for a whole new range of other services,
such as management of desktop PCs, solutions for telecommuters,
and 32-bit application development. These capabilities can link
you more closely to your customers’ computing environments,
making it easier for you to play a more strategic role in shaping
and managing those environments. In turn, this can lead to increased
productivity (over Microsoft Windows 3.x) and reduced support costs for
your customers, and more profitability
for you.
Windows 95 puts your customers on the right track
Windows95 offers many improvements over Windows 3.x, which can result
in three primary business benefits for your customers:
Reduced support burden
Windows 95 offers a new user interface
that is easier to learn and use. It also offers improved overall
reliability through a 32-bit architecture, easier network integration,
and simplified device installation with Plug and Play support.
Increased control over the desktop
Windows 95 includes tools
to help you perform administrative tasks such as configuring and
trouble-shooting the desktop. The Systems Management architecture
in Windows 95 also enables you to integrate new management tools
to distribute applications.
Improved end-user productivity
Common tasks—such as
printing or connecting to a network—are easier to perform
with the new user interface and faster to execute with the new
32-bit architecture. In addition, Windows 95 will pave the way
for a new generation of more powerful applications and systems.
Laying the track for higher profit potential
We expect Windows
95 to launch a selling cycle that builds on its own momentum.
In fact, you could start making money with Windows 95 long before
you ever put a disk in a computer. The huge installed base of
users of Windows offers a tremendous potential market for migration
services. Many of those users will need help determining the best
way to deploy the new operating system. This is a good opportunity
to sit down with them, review their existing configurations, and
make recommendations that can improve productivity and lower their
support costs. In reviewing the existing setups be sure to look
at both client and server sides of the equation. Will you help
improve productivity and reduce support costs by consolidating
a variety of applications into a single suite? Do they have legacy
hardware that can be upgraded to make it easier to get the job
done? Would additional application servers improve performance
either in the office or for remote users?Getting involved at this
stage with a clear plan to improve your customers’ efficiency
and develop a comprehensive migration strategy, which includes
a complete training and support plan, can create a key role for
you in shaping their computing environments for the future.
Adding new cars as you go
The move to Windows 95 can also
be a great opportunity to migrate your customers to the 32-bit version
of Microsoft Office Standard or Professional, or
to 32-bit versions of custom applications you’ve already
developed for them. As part of your migration plan you can even
leverage such tools as Microsoft Systems Management Server to
install these new applications. That can save you time, save your
customers money, and provide them with immediate access to the
increased reliability and improved performance of the new applications.
Creating new routes for training and support
Getting your
customers rolling with the Windows 95 operating system is just
the beginning. Additional features in Microsoft Windows 95, such
as Remote Network Access, create a number of new avenues for delivering
training and support that can continue to generate incremental
revenue.The Windows 95 open networking architecture makes it practical
and profitable for you to develop and distribute training aids—such
as Windows 95 Tips and Tricks and Troubleshooting Techniques—to
your customers in a mixed network environment. Simply develop
a procedure for system administrators to dial in to a server in
your office and download the information. Your customers get answers
to their questions quickly and you can focus on other value-added
services.
Cost-effectively managing desktops all the way down the line
A key benefit of Windows 95 is that it enables you to manage desktop
PCs more efficiently. Windows 95 includes several built-in management
tools to facilitate this administration. For example, you can
define policies that allow network administrators to customize
control over Windows 95 for users of differing abilities or network
privilege levels. You can also manage your customers’ environments
remotely. Windows 95 also includes tools that enable you to monitor
the performance of desktop PCs and to back up valuable data stored
on desktop PCs. In addition to the tools that are built into Windows
95, you can integrate new systems management tools—such as
Systems Management Server—to diagnose and troubleshoot your
customers’ desktop PCs and distribute new applications. These
capabilities can enable you to play a key role in managing your
customers’ computing environments long before you roll out
Windows 95. And the opportunities extend well beyond defining
and managing your customers’ policies. Take another look
at potential services you can provide on the server to meet your
customers’ current and future needs.For example, you can
use these management tools to get a global view of your customers’
current hardware and software inventory. Once you know exactly
what they have and what
they need, you can recommend new upgrades to applications and
existing hardware to help improve productivity and lower the cost
of supporting multiple platforms. Your customers benefit from
reduced support costs, and you benefit from being able to deploy
your resources more strategically and more profitably. The time
you save in travel can be devoted to developing new applications.
And these management services are just the tip of the iceberg.
Windows 95 revenue-building opportunities continue from there.
Telecommuting gets the job done anywhere
Improved remote
access capabilities combined with changing regulatory and social
trends are making telecommuting an increasingly important factor
in your customers’ computing mix.
This growing momentum is creating a number of opportunities in
the following areas:
Professionals at home on the job
With Windows 95 it’s
easier than ever to set up your customers with home-based solutions
that give them complete access to all network resources—client-server
applications, electronic mail, file and printer sharing. Remote
users become just one more node on the network. In addition to
equipping home offices with hardware and software, this is a great
opportunity to assess whether you can install new custom applications
to improve productivity.
Automating the sales force
Windows 95 can also automate
certain tasks for the professional who spends a great deal of
time in the field. For example, real estate agents are out of
the office most of the time, yet still need immediate access to
network resources. You can develop
a custom application that leverages e-mail, fax, and remote access
capabilities in Windows 95 to automate certain tasks for these
users.
Telecommuting’s impact on existing traffic
Developing
solutions for roving users gives you another opportunity to evaluate
your customers computing environments and recommend ways to make
them more efficient. An increase in telecommuting traffic may
affect users who work in the office. This may be an opportunity
to add an extra application server to help balance the traffic
and maintain network performance. That way your customers can
get their jobs done wherever they are.
A powerful engine for profitable development opportunities
Windows 95 lays the groundwork for sophisticated, reliable, and easy-to-use
applications.
Its 32-bit architecture with improved system resources enables
you to run multiple powerful applications more reliably.
Smooth sailing from 16-bit to 32-bit applications
Your
16-bit applications developed for Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows®
for Workgroups 3.11 will run on the Microsoft Windows 95 platform
as well as or better than they did on
the 16-bit Windows platform. However, if you’d like to port
these applications to 32-bit
for increased speed and reliability, it’s easy to do. Microsoft
will provide the tools to easily
port 16-bit applications developed with the Visual Basic®
programming system, Visual C++ development system, FoxPro®
database, and Microsoft Access RDBMS to 32-bit. Additional third-party
tools, such as Borland C++ version 4.5 and Powersoft PowerBuilder
version 4.0, will also be available to convert 16-bit applications
to 32-bit. These tools enable you to preserve your customers’
investments in existing applications.
Cover multiple platforms with one application
You can save
even more time in developing applications for multiplatform environments.
Because the Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems share
the same Win32® API, you can develop a single 32-bit application
that runs on both platforms. Your customers can run a single application
on multiple platforms, and you can leverage your development resources.
Get on board with Windows 95 now
With the launch just around
the corner, Windows 95 should already be integrated into your
business plan. So now’s the time to act. Get the Windows
95 beta up and running. And use the following resources to help
you plan a roadmap for upgrading your customers to Windows 95.
Windows 95 TrainCast
This series, broadcast on Microsoft
TV, will give you the technical details on how to migrate your
customers to Windows 95. To find out how you can view TrainCast
in the United States, call (800) 597-3200. Outside of the United
States, contact your local subsidiary to obtain copies on videotape.
Windows 95 Preview
The next pre-release of Windows 95.
Use the Windows 95 Resource Kit included with the Preview product
to roll it out to your customers.
Windows 95 Migration Planning Kit
Use these tools, together
with the Windows 95 Preview product, to educate your customers
on the benefits of migrating to Windows 95.
Microsoft Authorized Technical Education Center (ATEC)
For
more in-depth training on Windows 95, call (800) SOLPROV to find
out the location of
the nearest ATEC in your area. In Canada, call (800) 563-9048.
Outside the United States and Canada, contact your local Microsoft
subsidiary. Customers who are deaf or hard of hearing can reach
Microsoft text telephone (TT/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 (in
the United States) or (905) 568-9641 (in Canada).
Windows 95 Online
To make sure you’ve got up-to-the-minute
information on Windows 95, just sign on to one of the following
locations:
- World Wide Web (Mosaic) http://www.microsoft.com
- Internet ftp.microsoft.com\peropsys\win_news
- CompuServe, America Online;, Prodigy
To get our Windows 95 Update List, send mail to: enews@microsoft.nwnet.com
In the body of the message,write: SUBSCRIBE WINNEWS.Microsoft Corporation • One Microsoft
Way • Redmond, WA 98052-6399© 1995 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved. This brochure is for informational purposes
only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY. Microsoft,
FoxPro, Visual Basic, Win 32, Windows, and the Windows logo are
registered trademarks and Visual C++,
Where do you want to go today?, and Windows NT are trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation. America Online is
a registered trademark of Quantum Computer Services, Inc. Borland
is a registered trademark of Borland International, Inc. CompuServe
is a registered trademark of CompuServe, Inc. PowerBuilder is
a trademark
of Powersoft Corporation. Prodigy is a trademark of Prodigy Services
Company.0295 Part No. 098-58555 (Printed Brochure)
|
|
