With just a few days to go before Microsoft's launch of Windows Server 2008, technology retailer CDW Corporation yesterday released survey results claiming that 68% of all organizations are going to adopt the new Windows Server "eventually", with 18% already in the planning stages.
Don't expect CDW's success estimates to come true in the short-term, though. You see, despite new and updated capabilities found in Windows Server 2008 such as virtualization, better support for clustering and the built-in PowerShell, many IT professionals are still wary of migrating to the new OS in the foreseeable future due to first version bugs concerns and potential compatibility issues with current applications and hardware.
In fact, 52% of medium and large businesses reportedly prefer Windows Server 2003 - which should come as no surprise considering businesses often wait until they can cost-justify migration on the basis of some compelling benefit, not to mention the fact that Microsoft doesn't plan to end support for Server 2003 until 2015.
All in all, CDW's report indeed sounds a tad too optimistic (they are, among other things, a reseller of Windows licenses), but it's nonetheless an interesting look at IT decision makers' perceptions and plans for adoption of Microsoft Windows Server 2008. You can grab a complete copy of the survey report here.