THE simultaneous launch of three new Microsoft products this week has led one IT consultant to urge businesses to think carefully before they upgrade. The software giant’s release of Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 marks the culmination of its single biggest investment.

With over 8,000 developers used on the projects and a research and development cost of billions of pounds, the company has high hopes for success, even suggesting that Vista will be the fastest-selling operating system of all time.

But, regardless of the hype, iConsult business development officer Tony Moffa said Guernsey firms had important business decisions to make as to whether upgrading was necessary.

And he said it was better to wait until any security issues with the new system became clearer.

‘Microsoft is taking on a lot by launching three major new applications at the same time, but to expect businesses to put themselves under the same sort of pressure by upgrading all of their systems is unrealistic.’

He said Vista, in particular, required a minimum level of hardware to run which meant many businesses looking to upgrade from Windows XP would have to invest more to ensure that their hardware was also up to scratch.

There was also the issue of quality control.

‘Microsoft will have performed extensive testing on its new products but bugs and loopholes are virtually guaranteed to exist, in spite of the improved security,’ said Mr Moffa.

‘Hackers and criminals will spend a great deal of time in the early days after the products’ launch trying to find and exploit those errors which Microsoft didn’t spot. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to wait a while so that a greater understanding of the security issues is developed before purchasing the new systems for your own company.’

One of the clear differences between the new and old Microsoft systems is the increased number of product variations that are aimed at different user groups. For instance, Office 2007 comes in Enterprise, Professional Plus, Professional, Small Business, Home and Student, Standard and Basic editions. Each version includes the individual applications that are more useful for particular user’s need.

Another innovation aimed at making it easier for companies to invest in the new products is the development of hosted versions of the Office and Exchange Server 2007 suites.

These make the new products more affordable for business customers and also remove the need to upgrade hardware, as the actual systems run on computers sited in a secure data centre and accessed over the internet.

With the launch of the hosted versions of the products, Microsoft has given a nod to the new direction in which the IT industry is moving.

Mr Moffa said: ‘It’s precisely because it’s difficult for businesses to keep up with the ongoing programme of innovation and renewal that drives the software industry that hosted applications are becoming so popular.’