Outsourcer Offers Windows Vista Upgrades -- From Offshore

The company said Friday that its Zero Touch desktop deployment service for Microsoft Windows Vista is completely automated and will allow businesses to cut Vista installation costs by 40%. The service also covers installation of packaged applications designed to run atop Vista.

While some businesses may balk at the notion of having critical systems upgraded from an offshore facility, HCL says the process is risk-free. The company's Zero Touch service includes a robust backup and restore capability that promises "zero tolerance" for data loss, HCL says. The service also meets all ITIL standards for system upgrades, according to HCL.

Zero Touch additionally features a deployment dashboard that allows customers to log on and monitor the status of the upgrade, check for failed deployments, and receive progress reports on open tickets.

A poll of 761 IT decision makers found that 20% expect to adopt Vista within a year and a total of 86% are currently planning to adopt Vista eventually. The poll found that just 26% have an actual Vista implementation plan in place, according to the results announced last month by CDW.