10 reasons why Windows 10 matters to your organization

2. © Copyright 2015 Avanade Inc. All Rights Reserved. As a CEO or CMO, what opportunities can the next big Windows release bring your business? Why would you care if you’re a CTO and need to decide when to migrate all users of your organization to a new OS?

3. 1. One Windows Windows 10 is the convergence of the Windows server, desktop, phone and gaming operating systems into one. This means one single core that runs on all kinds of devices and adapts to provide an optimized experience. It allows for more flexibility and brings more options to what a digital workplace looks like. A hybrid like the Surface Pro is one on those examples and more variations will follow. Your employees choose how they want to work.

4. 2. The Last Version Of Windows Windows 10 is promised to be the last version of Windows. Microsoft is committed to continuously innovate Windows while making sure your critical business applications continue to work. Always. For you and your organization this may be a huge shift: you no longer need to worry about exhausting and expensive upgrades but instead focus on adding value to your business.

5. 3. Continuum Continuum is what Microsoft calls the flexibility of the Windows 10 platform to adapt to its context. When you fold back the keyboard of the Surface, the experience optimizes for tablet and touch usage. The touch area’s become larger and apps continue to run full screen. This intelligence is inherently built into the OS, which means you can even connect your phone to a monitor, keyboard and mouse and continue to use it as your primary workstation.

6. 4. Universal Apps As the OS scales with the context in which it’s used, the apps running on Windows 10 will be scaled as well. Windows Universal Apps are applications that can run on all devices, big and small. They support various input options like touch, mouse, voice or gestures and adapt their user interface to show more or less information based on the size of the display and distance of the user from the screen.

7. 5. The Best of Windows 7 and Windows 8 Windows 10 combines the best of Windows 7 and 8. It brings back the enterprise productivity features from Windows 7, like the much requested Start Menu and windowed applications, while remaining touch friendly and flexible. It is even improved in each and every area.

8. 6. Private Enterprise App Store Distributing enterprise apps to your users and contracted partners is a hassle that belongs to the past thanks to the private app store that comes with Windows 10. A private app store is a designated area in the Windows store for your organization where you can publish your organization’s apps. You control access to your employees and contracted partners through Active Directory and Microsoft accounts.

9. 7. Cloud Active Directory Windows 10 devices can directly connect to Azure Active Directory. This removes the requirement for enterprises to have an Active Directory on premise. Users will be able to log on to Windows with Azure AD accounts, and they'll be able to mix both AD and Azure AD together.

10. 8. Single Management Solution With Windows 10 all corporate owned devices can be managed by a single Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution like Intune. With Windows 8 this used to be only available for “Bring Your Own Device” BYOD scenario’s. The new MDM additions include support for managing devices that are shared by multiple users, VPN and device-wipe capabilities, and Enterprise Data Protection configuration.

11. 9. Identity Protection and Access Control Windows 10 comes with multi-factor authentication built-in, thereby eliminating the need for additional hardware security peripherals like tokens and smartcards. This means that any device running Windows 10 can be become one of the two factors required for authentication. The other factor will be a PIN or biometric, such as a fingerprint.

12. 10. Data Loss Prevention The Data Loss Prevention solution separates corporate and personal data on a device and protects it using containment. This capability integrates with the default user experience, enabling protection without interfering with the user like other solutions do. Your users continue with their work, while the system makes sure no sensitive data leaks. This is done by automatically encrypting corporate apps, data, e-mail, website content and other sensitive information.

10 reasons why Windows 10 matters to your organization