Microsoft says Windows 11 will save companies millions of dollars

The Windows 11 2022 Update is now rolling out and amid renewed excitement for the OS, Microsoft has further detailed the importance of adopting Windows 11 in an enterprise environment by highlighting statistics, and describing old and new features that customers can leverage.

Microsoft collaborated with Forrester Research to figure out the economic impact of organizations using Windows 11 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 through Intune. Based on interviews with multiple organizations, both parties have determined that customers which adopt Microsoft's latest OS and cloud-powered Microsoft 365 services can potentially save millions of dollars across the next three years. A summary of this report is attached below:

A graphic of Forrester Researchs Total Economic Report for Windows 11 showing that organizations can

In order to drive more companies towards Windows 11, Microsoft has highlighted benefits - both old and new - of the OS. This includes touting the latest security enhancements present in the Windows 11 2022 Update, Windows Autopatch, insights in Endpoint Manager, App Assure, targeted organizational messages, and accessibility enhancements.

Microsoft has also been working on a solution to integrate the Microsoft Store with Intune. This will offer IT admins more control over app deployments and updates and is designed to provide a better experience than Microsoft Store for Business. More details around this area will be shared at Ignite later this year.

The Redmond tech firm is enhancing the Universal Print solution for Azure Virtual Desktop customers as well. This month, they'll be getting downloadable reports, a live dashboard, and support for Excel on the web.

Windows Studio Effects pane in Microsoft Teams with four people in a meeting

Another area getting improvements with the Windows 11 2022 Update is virtual Teams meetings, which are getting a new set of features called Windows Studio Effects. Here is how Microsoft describes it:

With the Windows 11 2022 Update we are adding new meeting features called Windows Studio Effects to help make video and audio calls even better. Effects like Voice focus that help filter background noise, Automatic framing where your camera will frame and follow you which is great if you like to move around in meetings, and Eye contact so we can all look like we are looking into the camera to better engage with our audience even if we need to occasionally look at our monitors to check out notes.

Microsoft has emphasized that Forrester's results show that Windows 11 allows users to be 5-15% more productive and as such, organizations should consider upgrading to the OS right now rather than waiting and updating to Windows 10 version 22H2 - which is coming later this year.