infoTECH Feature

August 03, 2011

Microsoft Touting IE9 as Best Browser for Business

A recent blog post from Microsoft (News - Alert) cites Internet Explorer 9 as the best browser for the business world. Now it’s hardly surprising the company would play up its own browser as the right choice for business users. But in tooting its own horn, the folks in Redmond point to a study from research firm Forrester (News - Alert) as backup.

Promoting IE9 in an official blog post last week, Roger Capriotti, Microsoft Director of Internet Explorer Marketing, discussed the benefits of the company’s current browser to the business world.

As part of a Total Economic Impact study conducted on behalf of Microsoft, Forrester spoke with six companies that participated in Microsoft’s IE9 Technology Adoption Program (TAP) to determine the impact of upgrading from IE8 to IE9. The data obtained was used to create a model showing the financial benefits of moving to Internet Explorer 9. And the results show a “compelling reason” to do so, according to the study.

Specifically, a sample organization with 50,000 desktops would see a risk-adjusted net savings of $3.3 million over three years as a result of migrating to IE9. Though the blog doesn’t go into any detail as to exactly how this figured was derived, it does point to an upcoming webinar given by a Forrester analyst in which he discusses the findings of the study. Those of you who’d like to learn more can sign up for the webinar, which is scheduled to run on August 16.

Aside from any potential cost-savings, which certainly is of importance to an entire organization, IE9 also gets the nod as one of the most user-friendly browsers for IT professionals, an opinion with which I certainly agree. By offering the Internet Explorer Administration Kit, or IEAK, Microsoft has always made it relatively easy for IT pros to create their own customized and standardized IE packages. Further, Microsoft supports IE with a full complement of Group Policy templates, through which administrators can modify the browser’s features and settings.

But what about other browsers? Over the years, Microsoft has lost the dominant market share that IE once held as Mozilla’s Firefox and Google’s (News - Alert) Chrome have captured more users. Both of those browsers have grown popular with individual users and also made inroads into the enterprise. Several of my clients’ Web-based applications are designed specifically for Firefox, a radical change from years ago when virtually all Web sites and Web-based apps were designed for IE.

Ironically, though, Google and Mozilla (News - Alert) have differed in the way they view the enterprise.

Earlier this year, Google announced the release of Chrome for Business, which gives IT admins a way to create their own installation package for Chrome. This business version of the browser comes as an MSI (Microsoft Windows Installer) file, offering a standard way to install an application. Plus, Google provides Group Policy templates through which you can customize and update the brower’s features and setting, just as you can with IE.

In contrast, although many organizations have rolled out and standardized on Firefox, Mozilla has never been especially friendly to the enterprise, an attitude that recently became even more abundantly clear.

Mozilla does not make an MSI file for Firefox, nor does it provide Group Policy templates, though certain third-party providers offer their own tools for setting up and administering Firefox in the enterprise. But a key player at Mozilla recently made some comments that concerned many companies and IT administrators who’ve deployed the browser.

In June, Mozilla's director of the browser, Asa Dotzler, said that the enterprise has never been and shouldn’t be a focus of the company and that “a minute spent making a corporate user happy can better be spent making many regular users happy.” Dotzler’s comments were made in response to business users who were thrown by the faster release schedule of new versions of Firefox, an action that has made it more difficult for IT to support the browser.

Beyond upsetting organizations that have relied on Firefox, Dotzler’s comments forced Mozilla to go into damage control mode, trying to ensure its corporate customers that it really does care about them. As part of its mea culpa, the company recently announced the formation of the Mozilla Enterprise User Working Group, a forum dedicated to the use of Firefox in the business world.

We’ll see if this working group makes any progress or leads to any changes in Firefox or Mozilla. But for now, I have to agree with Capriotti’s blog that Microsoft is still the best bet at supporting the enterprise and IE9 still the best browser for IT administrators to manage.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.



Lance Whitney is a journalist, IT consultant, and Web Developer with almost 20 years of experience in the IT world. To read more of Lance's articles, please visit his columnist page

Edited by Jennifer Russell
FOLLOW US

Subscribe to InfoTECH Spotlight eNews

InfoTECH Spotlight eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the IT industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter

infoTECH Whitepapers