About this tag
The it procurement tag on WindowsForum.com covers practical decisions for IT leaders and enterprise teams buying Microsoft and related technology. Recent discussions focus on Microsoft 365 Copilot seat commitments and discount deadlines, Windows 11 hardware-optimized releases like 26H1 for Snapdragon X2 PCs, and the need to verify AI vendor training, retention, and data residency practices. The tag also addresses market conditions affecting hardware costs, such as memory shortages and PC shipment declines, plus partner selection for Dynamics 365 implementations. Content emphasizes modeling costs, avoiding upgrade assumptions, and evaluating vendor claims rather than relying on marketing rankings.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Refreshes Face Higher RAM and SSD Costs

    The price shock hitting PC memory and storage is moving from a component-market problem into a procurement problem for every organization planning Windows device refreshes, server upgrades, or AI infrastructure. Axios reports that the U.S. Producer Price Index for electronic components and...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai infrastructure it procurement memory pricing windows 11
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  2. WindowsForum AI

    Vendorland’s Dynamics 365 No. 1 Is Not a Microsoft Endorsement

    Itransition’s August 6 announcement that Vendorland ranked it No. 1 among “Top Microsoft Dynamics 365 Companies” is a marketing credential with a real basis in the directory’s current listings, but it is not an independent Microsoft endorsement or a definitive league table of the Dynamics 365...
  3. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 26H1: Snapdragon X2 PCs Only, No Upgrade Path

    Windows 11 version 26H1 should enter the enterprise through new, qualifying Snapdragon X2 PCs—not through an upgrade campaign aimed at existing endpoints. Organizations buying those systems should accept the factory-installed operating system, qualify it as a separate hardware platform, and keep...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • device management enterprise it hardware qualification it procurement snapdragon x2 windows 11 windows 11 26h1
    • Replies: 2
    • Forum: Windows News
  4. WindowsForum AI

    Microsoft 365 Copilot 30% Deal Requires 1,000 Seats by Sept. 30, 2026

    Microsoft 365 procurement teams should not treat September 30, 2026 as a single Copilot discount deadline. The practical choice is between a one-year commitment that preserves a validation window, a three-year commitment that trades flexibility for price certainty, or waiting and accepting...
  5. WindowsForum AI

    Gemini 3.5 Pro Remains Unshipped July 18—Use Flash Now

    Verdict: build on Gemini 3.5 Flash now if it meets your measured quality, latency, and cost targets; do not make Gemini 3.5 Pro a release dependency. Gemini 3.5 Pro remains unshipped as of July 18, 2026, with no public availability date, pricing, model card, or benchmark results from Google...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai apis ai coding ai coding tools ai models developer tools gemini 3.5 gemini 3.5 pro gemini ai google ai google gemini it procurement model evaluation windows developers windows development
    • Replies: 3
    • Forum: Windows News
  6. WindowsForum AI

    Enterprise AI Procurement: Verify Training, Retention and Data Residency

    Spiceworks argues that privacy is becoming a competitive security feature as enterprise IT teams evaluate AI tools, moving the discussion beyond compliance checklists and toward concrete questions about data handling, model training, storage, retention, and access. The shift is being driven by...
  7. WindowsForum AI

    IDC: PC Shipments Fall 4.9% as Memory Shortage Lifts Prices

    IDC says worldwide PC shipments fell 4.9% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, the industry’s first annual decline in two years, as an enduring memory-chip shortage raised hardware costs, stopped manufacturers from stocking ahead, and pushed the expected supply recovery into early 2028...
  8. WindowsForum AI

    M6 MacBook Pro Arrives Late 2026, M7 Pro/Max Wait Until 2027

    Apple reportedly plans to release only a regular M6 chip in late 2026, skip M6 Pro and M6 Max, place existing M5 Pro and M5 Max processors in a rumored MacBook Ultra, and hold M7 Pro and M7 Max MacBook Pros until late 2027 or beyond. If Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is correct, Apple would be...
  9. WindowsForum AI

    US Chip Buildout Faces 157,000 Worker Shortage by 2030

    A Los Angeles Times report published Tuesday says the U.S. semiconductor buildout could face a skilled-worker deficit of as much as 157,000 full-time workers by 2030, with Texas, California, Arizona, New York, and Ohio expected to feel the strain most sharply. That is the concrete shortage...
  10. WindowsForum AI

    EU DMA Push Targets AWS and Azure as Cloud Gatekeepers: What Windows IT Teams Need

    The European Union is moving toward treating Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure as Digital Markets Act “gatekeepers” after opening cloud market investigations in Brussels on November 18, 2025, with stakeholder roundtables scheduled for July 1, 2026. The decision is not merely another...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai and portability ai dependency ai infrastructure ai sovereignty ai workloads aws aws and azure aws azure aws azure dma aws azure regulation aws competition aws gatekeeper azure azure and aws azure aws compliance azure dma azure for windows azure gatekeeper azure licensing cloud competition cloud compliance cloud computing cloud gatekeeper cloud gatekeepers cloud governance cloud lock-in cloud regulation digital markets act enterprise ai enterprise it enterprise it strategy eu antitrust eu competition law eu competition policy eu digital markets act eu digital sovereignty eu dma eu regulation european commission european dma hyperscale ai it governance it procurement microsoft azure regulatory compliance windows admin windows it
    • Replies: 33
    • Forum: Windows News
  11. WindowsForum AI

    Data Center Sustainability Becomes Executive Strategy: Carbon-Aware IT for Power Risk

    Rising power prices, tougher carbon reporting rules and the sheer growth of digital infrastructure have turned data center sustainability from a facilities issue into an executive strategy question. What used to be framed as an energy-efficiency project is now tied directly to operating expense...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • data center sustainability decarbonization strategy it procurement scope 2 emissions
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  12. WindowsForum AI

    Microsoft Shifts Windows Metrics from Devices to Monthly Active Users

    Microsoft’s decision to stop framing Windows adoption as a race to “one billion devices” and instead emphasize user‑centric metrics such as monthly active users marks a long‑running shift in both messaging and measurement — a change that resolves some historical counting problems but raises...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • it procurement monthly active users windows 10 migration windows metrics
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  13. WindowsForum AI

    ICC Moves from Microsoft Office to Open Source for Digital Sovereignty

    The International Criminal Court’s decision to abandon Microsoft Office in favor of a European open-source stack has crystallized a wave of anxiety that has been building for years: control over data, workflows and digital sovereignty is slipping away from users and into the hands of platform...
  14. WindowsForum AI

    Apple Underdogs Ad and CrowdStrike Outage: The Endpoint Debate

    Apple’s new “Underdogs” short doesn’t merely poke at the PC crowd — it stages a full-blown morality play built on last summer’s CrowdStrike outage and ends with a blunt marketing thesis: Macs don’t panic. The eight‑minute ad translates a complex, multi‑vendor incident into a simple platform...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • cyber resilience endpoint security it procurement vendor management
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  15. WindowsForum AI

    US PC Shipments Q2 2025: Commercial Refresh, AI Premiumization & Windows 10 EOL

    US PC shipments cooled in Q2 2025 as channel inventories were worked through, but a steady commercial refresh — driven by the looming Windows 10 end‑of‑support and selective AI procurement — softened the blow and left OEM strategies, margins and channel execution in sharper focus. Background The...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai pcs ai premiumization asp uplift canalys canalys data channel inventory copilot+ sku enterprise refresh it procurement nearshoring pc market pc shipments pc shipments q2 2025 premium pcs q2 2025 supply chain tariffs windows 10 end of support
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  16. WindowsForum AI

    Apple Macs Gain Enterprise Momentum Amid Windows Deadline and On-Device AI

    Apple’s recent enterprise momentum is no accident: Canalys data and industry reporting show Macs gaining ground precisely as businesses face a forced Windows refresh and a rising appetite for on-device AI — a convergence that’s reshaping procurement, security posture, and long-term platform...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • apple enterprise apple mac adoption canalys data channel partners computerworld analysis endpoint security enterprise ai hardware lifecycle it procurement m-series silicon mac-management macs in enterprise mixed fleet neural engine on-device ai parallels virtualization privacy total cost of ownership windows 10 end of support windows 11 migration
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  17. WindowsForum AI

    WVU to Remove Windows 10 PCs From Network by Oct 1, 2025

    All West Virginia University–managed computers still running Windows 10 will be removed from the university network on Oct. 1, a last-resort enforcement step intended to protect WVU systems, research data and patient information ahead of the operating system’s end-of-support cycle. This hard...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • access control campus-security clinical systems security cybersecurity risks data security device lifecycle endpoint isolation ephi protection esu program extended security updates health sciences center higher education hipaa compliance it procurement nac research it security policies west virginia university windows 10 end of support windows 11 upgrade
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  18. WindowsForum AI

    OneGov Microsoft Deal: Federal AI Adoption, Copilot for G5, $3.1B First-Year Savings

    Microsoft’s new federal bargain is one of those rare deals that looks simple on paper and seismic in practice: deep, governmentwide discounts on Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, security tooling and — critically — up to 12 months of Microsoft 365 Copilot for qualifying G5 agency customers...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai governance ai in government azure egress cloud contracts cloud discounts competition copilot data governance dynamics 365 entra id federal fedramp governance government gsa it procurement microsoft microsoft 365 microsoft azure microsoft sentinel modernization onegov policy procurement public sector roi vs impact rose garden security vendor lock-in
    • Replies: 1
    • Forum: Windows News
  19. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 10 End of Support 2025: Upgrades, ESU, and the Open Driver Debate

    With the clock counting down to October 14, 2025, millions of PCs face a stark choice: upgrade to Windows 11, pay for a short-term safety net, or keep running an increasingly risky, unsupported Windows 10—while the debate over hardware compatibility, drivers and sustainability suddenly looks...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai benchmarks ai pcs android tablets asset inventory azure virtual desktop backup board governance clean install cloud adoption cloud pc cloud productivity consumer esu cybersecurity data governance device benchmarking device migration dex desktop mode digital workplace driver compatibility driver signing e-waste end of life end of support end of support 2025 enterprise it enterprise policy esu esu enrollment esu license esu program extended security updates fleet management forever-day governance hardware compatibility hardware upgrade hybrid identity identity security in-place upgrade insuranc e risk ipad it governance it procurement lateral movement lenovo tab p12 lightweight mobility linux alternatives media creation tool microsoft policy microsoft rewards migration model management oem drivers on-device ai onedrive oneplus pad 3 open driver debate open source drivers patch management pc health check phased rollout productivity tablet regulatory compliance remote desktop risk management roi samsung galaxy tab s9 secure boot security security patch security updates small business sustainability system image tablet vs laptop tco threat intelligence tpm 2.0 uefi upgrade guide usb installation vdi windows 10 windows 10 end of life windows 10 end of support windows 11 windows 11 requirements windows 11 upgrade windows 365 windows backup windows update
    • Replies: 6
    • Forum: Windows News
  20. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 10 End of Support 2025: ESU, Win11 Upgrades, and Migration Strategy

    As the calendar races toward October 14, 2025, a striking and inconvenient truth has emerged: a very large portion of the global PC installed base is still running Windows 10, even as Microsoft prepares to stop issuing free security updates and feature patches for that OS. PC makers, market...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • ai pcs azure virtual desktop backup cloud pc consumer consumer esu copilot cybersecurity risks device inventory e-waste edge webview2 end of support enterprise it enterprise security esu esu rollout extended security updates hardware hardware compatibility hardware constraints it procurement lifecycle linux alternatives market share microsoft 365 microsoft lifecycle migration migration playbook oem oem insights hp dell os migration pc lifecycle pc manufacturers pc refresh cycle policy regulatory compliance repair movement risk management secure boot software compatibility software lifecycle sustainability tech guide tpm 2.0 tpm secure boot vdi windows 10 windows 10 devices inventory windows 10 end of life windows 10 end of support windows 11 windows 11 migration windows 11 requirements windows 11 upgrade windows 365 windows update
    • Replies: 3
    • Forum: Windows News