Like Spinal Tap’s famous Marshall amps — “These go to 11!” —  the new Windows 10 operating system promises more power than most.

Of course, the Spinal Tap movie was satire, and those guitar amplifiers weren’t actually louder than others. But there’s no doubt about Windows 10. It’s truly far more than a basic OS for PCs. In fact, Windows 10 is quickly becoming a full-fledged service.

For solution providers, the implications are huge. With Windows 10 providing much more than basic OS functions, you too can do much more for your clients than simply deploy. The services end of Windows 10 could be just the ticket for establishing long-term relationships with your clients.

Just last month Microsoft updated Windows 10 with two IT services. One of them, Windows Update for Business, is designed to help IT professionals deploy updates. The other, Windows Store for Business, aims to help IT find, acquire, manage and distribute apps. Microsoft is also beta-testing a Windows 10 security service called enterprise data protection; it promises to help organizations protect their valuable information by separating and containing corporate data from consumer data.

There’s little doubt that your customers are moving to Windows 10. Microsoft says there are at least 110 million active Windows 10 devices now. And earlier this year, market watcher IDC surveyed 600 SMB executives in France, Germany and the UK, and it found that 40 percent of them plan to upgrade to Windows 10 within the next 12 months. More recently, research and advisory firm Gartner predicted that fully half of all enterprises worldwide will have started Windows 10 deployments by this time next year, making 10 the most widely installed version of Windows ever.

Grow with Windows

Does that sound like an opportunity you and your customers want to miss? I didn’t think so.

Fortunately, you have several ways to help clients get the most from Windows 10 — while simultaneously growing your own business.  

First, blogs Gavriella Schuster, general manager of Microsoft’s worldwide partner group, thinks of Windows as a service opportunity. “Customers,” she writes, “are very excited by the fact that Windows will deliver innovation over time. At the same time, though, there are some concerns they have, as this is very different than what they are used to doing today. We see this as a great opportunity for you to be their trusted advisor to help them better understand the change and help them find the balance between the agility they are looking for and the control they need.”

Then use profitability financial models to make sure your Windows 10 practice is a money-maker, advises Jen Sieger, a Microsoft senior business strategy analyst. She recently published a few of these models, and she has also provided insights into how you can use them for the best results.

While tech is great, don’t forget the people. At a Windows 10 devices briefing in October, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “No single device will be the hub forever. The hub is you.” That’s why Windows 10 is not just an OS, but an integrated platform. One, you could say, that truly goes to 11.

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