In an interview with vnunet.com, high street bank HSBC has criticised Microsoft's moves towards subscription-based licensing, claiming that it forces too fast an upgrade cycle with few benefits for business users.
Alan Jebson, worldwide group IT director at HSBC, told the UK Website that the bank, which has over 180,000 desktops, would resist moves to subscription licensing.
"It is more cost effective in the long-term for us to repurchase the software, rather than subscribe to updates that provide little or no direct business benefit, and which we therefore consider unnecessary," he is quoted as saying.
Jebson explained to vnunet that the bank will stick with its five-year upgrade cycle. "Microsoft's view of the normal replacement cycle did not correspond with our experience," he said.
HSBC is currently moving from Windows NT to Windows XP.
Gordon McKenzie, EPG manager for retail banking at Microsoft, told vnunet that each updated version of the software adds valuable new functionality for business users.
"We are always adding functionality to make deployment and management easier and we are actively working with the banks to understand their business," he said.