MANILA, Philippines -- Local companies aren’t completely migrating to Windows Vista just yet not only for end-user reasons, according to a local Symantec executive.

Vic Ciencia, Symantec Philippines systems engineering manager, said most network administrators are instead deploying Windows Vista in phases.

"For a lot of end-users, there are still applications that were built and designed to run on Windows NT (the previous server version of Windows)," Ciencia said in an interview. "And there are those who want to see first how other companies are doing, meaning they are not as aggressive."

Microsoft launched Vista late last year followed by its server version (formerly codenamed Longhorn) early this year.

Symantec, meanwhile, is introducing a solution called Altiris, which automates desktop management tasks such as installations of Windows Vista into end-user PCs.

Desktop management solutions are designed to allow network or system administrators to automate tasks such as installing upgraded and security patches.

These types of solutions, though, seek to enable companies to get a better view of resources such as hardware, software and even networking resources, including bandwidth.

Symantec announced partnerships with hardware vendors HP, Dell, IBM and Fujitsu and also software makers Oracle and Microsoft. Dell servers, for example, will come with a preconfigured Altiris client interface.

Ciencia added that the growth of mobile computing has added to the complexity of auditing a company's IT resources. On migration to Windows Vista, meanwhile, he said there has been less resistance now from end-users.

"As long as everything is transparent, meaning they are more or less familiar with available applications, they are fine with the new OS," he said.