Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) releases generally follow the same pattern. Use this knowledge to form a migration plan for IIS upgrades and related internal software development instead of treating each software upgrade as a point-in-time crisis.

IIS Release Timed to Gain Market Share

According to Port80 Software's survey of Fortune 1000 enterprises, the market share of IIS 5 with the Fortune 1000 peaked near 45%. The latest survey shows that the market share of IIS 6 doubled within the last year to 27%. If IIS 6 continues at the present growth rate, its market share will reach that of its predecessor as data centers begin adoption of IIS 7 (expected to launch in late 2007 with Windows "Longhorn" Server).

The data suggests a pattern to Microsoft's releases, see Figure 1. Each release appears timed to gain market share from the older platform it replaces. At any given time there are two IIS