The fortune tellers over at CCS Insight are forecasting good things for Microsoft, claiming its Windows Phone OS is set to become the number two platform for enterprise users by 2016.

Speaking to The Register, Nick McQuire, VP of Enterprise Research at CCS Insight said Windows Phone, which is soon to be revamped as “Windows 10”, will surpass Android and BlackBerry as the top alternative to Apple among business users. He cited a number of factors, including the fact Windows phones are about eight times cheaper than iPhones, improved packaging and integration from Microsoft, and the success the Office 365 software suite.

“As corporates buy apps and devices, there is much more value end-to-end in a Microsoft solution,” said McQuire.

The good news is it won’t just be the big enterprises that see the benefits of Windows phones, but also smaller companies that wish to leave their IT in the cloud.

Microsoft will be helped in its efforts by OEMs like Lenovo Group Ltd., LG Corp. and Sony Corp, which have all relied heavily on the Android platform until now. These companies have struggled to compete with infinite number of handsets Samsung is offering, and will try to differentiate themselves by building business-oriented devices running Windows. Lenovo, in particular, is likely to offer discounted PC and mobile bundles to businesses, and, depending on the country, will likely use its recently acquired Motorola brand for the latter.

Windows 10 is likely to be a more appealing platform for business users than its predecessor, given the efforts Microsoft has made to make it more palatable for the enterprise. Besides getting rid of, or redesigning, some of the most hated features of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, Redmond’s engineers have built three new security features into the latest preview build of Windows 10. These include multi-factor authentication, separation of corporate and user data and a signing service that whitelists trusted apps to protect against threats like malware.

Whether or not McQuire’s prediction comes true is anybody’s guess, but Windows 10 so far looks like the real deal, and it’s important that Microsoft is moving toward merging its various Windows suites into a single, unified platform. If Windows 10 ever gains the same kind of popularity as Windows 7 or Windows XP on the desktop, it would be a powerful catalyst to the company’s mobile business.

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