Windows XP holdouts are now living on borrowed time, with their systems becoming more vulnerable by the day with the end of Microsoft’s support. This means no more security updates and no more protection against new vulnerabilities – in other words, your systems are sat right in the cross-hairs of legions of cybercriminals and other ne’er do wells who’re just itching to get their hands on your company’s valuable data.

That’s not to say you’re going to need to upgrade RIGHT NOW. There’s still lots of things those living in a post-Windows XP world can do to protect their systems, but it definitely makes sense to have a plan in place to migrate to a newer operating system asap.

Oliver Richardson, Vice President, of Infrastructure Services, Market and Capability development at Avanade, told SiliconANGLE that a successful migration is really a business change and not just a technology implementation, and one that will lead to benefits far beyond simple security worries.

“The cost of doing nothing is going to keep increasing,” said Richardson in an interview. “Businesses should see the XP end-of-support event as an opportunity to upgrade the user experience while reducing operational costs.”

A daunting task?

There are a number of key issues that companies must address before moving to a newer operating system. The most important of these is deciding which operating system they’re going to run, be it Windows 7, Windows 8, or perhaps an open-source Linux flavor. Most will no doubt stick with Windows, and if so a migration to Windows 7 would most likely be faster and perhaps less ‘stressful’ for employees. Nevertheless, Windows 8 will provide more longevity, because Windows 7 support ends in 2020, which is less than six years away now.

“Windows 8.1 makes the most sense for most organizations, now that Microsoft has reduced the magnitude of user change by returning the start menu,” says Richardson. “Windows 7 and Windows 8 have a very similar application compatibility approach, so there is not a significant effort in using Windows 8.1 as the target operating system. This helps to take advantage of touch screen laptops and converters entering the market in 2014.”

The other key consideration is applications. While most applications now support Windows 7, it’s possible an organization has very old applications or versions that don’t. Application testing is therefore going to be of paramount concern.

“Application decisions are a key aspect in preparing for the deployment of Windows 7 or 8,” says Richardson. “It is important for organizations to have a method to analyze the application footprint and make future state application decisions.”

In recent weeks, Microsoft has been highlighting how a number of companies across different sectors are migrating to Windows 7 or Windows 8.

Last week, Japanese financial services company Resona Holdings announced it had switched approximately 30,000 client terminals to Windows 8 and Microsoft Office 2013 before XP end of support. Elsewhere, Cumberland Building Society in the UK also upgraded its NCR ATMs to Windows 7 in March, whilst the Hoerbiger Group migrated from Windows XP to Windows 7 with the support of Dell in January.

Businesses need to start planning their migration now. For those persevering with Windows XP, it’s not just the security issues they’ll need to work out. The cost of managing, protecting and maintaining an ancient operating system is only going to increase – and the only way to remedy this is by getting with the times.

photo credit: Alfred Hermida via photopin cc