It’s The End Of Life For Windows 7 – Act Now

Written by Jackie Ross

With extended support for Windows 7 ending in January 2020, this means no more security updates will be provided by Microsoft.

With advanced warnings of this change, you would expect that businesses would be making plans now for the move away from this older operating system. It seems however that this is not the case.

At Microsoft’s Inspire conference in July, it was estimated that 184 million Windows 7 machines remain in the commercial market and that’s excluding the substantial number in use in China. Of the 184 million machines still in use:

50% are within Enterprise
30% in Small & Mid-Size Business
30% in Government

So why do businesses overlook this meaningful change? Well, depending on the size of the business, it could perhaps be due to the:

Expense and the time involved
Moving line of business applications onto a new operating system
Training employees on the new system
Not fully understanding the potential risks and how this could impact business

With less than 18 months to go until Microsoft pulls support, now is the time for organisations to think strategically for the transition to Windows 10. With a proper plan in place, changes could be made and budgeted for over the course of this timescale. By continuing to use unsupported machines and failure to move over to the new platform, you increase your vulnerability to hacking or exploitation.

But there’s another incentive to move. When Microsoft released Windows 10, they introduced a new policy for the sustainability of their products and incorporated a new model known as Windows as a Service (WaaS). This provides continuous updates and support for current products, like Windows 10, making it easier for businesses to keep their systems up-to-date.

Migrating to a new operating system can be stressful so having a managed support provider with in-depth knowledge of Microsoft technical issues and system installation is crucial to keeping your business ticking over. If your business would like advice or help with this transition, get in touch with us today.