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As XP Support Ends, TWinFM asks Who's Afraid of an Enterprise Upgrade?

08 April 2014 | Updated 01 January 1970
 
Almost twelve years ago (24 April 2002), Microsoft published an article from which extracts are taken below. It was entitled 'Who's Afraid of an Enterprise Upgrade?'

Now, on the day that Microsoft removes support for its most popular operating system, the same question could be asked. The answer would be lots and lots of individuals, SMEs, corporates and even governments. Some have said that up to 25% of XP users have not prepared any migration plans - but most think this is laughable and claim that at the very least this figure stands at 75%. And of course, this also includes the worlds' banks - most ATMs still run on XP with no real plans in place to migrate to mitigate the inherent security issues.

And it is security that is at the heart of the matter. Microsoft will no longer provide security patches for XP. One might wonder why patches are needed for a system first launched in 2001 - haven't all the potential break-ins been sorted. No - as this article in ThisWeekinFM revealed (click here), Microsoft still pays handsomely to anyone that can hack its products in a legitimate competition for the sake of development. The implication is the rewards for doing it clandestine are far greater.

 

Millennium bug to the power of six

One industry commentator has already described the end of XP support as the new Millennium Bug with another stating that it is the Millennium Bug to the power of six (a play on the admission by Microsoft that XP is already six times more vulnerable that Windows 8).

Scaremongering blogs have stated the lack of response has left the world open to mischief, theft and terrorism but meanwhile, Microsoft is playing things down with the following statement: 'What is Windows XP end of support? Microsoft has provided support for Windows XP for the past 12 years. But now the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences. As a result, after April 8, 2014, technical assistance for Windows XP will no longer be available, including automatic updates that help protect your PC. Microsoft will also stop providing Microsoft Security Essentials for download on Windows XP on this date. (If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you will continue to receive antimalware signature updates for a limited time - until July 2015 - but this does not mean that your PC will be secure because Microsoft will no longer be providing security updates to help protect your PC.) If you continue to use Windows XP after support ends, your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Also, as more software and hardware manufacturers continue to optimize (sic) for more recent versions of Windows, you can expect to encounter greater numbers of apps and devices that do not work with Windows XP.'

 

Two year warning

Much of the tone of Microsoft's language is aimed at individual/personal users and simply bypasses the mess big organisations and governments have found themselves in. The UK is expected to pay £5.5million a year for ongoing support as will governments across Europe who all depend on XP to support their IT infrastructures. But it is clear that as Microsoft scales down 'just' to handle this work, security issues grow. And of course with developers building for Windows 7 and 8, many organisations will not be able to tap into advances and efficiencies. This is despite the fact that the end of XP had been predicted some time before the official announcement two years ago.

 

Who's Afraid of an Enterprise Upgrade?

ThisWeekinFM found this article on large companies making the transition to Windows XP and Office XP in 2002 lurking in some old press archives and thought it might make interesting reading.

Imagine you're a cook, assigned to get 20,000 people eating in a crowded cafeteria to exchange their regular meal for a new dish. You'd need to consider and accommodate each diner's personal preferences without mixing them up, as quickly and with as little impact on the meal as possible. Imagine the organisation and planning ahead of you and the kitchen staff.

Sound stressful? Welcome to the world of upgrading enterprise software.

Information technology (IT) professionals face many analogous challenges when upgrading a company's enterprise desktop software. As any conversion must take place as transparently as possible, with minimal disruption of work, tools are an important element to help plan, manage and roll out new software.

Many businesses that have moved up to Windows XP and/or Office XP have found the upgrade process relatively smooth and painless -- online tools and improved stability have helped reduce requirements on IT staff and lower costs.

 

Case study

Black & Veatch's network environment had turned complex in several ways. Its 7,200 client PCs, scattered in about 90 U.S. offices and dozens more overseas, were configured in some 300 different ways and presented more than 70 operating system 'images' (settings and programs loaded onto each machine). Costs to deploy new machines into the system and maintain existing ones, ran over $2 million per year.

In a Windows NT environment, deploying a new PC would take about two days. With Windows XP it can be reduced by about 30 percent.

Black & Veatch also expects further savings from upgrading from Office 97 to Office XP. It anticipates the enhanced document sharing and collaboration tools will help it get business proposals and critical documents to their clients 10 percent faster, by reducing the number of document review cycles. Improved stability and reliability have reduced Office-related help desk calls, further reducing ownership costs.

 

Windows 8 Enterprise - taken from Microsoft website and abbreviated

As many customers are likely at various stages of operating system migration, Microsoft would like to assist you by outlining considerations that will help determine the best Windows deployment path for your organisation.

 

Customers with Windows 8 deployment in progress:

Organizations that acquired Windows 8 Pro through a Volume License agreement are licensed for Windows 8.1 Pro even if their Software Assurance expired prior to the general availability of Windows 8.1 Pro. This does not apply to Windows 8 Enterprise; you must have active Software Assurance for the Windows desktop operating system to have rights to Windows 8.1 Enterprise licenses. Volume Licensing customers can download Windows 8.1 Pro and Windows 8.1 Enterprise through the Volume Licensing Service Center and new customers can purchase these products through Microsoft Volume License Resellers.

 

Customers with Windows 7 deployment in progress:

Now is the time to migrate off of Windows XP due to the operating system’s end of support. Identify employees and user groups that can benefit most from Windows 8.1 capabilities and deploy Windows 8.1 for those people, alongside Windows 7.

 

Windows XP customers and early stage Windows 7 migrations:

Focus on an accelerated departure from Windows XP, with the goal to move to an environment with Windows 8.1 deployed side-by-side with Windows 7. Determine which parts of your organisation will benefit most from specific Windows 8.1 capabilities and which will be best suited to deploy Windows 7.

 

Windows Vista customers:

Did anyone really buy Vista Enterprise? asks TWinFM.

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 08 April 2014

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