VARs atop XP upgrade goldmine

VARs salute Microsoft's End of Life product support policy

Running out: Microsoft XP SP2 users have until July 13 to upgrade to SP3 or Windows 7

VARs could miss out on extra revenue by failing to help end users upgrade their Windows operating systems, Microsoft has warned.

The software giant is to cease support for Windows XP SP2 from 13 July as part of its wider End of Life (EoL) support policy, meaning users must upgrade to SP3 or Windows 7.

Ian Moulster, Windows product manager at Microsoft, said those who fail to do so will no longer receive security updates or software patches for XP SP2, leaving their systems vulnerable to attack.

“It is really important that people upgrade to Windows 7 or SP3 to ensure the operating system they are using is as feature-rich and secure as possible,” Moulster said.

Gareth Hall, Windows server product manager at Microsoft, said VARs could generate extra revenue by flagging up the issue.

“For our partners, it provides them with a good opportunity to re-engage with their existing customers and talk them through what their next step should be,” said Hall.
“The move from XP to Windows 7 is quite a big jump, so the support partners provide to customers will be absolutely vital.”

Paul Graville, director at Microsoft partner Concentra, complimented Microsoft on the timing of its XP support shutdown date: “The timing of the Windows XP announcement is particularly relevant because many of our customers are planning to upgrade to Windows 7 and Office 2010 at the same time.”

Sam Routledge, services director at Microsoft LAR Softcat, said the vendor’s XP SP2 EoL policy should prove very timely for VARs hoping to capitalise on the growing popularity of desktop transformations.

“A lot of customers did not upgrade from XP and have sweated out the recession using ageing hardware,” he explained. “These both present opportunities for VARs wanting to make extra revenue by addressing the desktop piece.”