Revealed: the cost of not migrating from XP

New research claims some businesses without software assurance could pay $500,000 a year for extra support if they don't upgrade

One in five businesses plan to keep using Windows XP after Microsoft halts support for the OS next year, according to new research, which claims that the firms could end up paying an extra $500,000 (£327,000) a year for additional support.

The report, which was commissioned by application portfolio management firm Camwood, surveyed 250 IT managers from companies with more than 2,000 staff at the start of February this year.

Microsoft launched a support cycle for XP in 2002 and announced it would end from 8 April 2014.

From then, it will no longer offer security updates, hotfixes, free or paid support options or online technical updates to users. It added that migration off the OS could take anywhere between 18 and 32 months.

Although 82 per cent of respondents knew that Microsoft was ending support for the OS, 40 per cent said they have yet to start migration despite intending to, while 20 per cent plan to keep using XP anyway, the report found.

The white paper quoted Gartner research which says that firms with software assurance agreements would have to spend $200,000 a year for custom support, a figure which rises to $500,000 for those without it.

Despite the potentially hefty costs facing firms that choose not to migrate, 16 per cent of survey respondents said the cost involved in the migration is what is putting them off upgrading in the first place. A quarter of those in the midst of an upgrade were also concerned about the expenses involved.

The report added that the tough economic climate is discouraging businesses from upgrading, but refusal to do so could cause more problems further down the line.

It said: "In these tough economic times, it is perhaps not surprising that businesses do not want to invest a substantial amount of money in something that essentially is not broken, as is the case with Windows XP right now.

"Senior management in those organisations that have yet to start migrating may not fully understand or appreciate the level to which unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks."

Microsoft was unavailable to comment, but on its website, it urged users to begin moving off XP as soon as possible, and said firms that are yet to begin upgrading are late.