Ovum: Life after XP support axe will be no different

Analyst suggests investing in virtualisation or tablets is better value than ditching the 12-year-old OS

Analyst Ovum has hit back at industry encouragement to migrate from XP by declaring that it does not think life after the operating system's (OS) support ceases will be any different.

From 8 April 2014, Microsoft will discontinue support for its 12-year-old OS, which has led to a wave of firms rallying end users to migrate as soon as possible to avoid potential security threats.

But today, Ovum said that, providing end users are up to date with the latest patches, fixes and security software, it will be business as usual.

According to its research, 28 per cent of corporate Windows machines run XP, and the firm's principal analyst Richard Edwards suggested investment in other technologies can be more productive and cost-effective than ditching XP.

"There is no reason to believe that life after 8 April 2014 will be any different than before it," he said.

"Used in conjunction with application virtualisation, virtualised desktop infrastructure (VDI) can bring expensive-to-run distributed desktop environments back under centralised control and administration.

"[Another option is to] consider replacing Windows XP laptops with tablet computers. A Windows laptop is overkill for many field-based employees, and they cost much more to service and support than an Android or iOS tablet."

On Monday, to mark the one-year countdown to the support ceasing, application portfolio management firm Camwood claimed that firms continuing to run XP could be stung by between $200,000 (£130,000) and $500,000 for custom support.

Microsoft weighed in too, and its director of Windows Erwin Visser urged businesses not to take security risks by continuing to run the OS.