XP still popular with NHS Trusts

Many plan to migrate but have not yet done so, survey suggests

Of 35 NHS Trusts asked if they were still using the obsolete Windows XP operating system, all said yes.

Citrix sent Freedom of Information Act requests to the NHS Trusts back in July in an attempt to find out if XP was still being used, and whether desktop virtualisation was on the radar.

Jason Tooley, UK country manager at Citrix, said: "These findings highlight a wider opportunity for NHS Trusts across the UK to harness technology today to transform IT processes for the better."

The desktop and application virtualisation vendor asked each Trust three questions: whether it had any devices running XP; when the last device would be migrated to a new version of Windows; and whether the Trust had deployed desktop virtualisation technology to address Windows XP migration.

The results hint that there could still be opportunities for the channel in assisting organisations to migrate from XP.

"Utilising IT – including desktop and application virtualisation – can positively affect the entire [NHS] workplace, delivering increased productivity and ultimately improved patient care," said Tooley.

XP will be supported until 8 April next year and most of the 35 Trusts polled said they planned to migrate by March 2015. Fourteen per cent indicated they were unsure when they would migrate, according to Citrix.

Five were using desktop virtualisation to specifically address XP migration, and two more were considering desktop virtualisation for next year, it said.