The end (of XP) is nigh

There is well over a year before the end of XP support, but Kevin Gemmel advises getting migration under way today

Thursday 22 November marks 500 days until the end of XP support by Microsoft, but many businesses, especially large ones, are still running the older platform.

Microsoft consistently provides top-class support for its OSes, usually for 10 years – 13 in the case of XP – but this cannot go on forever and older ones eventually have to be left behind.

It means that Windows 7 will be a key product on which to focus over the next year. This also presents opportunities to offer new hardware to support the new software platform, in addition to the revenue streams from services such as application migration.

However, the main factor that should mean every company is already starting to move to Windows 7 or even 8 is the risk of a security breach. Once support for XP is discontinued, enterprises running XP will probably become more susceptible to cyberattack or system meltdown.

Furthermore, Windows 7 promises improved user account control. User accounts allow sysadmin to dictate exactly what each user can access and change on the network. On XP, without complicated configuration or add-in products, it was difficult to control access to every part of the system – potentially allowing users to make whatever changes they wanted.

Then there is the 64-bit computing angle – it is faster and more powerful, and more software is taking advantage of this power. While 32-bit computing will not disappear, upgrading could boost a customer's operational efficiency.

Since 2009, programmes have been written for Windows Vista and 7, and now Windows 8 compatibility. So to keep up to date, Windows 7 is a must.

Windows 7 is all about a faster, smarter user experience. Microsoft has reworked the OS to allow improved Wi-Fi capabilities and file sharing as well.

If your customer is too comfortable with the look of XP or has business-critical apps that simply will not run on a new OS (for example, if a newer version is not available), Windows 7 Professional allows users to run XP in a virtualised environment.

The first step is carrying out a full overview of your customer's application portfolio. What applications do they need to carry over to the new OS? What licences do they need? Do they have any business-critical apps that cannot be easily transferred?

A lot of larger organisations appear to be in a state of application chaos. They don't know how many apps they have, who is using them, or what they cost. And many have more applications than they need.

These are all issues that need to be addressed before a migration.

Kevin Gemmel is head of professional services at Camwood