Companies are prone to spend three times more if they don’t plan to migrate from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8, according to a study conducted by the research firm IDC.

An estimate suggests that the cost of upgrading (assuming no enterprise license agreement and three-year amortization period) will be US$ 95 vis-à-vis the cost of non-migrating which will be US$ 300 per seat/user followed by almost a double the cost in the subsequent year, should they choose to opt for a custom support contract to stay on Windows XP post April 2014..

The study highlighted a v ital point that the non-migration cost is only the documentable cost as this does not include costs related to business loss due to security and data breach threats, productivity loss and other similar factors.

Microsoft plans to end support for Windows XP on April, 08, 2014 as it is three generations behind the current product technology.

It is therefore becomes necessary for companies to plan their migration and save cost in the long run. Companies should migrate to the newer version for 1) enhanced user experience, 2) stronger ecosystem of players, 3) better management of client devices, 4) improved security and data protection 5) alignment to upcoming mobility adoption and 6) becoming future touch-based application(s) ready.

“Approx 50-60% installed PC base in the enterprises are still running Windows XP. This is an alarming situation as non-migration puts businesses at risk of security breaches and could potentially create a big dent to the company’s brand image” said Amrish Goyal, Director, Windows Business Group Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. “It takes money to save money! Migration to newer and better technologies eventually gives high return on investment and saves a lot of money in the long run.”  
 
Companies like Bharti Airtel have seen savings of Rs. 2,000 per PC by moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. 

Regulations mandate newer technologies
Banking Regulations - Data security and data privacy in banks are driven by ITAA 2008, and stringent regulatory requirements by the Reserve Bank of India will mean that banks will not only have to be answerable for the loss of revenue but severe penalties due to ITAA 2008 and the associated cybersecurity and data protection requirement in India. Organizations that will ignore the risks and will not take the necessary steps to mitigate these risks (especially with the introduction of section 43A), will be liable to both its customers and the regulatory bodies.
 
Other Industry Regulations - As the companies mature and face increasing competition in the ever-globalizing economy, they are keen to have risk assessments done that are based on industry standards like ISO/IEC 27002:2005 (code of practice for information security management). These standards force companies to evaluate all forms of security risks and take mitigating steps to avoid security breaches and manage the key business and IT assets.

Further, when organizations put together their plans for migrating off of Windows XP, they should categorize their desktop infrastructure into four broad categories, and work towards addressing the plan for each of these.
 
Segment 1: PCs that are currently running Windows 7 or Windows 8 - For this segment of the PCs/users, it is important to review the applications and devices that these users are accessing and ensure that these applications and devices are fully compliant with both Windows 7 and Windows 8. This will ensure that the users will be able to benefit from the superior user experience that Windows 7 and Windows 8 delivers along with the security and manageability benefits.
 
Segment 2: PCs that were shipped with Windows 7 but were downgraded to Windows XP - For this segment of the PCs/users, if the hardware supports Windows 7/Windows 8, then a detailed migration plan should be put together that addresses various important issues, including addressing potential application compatibility issues.
 
Segment 3: PCs that do not have Windows 7 or Windows 8 compliant hardware- These machines were most probably bought during or before the release of Windows 7, and do not have the minimum hardware specs to run Windows 7/Windows 8. This segment of PCs/users should be considered for a hardware refresh (new PCs purchase) as the machines are already four years old or more.
 
Segment 4: PCs that are already slated for refresh (based on PC refresh cycle of the organization) - This segment of PCs/users should proceed with the purchase plan as budgeted. The team that is overall in charge of the migration might want to sync the purchase and deployment plan with the other segments so that the team can benefit from the synergies.

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