Support for Windows XP and Office 2003 ending soon

In 2002 Microsoft introduced its Support Lifecycle policy based on customer feedback. The policy provided more transparency and predictability of support for Microsoft products. As per this policy, Microsoft Business and Developer products, including Windows and Office products, receive a minimum of 10 years of support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended Support), at the supported service pack level.

Thus, Windows XP introduced in 2001 and Office 2003 will go out of support on April 8, 2014.

What does this mean to your business? It means you should take action sooner rather than later! After April 8, 2014, there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates.

Running Windows XP and Office 2003 in your environment after their end of support date may expose your company to potential risks, such as:

Security & Compliance Risks:

Unsupported and unpatched environments are vulnerable to security risks. This may result in an officially recognized control failure by an internal or external audit body, leading to suspension of certifications, and/or public notification of the organization’s inability to maintain its systems and customer information.

Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware Manufacturers support:

A recent industry report from Gartner Research suggests “many independent software vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions of applications on Windows XP .  And it may stifle access to hardware innovation: Gartner Research further notes that, most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.  In addition, many new and updated software programs like Office 2013 are written only to support modern operating systems like Windows 7 or 8.

Get current with Windows and Office:

This option has upside well beyond keeping you supported. It offers more flexibility to empower employees to be more productive, while increasing operational efficiency through improved PC security and management. It also enables your organization to take advantage of latest technology trends.

If your organization has not started the migration to a modern desktop operating system, you should plan to do so now. To ensure you remain on supported versions of Windows and Office please reach out to your Beringer Associates sales representative or contact us at sales@beringer.net or 856-910-7771.