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For those who recently missed the deadline to migrate to Windows 10, extended Windows 7 support will be costly. And, with the current state of the threat landscape, companies can’t afford to go without critical patching and updates.
Those organizations who haven’t migrated to Windows 10 yet or executed a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement for 2020 are currently looking at hefty Windows 7 costs for extended support fees—or leaving their devices unprotected. With the support fees increasing every year, the cost of procrastination is only going up. Additionally, companies that push off paying Windows 7 extended support will still have to pay the full cost of earlier updates as Microsoft rolls “cumulative updates” into the support costs for later years for those who have not stayed up to date.
Your Options Now that the Deadline to Migrate to Windows 10 Has Passed
You can always continue paying premiums for extended Windows 7 support and pushing back the inevitable move to Windows 10 until all support ends entirely at the close of 2022. That means you’ll continue paying double the cost for each device next year (and double the price of that in 2022).
For those on Windows 7 Pro, the costs are even higher. Those looking to rely on Extended Security Updates (ESUs) to potentially secure Windows 7 support through January 2023 do so not only with a high price tag attached, but without new features, customer-requested non-security updates, or design change requests.
Missing the deadline that passed in January 2020 doesn’t mean you’re stuck in this loop of high costs and low returns, however.
Start Planning Your Migration to Windows 10 and Ditch the Windows 7 Support Fees
You’re currently paying the price for procrastinating this long, either through support fees with Microsoft or through the gamble you’re taking by remaining unsupported (and unpatched). For those already committed to extended Windows 7 support for the year, you’ve bought yourself more time to plan, prepare, and migrate your end users to Windows 10 the proper way.
Protecting Productivity While You Migrate to Windows 10
Maintaining your growth and forward-momentum during a migration is key to a successful project. When preparing for your migration to Windows 10, it’s crucial to keep in mind the amount of downtime required and how much downtime you can actually afford.
It’s typically best to migrate to Windows 10 after hours so you can avoid taking away time spent selling and support your customers. Unfortunately, many companies just don’t have the willing bandwidth and expertise necessary for after hours projects. That’s why many organizations are turning to outsourced field services to help them complete their strategic initiatives like the migration to Windows 10.
Easing the Transition from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for Your End Users
Maintain end user support for your initiative to migrate to Windows 10 after the deadline by capturing the user environment in place and reloading user-specific environments. With the familiarity of their old environment mirrored in Windows 10, your end users will find the transition away from Windows 7 easier,
Unfortunately, for many companies with lean IT teams, making these adjustments for each end user at every location just isn’t feasible with their current resources.
Turning to the Experts to Migrate to Windows 10 After the Deadline
With tens of thousands of Windows 10 migrations completed before the deadline to move to Windows 10, and multiple simultaneous migrations underway across the globe, CentricsIT has developed a Center of Excellence operational offering that leverages several of our core capabilities to create a complete asset solution.
With our asset lifecycle services underpinned by our expertise in and use of best-in-class tools, the CentricsIT team of top technology engineers delivered a unified, organized result to organizations anywhere in the world, with minimal impact to their daily productivity.
You might have missed the deadline to migrate to Windows 10, but you don’t have to pay the full price of procrastination. CentricsIT is here with the industry knowledge to help you make the transition to Windows 10 before the next Windows 7 support increase.
