Infotech Lead India: Microsoft India has urged the IT users to migrate to Windows 7 or Windows 8 from Windows XP or spend $300.
Interestingly, around 50-60 percent installed PC base in the enterprises are still running Windows XP.
Microsoft wants Indian enterprise users to migrate to benefit from new value additions.
Cost of upgrading (assuming no enterprise license agreement and three-year amortization period) will be $95 against the cost of non-migrating which will be $300 per 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.
A Microsoft press release quoting an IDC research says 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 8 April, 2014.
The IT giant is urging Indian enterprises to migrate to the newer version for benefiting from enhanced user experience; stronger ecosystem of players; better management of client devices; improved security and data protection; alignment to upcoming mobility adoption and becoming future touch-based application ready.
“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 India.
Regulations mandate newer technologies
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.
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.
One more way to sell a product