Did you spot in our article in the Hull Daily Mail business section today?
"A HULL IT company is warning businesses to take action as Microsoft prepares to end support for some of its most popular software. Microsoft will end support for Windows XP, Office 2003 and email software Exchange 2003 on April 8.
Genesis Business Systems, a Microsoft partner based in Goulton Street, is now offering free consultations to discuss migration requirements to ensure firms are ready for the deadline. After April 8, the IT giant will seize security updates for both Windows XP and Office 2003. Customers will also no longer be able to access support for the software.
Luke Pykett, marketing manager at Genesis, said: “A lot of businesses are simply unaware of the changes that are coming into effect and that, to us, is concerning.
“We are getting more and more people coming to us and asking for our support to help make the migration across to newer systems as there are a lot of businesses still using XP.“Because the support and security updates from Microsoft cease, businesses that are operating using XP will be at serious risk after from April 8.
“Windows XP is 12 years old and is the second most popular operating system worldwide and as a Microsoft partner we are offering free consultations to businesses to get them up to date and limit the risks associated with the change.
As every business system is different, we need to start looking at requirements moving forward sooner rather than later”
According to Microsoft, more than 30 per cent of the Small and Medium Business (SMB) market are still running Windows XP and Office 2003, with only 55 per cent of SMBs aware of the End of Support (EOS).
Mr Pykett said: “As more software and hardware manufacturers continue to optimise for more recent versions of Windows, you can expect to encounter greater numbers of applications and devices that do not work with Windows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003.”
Microsoft is already warning businesses that have not started the migration to a modern desktop that they are “late”.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said: “Based on historical customer deployment data, enterprise deployment can take months from business case through to full deployment.
“To ensure you remain on supported versions of Windows and Office, you should begin your planning and application testing immediately to ensure you deploy before end of support.”
Genesis Business Systems, Goulton Street, Hull, HU3 4DD
