The countdown has begun…

Now that the New Year’s celebrations are out of the way, there’s another countdown to look forward to… except this one doesn’t involve champagne and party poppers!

This time next year, half of all businesses are going to be affected by a big problem. In fact, IT professionals are calling it the 2020 problem. And, this month’s guide takes a closer look at what’s to come and what you can do about it.

Basically, some of the most commonly used business software is coming to the end of its life in 2020. And when it does, it will no longer be supported by Microsoft.

That means that anyone still using that software will be in big trouble. Not only will there be nobody to fix it when things go wrong (and it’s inevitable they will). But out of date software also means your business won’t be compliant with GDPR.

So, all that effort you made to tick all those data protection boxes last year will count for nothing. And then there’s the hackers. Cyber criminals love companies who don’t upgrade old software because it leaves them extremely vulnerable to attack. Those who continue to squeeze their end of life software right down to the very last breath are easy prey, and once the cyber baddies spot a way in, they’ll happily swoop down and create carnage.

Here’s a list of the software that’s going to expire in January next year:

• Windows 7
• Office 2010
• Exchange 2010
• Small Business Server 2011
• Windows Server 2008

Why it’s important to act now…

We know what you’re thinking. “But 2020 is a year away, I’ll just leave it for a few months”. While we understand that it can seem like there’s always pressure on businesses to invest in the biggest, shiniest piece of new IT kit, we promise we really do have your best interests at heart here. It’s always tempting to put things The countdown has begun…on the backburner for a while, but when it comes to computer upgrades, leaving everything until the last minute is a recipe for disaster.

Time flies, and a year in business is a fast one. The dreaded GDPR is a perfect example of this. 8 months on, and thousands of organisations are STILL not compliant with the new regulations because they left everything to the last minute and then panicked. Burying your head in the sand is always a terrible idea, especially when it comes to things that can cost you huge amounts of money – and customers – if you get caught out.

There are loads of benefits of upgrading your software early and, as always, we’re here to help and guide you through the process. So, if you’d like to discuss the above in more detail, or have any other IT related questions, please feel free to give us a call on 020 72 41 22 55 or fill out our contact form and we’ll quickly get back to you.