New Delhi, February 25, 2014 – Microsoft India today announced that more than 80% of PCs in large enterprises in India have successfully moved away from Windows XP, thereby reducing the risk to their operations.
“We want every PC in India to move away from Windows XP before support ends on April 8, 2014. Our customers use Windows operating system to run critical processes which help them at work and in their lives. Therefore it is important that they use a version of Windows that gives them the best possible security and capability,” said Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd.
With 28 working days left for businesses in India to secure their IT environments and migrate from Windows XP to a higher version, Indian enterprises have shown significant momentum in adopting Windows 7/ Windows 8. In the last eight months, there has been large scale migration from Windows XP to Windows 7/8. However, there are still about 16% of large enterprise computers that are active on Windows XP which pose a significant security risk to their organisations.
With end of support for its Windows XP solution kicking in on April 8, 2014, 12 years after it first launched, Windows XP computers will be a lot more vulnerable to security threats.
“This is a genuine threat to Indian businesses and it is worrying to see that many organizations in critical industries, for example banking, aren’t moving quickly enough,” added Mr. Bajwa.
As per the bi-annual Security Intelligence Report published by Microsoft in H2 2013, Windows XP installations are six times more likely to be infected by malware than Windows 8 machines. It is therefore important that organizations with critical systems such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the banking and financial services companies (BFSI) migrate to modern versions of Windows Operating System.
In addition to concerns over security, companies that do not upgrade will also face increased IT and maintenance costs. According to a report by IDC in 2013, companies continuing on Windows XP post April 8, 2014, will spend three times more on support and maintenance of their IT than those that will migrate to newer platforms.
Furthermore, continued reliance on Windows XP will have an impact on customer service and bottom line profitability. A report commissioned through Ascentius shows that delays in customer service due to security breaches will increase risking reputation and customer relationships. The waiting time for metro and urban bank branches is expected to rise to more than 30 minutes for an average transaction.
Microsoft extended the usual industry support period for Windows XP because the computer installed base (PCIB) was very high in the Indian market and Microsoft wanted to give time for swift migration.
Microsoft, along with its vast partner network, has been constantly assisting their customers to migrate to a modern system by providing ‘Customer Support’ to the parties that are unable to complete migration. OEM partners like HP, Dell, Lenovo and others are also fully committed to provide the customers with bases pre-installed with modern operating system.
(Please click here for CERT-in Advisory and here for Microsoft Security Intelligence Report)
About Microsoft:
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 6,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research and development and customer services and support, across nine Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune. Microsoft is committed to touching and transforming lives and businesses in India through technology.
