- PCs that are over 4 years old have 3.2X likely chance to be repaired resulting in 132 hours of productive time lost which is 2.2X of newer PCs
- SMBs keen to make the shift to Windows 10 for elevating business growth, improving workforce productivity and reducing operational costs
New Delhi, 23 December 2019 – Small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India with PCs that are more than four years old and running older operating systems can experience more than double productivity losses as compared to newer PCs. Not just work efficiencies, older PCs expose organizations to security vulnerabilities and IT threats. Nearly 43% SMBs still own PCs that are more than four years old and are running older operating systems.
These findings were revealed in the latest Microsoft study[1] in partnership with global SMB IT market research and analyst organization TechAisle, which polled almost 2,000 SMBs across Asia Pacific.
SMBs that have already embraced modern workplace strategy have experienced higher productivity, reduced costs, and enhanced security. 95% of the SMBs surveyed agreed that adopting new PCs has reduced overall maintenance costs and 83% of them has seen higher productivity benefits.
Farhana Haque, Group Director – Devices, Microsoft India said, “Technology can be a real enabler for businesses, both small and large, and SMBs need to recognise the value that IT investment can bring to their present and future growth. SMBs employ over 110 million people in India, significantly contributing to India’s economic growth. Microsoft is helping SMBs in India realise their ambitions and succeed in this competitive marketplace.”
According to the study, the continued delay in SMBs’ adoption of newer technological infrastructure across business functions, was due to factors such as perceived app incompatibility and high costs associated with acquiring and maintaining new IT hardware and software. Nearly two-thirds of SMBs surveyed (66%) said they did not have a PC refresh policy nor were they actively pursuing it.
However, the reality is that the lack of a strategic PC refresh policy can result in greater repercussions in the long run. There is a 3.8 times higher chance of old PCs requiring repairs, which can result in at least 132 hours’ worth of productive time lost.
Ways to narrow the technology adoption gap include cloud adoption and Windows-as-a-Service. SMBs can refresh their older PCs as Windows-as-a-Service provides security patches and regular OS updates for optimized use. Concerns over app compatibility are addressed with Windows 10, the most app-compatible version of Windows-to-date with best practices including app telemetry, ISV partnerships for diagnostic data and troubleshooting as well as looping feedback cycles. With the upcoming Windows 7 End of Support, SMBs have to make their shift towards newer PCs and operating systems as users will no longer receive security updates or support for PCs running on Windows 7. This includes new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, and online technical content updates.
About Microsoft India
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 10,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian start-ups, businesses, and government organizations.
[1] The Microsoft Make the Shift study was conducted in September 2019. It involved 1,944 from 6 markets in Asia Pacific (Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand).
- Respondents were IT and business decision makers.
- Analysis has been conducted per size of businesses; sample of SMBs were classified by the no. of PCs within the businesses; (small businesses = 25-49 PCs, medium businesses = 50-99 PCs, larger businesses = more than 100 and up to 499 PCs)
