Companies Consider Cloud as Windows XP End-of-Life Looms, Evolve IP Survey Shows

WAYNE, Pa., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolve IP, The Cloud Services Company™, today unveiled research indicating that IT professionals and C-Level Executives are evaluating the consequences of Microsoft's plan to end support for the popular Windows XP operating system (OS) on April  8, 2014. According to a survey of more than 1,000 respondents, many companies are considering cloud and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) -- some for the first time -- as a new way for them to approach  IT.

As demonstrated in the survey and evidenced by Microsoft's extension of malware support through June of 2015, many businesses are unprepared to upgrade their systems to a platform other than XP. The survey revealed that 45 percent of respondents currently running XP machines would be unable or unwilling to upgrade away from the XP operating system by the end of support date. Respondents also clearly indicated that they are using the end of XP support as an opportunity to consider changes in how they deploy IT. Information on how companies plan to address the end of life of Windows XP support can be found in a Cloud Brief on the Evolve IP website: www.evolveip.net/xp-survey.

"As with any forced technological shift, Windows XP end of life creates an opportunity for companies to evaluate new ways of managing IT that would benefit their end-users and the IT pros who service them," said Scott Kinka, chief technology officer for Evolve IP. "Many companies that haven't yet migrated to the cloud and begun using virtual desktops will find the path to change easier, the support and service options more varied, and the benefits greater."

The survey, which focused primarily on mid-sized and larger firms, showed that an overwhelming 81 percent of respondents are aware of the upcoming plan to end Microsoft XP support on April 8. Still, 77 percent of North American businesses are still running the Windows XP operating system, and 59 percent of those businesses expect to have to continue using the XP operating system platform irrespective of security risks and other complications, as they evaluate potential IT changes.

The end of Windows XP support will prove to be a catalyst for change, according to the survey. Better than one in six of the respondents (17.5 percent) are considering cloud computing for the first time because of the end of support of XP, and 64.5 percent plan to incorporate some VDI into the mix.

Other findings include that 45 percent of respondents noted that anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of their computers are still running XP and one in 10 had between 90 to 100 percent of their end user devices running the XP operating system. Reasons given in the survey for not upgrading to a newer operating system included compatibility concerns coupled with a lack of time and budget.

Surprisingly, of the companies surveyed, 19 percent of all respondents were unaware of the end of support of XP and 30 percent of surveyed executives indicated they were unaware. Additionally, 40 percent of executives of smaller, mid-sized organizations (11-249 employees), where IT resources may be most constrained, were unaware of the upcoming change to support of XP.

Survey Methodology

Evolve IP conducted a blind, web-based survey in December, 2013 with 1,080 IT and executive decision maker respondents. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed were from organizations with between 50 and 2,999 employees, largely defined as mid-market. Seventeen percent had between 11 and 49 associates and 12.5 percent were enterprise with 3,000+.  Evolve IP customers were excluded. For full results of the survey, please visit http://www.evolveip.net/xp-survey.

ABOUT EVOLVE IP

Evolve IP is The Cloud Services Company™. Designed from the beginning to provide organizations with a unified option for cloud services, Evolve IP enables decision-makers to migrate all or select IT technologies to its award-winning cloud platform. Evolve IP's combination of security, stability, scalability, and lower total cost of ownership is fundamentally superior to outdated legacy systems and other cloud offerings. Today, over 50,000 customers across the globe depend daily on Evolve IP for cloud services like virtual servers, virtual desktops, disaster recovery, unified communications, contact centers, and more. Visit www.EvolveIP.net or http://blog.EvolveIP.net.

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SOURCE Evolve IP