Citrix see this migration issue as an opportunity for its customers to do something different. Rather than just a technology refresh, they can examine the fundamentals of how they use technology and look at how they could become more efficient in the process.
At the same time that companies are looking at how to move away from XP, they are also facing the developing challenge of how should they work with all the devices that are in the organisation. That is something that the migration process can help them address.
BYOD
“For example, if you virtualise you gain the opportunity of embracing new devices that are coming into the organisation in a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme, as well as look at where you could roll out thin clients. You can repurpose old PCs by centralising and virtualising the applications so they can be delivered to any device,” she says.
“By centralising and virtualising your applications you can continue to drive value out of the hardware you already have. Going out to do PC refreshes in this day and age is pretty much unnecessary.”
Citrix has operated one of the oldest BYOD programmes in the tech sector and O’Rourke Veitch says that 50% of its staff did their own Windows 7 upgrade.
“That can be the future and that’s quite powerful not just for this XP-related issue, but also for future upgrades coming down the road.”
For companies thinking of moving from Windows XP to mixed OS environments, it is tempting to look at the relatively rock bottom costs of hardware running mobile operating systems, in particular Android.
Mobile OS
Despite offering PCs running Android to consumers, Hewlett Packard’s Ben Cranks says that rolling out a mobile OS is a move that enterprise class companies should look at very cautiously.
“Right now, the challenge with any kind of mobile OS, be it Apple’s iOS or Android in an enterprise environment, is their relative lack of manageability relative to active directory control platforms like Windows Phone or indeed Windows itself,” he says
“That is a significant concern for businesses because while you can get third party mobile device management suites, their record isn’t particularly good in terms of dealing with updates from manufacturers. More to the point, if you buy an Android device you have to ask at what point do you stop getting software updates?”
This long term support issue is currently the single biggest impediment to the adoption of mobile operating systems to the enterprise, and Cranks says that HP has to make sure that customers understand that when they consider mobile devices.
“These devices offer great solutions for today but if there are security flaws discovered in Android 4.3 or 4.4 in the next 12 months, can I guarantee we’re going to have a software update for you? No, I can’t,” he says.
“At the same time, if you have a project for which an Android device suits, then they are extremely competitive in terms of price. If you’re looking for devices to hand out with catalogues pre -loaded or as devices for accessing the web, they’re very hard to argue with.”
Leaving the cost aside, the major issue he says is that such devices present a problem from an auditing point of view.
“If things go wrong can you say that your devices are robustly managed and secure and that you have a watertight audit trail? It’s very easy to do that with Windows.”
Cranks points out that from a security point of view, over the last ten years Windows has had the kitchen sink thrown at it and as a result is extremely robust.
“Every operating system has vulnerabilities and there is no such thing as a truly secure OS, but this is one that has seen a lot of abuse over the years.”
Lease plan
Of course, another option in the migration field can help to offset costs and still allow for hardware and software upgrades.
“We are getting many requests from clients and partners alike who are seeking to upgrade not only their software, but also their hardware,” said Eoin Christian, managing director, GRENKE Leasing.
“The market presents many options from a simple software upgrade, to BYOD, to desktop virtualisation. Whichever route you go down you can be faced with substantial costs.
“Leasing makes the cost of it less painful, as it converts the often prohibitive capital outlay into a much more manageable series of payments over a fixed term.
It also makes handling any future upgrades much simpler as the potential to refresh hardware and/or upgrade software at any point during the term of the lease is always built into the lease offering,”
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