The 2020 Problem – Will It Affect Your Business?
(as featured in The Herts Advertiser https://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/harpenden-expert-warns-business-of-imminent-security-threat-1-5988092)
So, GDPR is in full swing and you’re up to date with your data protection responsibilities ( if not, let us know we can help 😊 ).
Unfortunately, there’s now another time-bomb ticking that all businesses need to know about. In January 2020 all of the following software reaches the end of its life:
Small Business Server 2011
Windows Server 2008
Exchange 2010
Windows 7
Office 2010
Nearly 1 in 3 businesses rely on this software to function, So It’s quite likely you do too!
This will be is a big (not to mention expensive) problem for businesses if they don’t budget and act soon…
So what does “end of life” actually mean?
End of Life (or EOL) means Microsoft will no longer support and fix the software. Microsoft will abandon it in order to focus on supporting newer software.
This creates four key problems for businesses still using it:
- If it breaks… it’ll stay broken.
- If you need support on a problem you’ve not come across before, there’ll be no-one there to help.
- Your business will no longer be GDPR compliant. GDPR requires that any software you use is suitable. End of life software doesn’t count.
- This is the biggie – end of life software is commonly targeted by hackers. They can exploit old vulnerabilities safe in the knowledge that Microsoft won’t spot what they’re doing and fix the problem. The end of security updates creates huge data security problems.
I know it seems like 2020 is a long way away but it really isn’t. You need to plan your IT budget to include the cost of upgrading software and possibly hardware too.
This issue will affect half of all businesses. IT companies are going to get very busy sorting this out, particularly towards the end of the year so it makes good sense to get on this ASAP.
We think this is so important to be aware of Nathan has even written a book all about it. You can get hold of your FREE copy HERE
To encourage Businesses to get moving with this now we are offering a FREE Network Audit. This is a comprehensive report that will tell us exactly what software is running on your network. We will advise you of any upgrades needed. We normally charge £1000 + to produce a report like this so we are only offering while we have availability, seriously, don’t leave it too long. You can Book HERE
