AUSTIN, TX – December 18, 2013 –, Spiceworks, the vertical network for IT, today announced the results of a new report exploring the plans, considerations and issues IT professionals are addressing as Windows XP end-of-life (EOL) nears. The study, “Getting Over Your XP,” revealed that 76 percent of IT professionals run Windows XP on some devices today, and of those, 36 percent will leave Windows XP on at least one device as the operating system EOLs. The independent study was sponsored by CDW, a provider of integrated information technology solutions.
“The data clearly illustrates how prevalent Windows XP remains 12 years after its initial release,” said Kathryn Pribish, Voice of IT program manager at Spiceworks. “The next four months will be a busy time for the majority of IT professionals migrating XP-based systems and for the vendors who can provide professional services and support for resource-strained IT departments.”
Survey highlights include:
IT professionals clearly favor a migration to Windows 7
- Ninety-six percent of IT professionals said they’re running Windows 7 on their network today compared to 42 percent running Windows 8 or 8.1, and 30 percent running Apple’s OS X.
- Of those IT professionals who still run Windows XP on company desktops and/or laptops, 49 percent plan to upgrade at least some of their devices to Windows 7, while seven percent of IT professionals plan to upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1.
- Forty-eight percent of the IT professionals who still run Windows XP on company desktops and/or laptops plan to decommission some of these devices and purchase new Windows 7-based machines. Twelve percent plan to decommission and purchase Windows 8 or 8.1-based devices.
- Seventy-four percent of IT professionals cited the importance of “maintaining a similar user experience” as the primary reason why they’re planning to upgrade to Windows 7-based devices.
IT professionals expect bumps along the migration road
- When IT professionals were asked why they haven’t already migrated their company’s XP devices, 55 percent cited a lack of budget, 39 percent referenced a lack of time, and 31 percent said they didn’t have the resources needed.
- Sixty-eight and 59 percent of respondents have already started the process of upgrading device operating systems or purchasing entirely new devices respectively.
- Seventy-four percent of respondents are “somewhat,” “very” or “extremely” confident their XP migration plan will work, while 26 percent are “not very” or “not at all” confident in their plans.
“Organizations currently maintaining PCs on Windows XP need to understand that they will put their networks and data at high and increasing risk if they continue to use it after Microsoft discontinues support in April,” said Scott DeTota, senior director, product and partner management, CDW. “Upgrading to a more current version of Windows, though, also brings the benefit of newer, more powerful functionalities as well as improved security and productivity. CDW is prepared to help our customers work through the decisions they need to make and help them capture the benefits of upgrading their systems.”
Methodology
The survey was conducted in October 2013 and included more than 1300 respondents. Eighty-five percent of respondents were from North America and 15 percent from EMEA. Respondents represented a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, finance and IT service providers.
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