Within the next two years a number Microsoft and Citrix software versions will become ‘end of life’ as they reach the end of their Extended Support period.
When a product reaches its end of life, it is no longer supported by the provider, and no new features or fixes are released for it. This lack of support leaves your IT systems vulnerable and exposed to security threats, and ultimately means that your firm will be put at risk.
You may also experience compatibility issues with Case or Practice Management systems and other software used throughout your firm. And in addition to the security risks and associated compliance issues, you won’t benefit from new features designed to improve performance.
When will this happen?
We’re now in the Extended Support period for all of the below:
When your software is within the Mainstream Support period, it means that the provider (i.e. Microsoft or Citrix) is still releasing security updates, design changes and new features for that version. Once it enters the Extended Support period, your software will still receive bug patches and security fixes but you will miss out on enhancements that drive efficiencies and improve reliability for your firm.
Why you should act now
Although these dates may seem as if they’re in the distant future, this is a large undertaking for your firm and there’s plenty of work to do in order to upgrade.
You will need to complete this project before the deadlines shown above but our recommendation is that you make the transition now so your firm can benefit from improved features and functionality today rather than in 18 months’ time.
The advantages of upgrading your Microsoft software are:
- Advancements in encryption and built-in breach resistance that helps repel attacks on your systems
- Additional layers of security to detect and limit any suspicious activity that manages to penetrate your environment
- Enhanced performance and greater stability and resiliency which provides a better platform on which to run your key applications
- New features to help your firm comply with data protection regulations such as GDPR and meet the requirements set out by the ISO and SRA
The advantages of upgrading your Citrix software are:
- Video, audio, printing and deployment have been optimised to provide a better user experience
- Improved monitoring of user sessions allows quicker identification of problem applications and processes
- A dedicated web-based portal means that user management is quicker and easier
Together with the aforementioned software becoming end of life, a number of Practice Management Systems (PMS) will also reach end of life status within the next couple of years.
Implementing a new PMS can take a minimum of two years and in some cases can take as long as four years to embed across the whole firm. The last thing you’ll want is to spend thousands upgrading your existing environment, to then have to build a new environment when you implement new Practice Management Software. If you combine your PMS implementation project with your migration to new Microsoft and/or Citrix software, you’ll reduce your workload and your costs.
Juggling multiple IT projects whilst planning for the future? Our Cloud Readiness Assessment is designed to help firms plan their IT roadmap.
