There is no 2020 problem – it’s just marketing fluff – here’s why.
You may have read in some online articles about what’s known as the 2020 problem in the IT world. The basic premise is that anyone running older versions of Microsoft Windows or Microsoft server need’s to upgrade.
Why?
Mainly because Microsoft is going to stop supporting some of their older software systems. Whilst this is true, any IT company that knows what their doing will already have a plan in place for their clients. Most IT companies or what’s commonly referred to in the industry as managed service providers (MSPs) prime responsibility is to “manage” their clients IT infrastructure. As part of this management, there’s usually an account meeting that happens at least every quarter. As part of the meeting, there should be technology roadmap for your business. This is sometimes referred to as the IT strategy.
Within this roadmap, the upgrade cycle should be outlined. As a rule of thumb, the maximum age of IT infrastructure should be 5 years. This means that if you have any equipment older than 5 years of age it should already be agreed that it’s to be upgraded. Of course, not all IT companies are as proactive as this and sometimes the need for a new server or operating system is lower down in the list of things to procure for the business.
However, if you have no plan in place your leaving your business wide open not only for downtime but also increasing the risk of a data or security breach. If your sitting reading this and don’t have a clue if your systems are indeed up to date don’t worry we’re going to outline some of the most common things to check that are running.
RMM – Remote monitoring and management.
This is the main software tool that MSP’s run to manage your IT systems. Included in most is the ability to schedule when updates to your systems take place. This will secure a good percentage of your systems however when 2020 does role around any of those older systems will not be included in the regular updates.
The RMM software also includes an inventory section where you can pull off a report at the click of a button – this will list exactly what system may have older versions of windows or windows server. This list will be crucial to have – mainly to check to see if you need to upgrade any systems before the deadline.
Once your IT has identified what systems need upgrading it’s worth building on the plan to future proof. What’s going to be your budget for IT spend over the next 3-5 years and within this budget include the expenditure on upgrading older systems. This whole process can be built into your companies technology road map for the future.
If you would like assistance in developing such a plan for your business get in touch with us here.