As you may have noticed recently, Microsoft is officially ending support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. According to a Microsoft survey, 55% of small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) did not know or have heard of the end of Windows 7 support, and less than 30% of them had plans to upgrade. In other words, as Windows 7 nears its expiration date, business owners and IT professionals alike need to have a clear understanding of whether their COMPANY’s IT systems can continue to perform relevant business in the future. According to Net Applications, Windows 10 accounted for 39.22% of the global market in December 2018, officially surpassing Windows 7 (36.9%) to become the mainstream operating system in the market. According to StatCounter, Windows 10 (45.76%) was the top desktop OS by market share in December 2018, with Windows 7 (44.65%) in second place. How to upgrade Windows 10 in the face of the end of Windows 7 technical support? How do companies formulate relevant strategies? What are the advantages of Windows 10? The top five QAs that IT people care about are covered in this article.
Businesses and general users will still be able to implement Windows 7, but will not be able to access Microsoft’s security software updates, non-security patches, free or paid assistance support and other features. Although the system can continue to start and execute, the IT system is exposed to no defense state, and unknown security risks will bring new threats to the enterprise. In March 2018, Microsoft and Frost & Sullivan, an IT market research firm, released a report on Asia Pacific Information security, which showed that the cost loss caused by information security attacks in 2017 reached us $27 billion. Nearly 70% of enterprises use browsers that are not updated with the latest security protection version. In the financial sector, for example, 63% of respondents admitted that potential security risks do delay their companies’ digital transformation, but four-fifths (81%) of respondents said at this stage that Enterprises try to strengthen IT security protection through artificial intelligence. In other words, in the face of modern hacking techniques, enterprise IT systems to upgrade to Windows 10, IT is a good opportunity to carry out a comprehensive health check on IT security. Currently, Windows 10 provides a number of security defense functions, such as Windows Defender ATP, Controlled Folder Access, and Windows Hello. Reduces/avoids approximately 33% of information insecurity incidents.
Q2: Windows 10 will be upgraded by January 14, 2020. Should we start planning now? What are the recommended ways to upgrade operations more quickly and efficiently? Enterprise IT system upgrade affects a large number of departments, which often cannot be completed at one time. IT requires a series of strategy formulation, system testing, upgrade scheduling, implementation verification and education and training. For IT personnel, there is a need to develop long-term strategy and planning schedule, so IT is recommended to start planning now, and phased change of Windows 7 mode, so that the system upgrade loading process, to minimize security risks and reduce the inconvenience of business operation. According to the 2018 Asia-Pacific Security Research Report, enterprise IT faces three challenges in security defense: first, IT is not enough to prepare for a rainy day; Second, the security environment is too complex; The third is the lack of corresponding capital security strategy. In response, Microsoft offers an 8-step tutorial and a series of online courses in the Enterprise Deployment Resource Center, using existing tools and programs to enable enterprise IT to smoothly migrate to Windows 10 and upgrade to the modern smart desktop and Office 365.
Q4: In terms of security protection, what items will be enhanced in Windows 10 compared with Windows 7? According to the iThome 2018 Corporate Security Survey, up to 78.2% of enterprises have at least one corporate security incident. In this situation, Windows 10 has built in more advanced security protection technologies, including face and fingerprint recognition, multi-factor authentication, data protection, phishing alerts, suspicious behavior detection, etc., which can help enterprises reduce security incidents by up to 33% on average. The advantage of Windows 10 is that it acts as a bridge between software and hardware, integrating available resources to enhance the security services needed by the enterprise as a whole. Such as virtual sandbox protection, core isolation, UEFI Class3, through strict access control, effectively resist multiple network attacks and malicious code. In other words, Windows 10 puts more emphasis on pre-emptive intrusion prevention than Windows 7, removing malicious code and hacking in real time. If an Enterprise adds Microsoft 365 comprehensive Enterprise intelligence solution, it can synchronize with Windows 10, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility Security (EMS) to consolidate the Enterprise Security gap by combining AI and deep learning.
Q5: What are the specific functions of system management and maintenance efficiency for enterprise IT after upgrading Windows 10? The Windows as a Service mode is introduced in Windows 10 to optimize the installation, deployment, and maintenance of Windows. According to statistics, the use of Windows 10 professional or Enterprise edition reduces the management time of IT personnel by 20%, and greatly reduces the overall ownership cost of the enterprise. In order to simplify the work of IT staff and reduce the software update process, Windows 10 allows employees to apply for update projects directly from the online software catalog without having to wait for the ASSISTANCE of the IT department. Coupled with the high application compatibility of Windows 10, the it department’s time to upgrade the suite has been reduced from 6-8 weeks to less than 2 weeks, resulting in a four-fold increase in productivity. Compared with Windows 7, Windows 10 has new system management features including: face authentication or fingerprint login without password, digital pen recording and writing or annotating documents, and professional portable device anytime, anywhere work. In other words, getting IT people to help upgrade Windows 10 early can definitely improve the effectiveness of enterprise IT management and enhance enterprise competitiveness.