Shield Watch’s Clients Beat the Windows XP Deadline – Thanks to Shield Watch’s Proactive Planning
Tampa, FL (PRWEB) April 23, 2014 -- Two weeks ago, on April 8th, Microsoft ended its support for Windows XP after 12 years. That means that XP users will no longer receive security patches from Microsoft so any security holes that are discovered after April 8 will be vulnerable to exploits and malware. Unfortunately 28% of business machines around the world are running Windows XP and will now have to be either replaced or upgraded.
So what does this mean for businesses that are still using computers running Windows XP? Since April 8th, Windows XP machines are faced with huge implications for security and stability. End of Support means that any exploits that are found in newer versions of Windows are likely to be tested by hackers to see whether these can be manipulated to attack Windows XP machines, and if they're successful, Microsoft will not offer any help in fixing the problem. And your business may be completely compromised in the event of a virus attack and not have access to your business data may affect business continuity.
Microsoft’s Director of Trustworthy Computing Group, Tim Rains, warned Windows XP users about five months ago and said that we can expect an increase in attacks when the aged operating system exits support. "After end of support, attackers will have an advantage over defenders who continue to run Windows XP," Rains asserted. He went on to add "After April next year, when we release monthly security updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will try and reverse engineer them to identify any vulnerabilities that also exist in Windows XP. If they succeed, attackers will have the capability to develop exploit code to take advantage of them"
Microsoft has stated that customers who don't move away from the Windows XP operating system before it's retired face a 66% increase in malware attacks. You can read Tim Rains' blog post on this topic on the Microsoft Security blog.
Shield Watch took a highly proactive approach to this and have been planning all computer and software upgrades for all of its Managed Service clients that had Windows XP machines. Shield Watch conducts IT Roadmap sessions with its clients on a bi-annual basis in which the company’s Chief Engineer sits down with Executive Teams and discusses the alignment of IT Strategies with Business Strategies. The Windows XP upgrades have been a part of these discussions and this proactive approach allowed Shield Watch to be strategic and well planned in executing the upgrades well before the deadline.
Commenting on this situation, Shield Watch’s CEO Pratik Roychoudhury said “Our Clients’ IT Security and Business Continuity is of paramount importance to us and we go to great lengths to ensure uninterrupted IT services and maintain the integrity of their IT Environments. The Windows XP End of Support situation was no exception for us. We meticulously planned for it and executed on our plan to replace hundreds of machines well before the deadline”
As a result Shield Watch replaced and upgrade over 110 Windows XP workstations in the month of Feb and March alone and worked very hard to ensure that its clients are unaffected by the end of support on April 8th.
“Shield Watch has always been very proactive with IT Solutions that they feel would negatively impact technological security and business continuity and this was no exception”, said Tom Wingo, CEO/CFO of Rocky Creek Village Senior Living, one of Shield Watch’s MSP clients.
Most recently the President of Shield Watch, Tom Perricone was interviewed by Channel 8 of Tampa in a series of several news features in the last few weeks on the topic of the growing threat of virus attacks that are targeting Windows XP machines. You can watch the video feature here. Commenting on the upgrade Perricone said, “We understand that this upgrade could be costly for businesses. Thanks to Shield Watch’s Platinum MSP program, a lot for our clients with large staff were able to upgrade with little to no upfront investments. And that was tremendously helpful to the growing businesses that can now use their cash to grow the business and not tie it up in IT Infrastructure costs”.
About SHIELD WATCH:
SHIELD WATCH is a 17 year old IT Managed Services Provider serving the Information Technology, Custom Web & Application Development and Web Marketing needs of Small & Medium Businesses in the greater Tampa Bay area. The company prides itself in delivering WORRY FREE IT, OBSESSIVE CUSTOMER SUPPORT on a daily basis to its client base. While SHIELD WATCH has earned several accolades recognizing its outstanding Customer Service in the past few years, the company is most proud of its 91% client retention rate over the last seventeen years and a 95% Customer Satisfaction Rating over the seventeen years. Talk to SHIELD WATCH today if you want to Worry Free your IT or are looking to expand your brand, build a website, need a custom application or increase website traffic. Call 813-926-9672 or visit http://www.shieldwatch.com to request a FREE assessment of your IT environment and XP Migration Readiness Assessment and find out how you can upgrade with little to no upfront investment.
Pratik Roychoudhury, Shield Watch, http://www.shieldwatch.com, +1 813-481-8525, [email protected]
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