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In the dog days of summer, winter can seem far off. Legal professionals and other business owners, like most people, often believe they can delay in preparing for events so far in the future. However, in some cases, waiting shouldn't even be viewed as a possibility. Law firms are facing one such instance now: in January 2020, Microsoft will end support for Windows 7 and Server 2008. (SQL Server 2008 is losing support in July 2019.)

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Delaying Upgrades: Consequences

Software manufacturers are continually innovating and adding features to existing products. Similarly, hardware is constantly improving, bringing faster processor speeds and other benefits. At times, some of the fundamental aspects of a solution or system may need to be reworked to take advantage of the increased productivity of new hardware or keep up with new versions of integrations. So, a new version of the software is released.

As time goes on and more new versions are released into the marketplace, it becomes unwieldly for the manufacturer to continue to provide support for users of its oldest products. Ultimately, manufacturers can't afford to continue spending resources on supporting old versions of software. When that happens, they call it an “end of life” (EOL).

When products reached EOL and manufacturers end support for them, users lose:

  1. Direct support from the manufacturer
  2. Security patches
  3. Product updates

If your firm delays in upgrading from unsupported solutions, you face the above risks and more. For those in regulated industries, losing manufacturer support can result in losing compliant status with applicable laws and regulations.

You won't be alone, but that doesn't mean it won't be costly. Of 3,000 companies surveyed, more than half had been breached in last two years and of those 60 percent were due to unpatched vulnerabilities, according to a Ponemon Institute survey. Remediation, fines and other post-breach costs have run into the millions of dollars for some breached companies, and that doesn't even include the damage to their reputations.

​You've probably heard of one of the below software exploits used in cyberattacks:

  • EternalBlue
  • WannaCry
  • NotPetya​​
  • Cerber​​
  • Spectre/Meltdown​

Every one of those pieces of malware infected networks by exploiting a vulnerability that was later patched by the manufacturer. Those exact same kinds of vulnerabilities will no longer be patched on Windows 7 and Server 2008 once they reach EOL in January 2020.

Even more recently, the National Security Agency (NSA) and Microsoft warned about a newfound vulnerability nicknamed BlueKeep affecting Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008. This clearly illustrates why you need to upgrade before Microsoft ends support for Windows 7 (extended support only available to those with Software Assurance in place or who move to Microsoft's Azure) and Server 2008 in January.

To protect your firm and client data, you can't afford to put off upgrading before you lose support.

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Upgrades: More Than Just New Code

When you upgrade to new software versions, you're not just getting revamped code and continued support. Rather, new versions often bring enhanced productivity and cybersecurity features. New versions are often built to take advantage of the improvements made in hardware and integrated solutions.

Users often consider upgrading to be a disruptive and unpleasant experience. Beyond the actual upgrade and migration process performed by IT, users may have to learn altered user interfaces in newer versions of products. New versions can present small-but-frustrating issues—such as navigating a new tool ribbon in Word or Excel. This can affect one's productivity and cause considerable frustration.

Fortunately, these tools can often be can changed to accommodate one's preferences. Many such issues can be remedied with a quick call or email to your IT department or managed service provider. if you consider the benefits beyond continued support, you'll receive from upgrading, you'll see it's an opportunity. Fortunately, Windows 10 is already used by so many employees outside of work, the learning curve and resistance to adoption is greatly reduced.

When you consider how upgrading enhances your security, improves your productivity and provides your firm with greater accessibility from anywhere using any device, you'll realize upgrading isn't a hassle. It's an opportunity.

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Time is Running Out

Unfortunately, there isn't any more time to wait to begin your upgrade.

Consider all the businesses using Windows 7 or Server 2008. They all need to upgrade, too. They're calling their IT providers to reserve time to perform those upgrades right now. If you don't join them, it will soon be difficult to find an IT managed service provider with the time and manpower to complete your upgrade before the EOL.

Law firms should talk to your IT provider and beginning the upgrading and migration process as soon as possible. The last thing you want is to be stuck doing the upgrade yourself. But the window for help has almost closed.

Logan Byrd is a Senior Systems Engineer at Innovative Computing Systems with a love of efficient, well-designed systems and a focus on cybersecurity and public cloud technologies.