This article was originally written by Avanade alum Scott Waymack.

On January 14, 2020, Windows 7 support will end. The clock is ticking, but too many enterprises have been putting off their Windows 10 upgrade for too long – and they’ve got some serious challenges coming if they don’t take action soon.

When support ends, the additional costs for running Windows 7 devices will kick in. A year later, those costs could easily double. And that’s before you factor in the ever-increasing security risks of running an operating system (OS) that’s reached end-of-life (EOL).

But all kinds of things can stop organizations from going all-in on a Windows 10 migration. The shift to evergreen IT, for example, has significant implications for the way IT infrastructures are managed. And many enterprises are running legacy apps and devices incompatible with Windows 10. It’s challenging enough to test apps and devices every few years, so it will be even harder to test subsets every few months for each new version.

Maximizing Migration
While the challenges are significant, it’s important to remember that the new capabilities in Windows 10 give you a huge opportunity to take a more strategic approach to your workplace technology. It gives you a powerful combination of major security enhancements, cloud integration and a vastly improved user experience.

When you’re planning your migration, you could just layer a new OS over what you’re already doing and carry on with business as usual. Or you could take a strategic approach by asking:

• How do our end users truly collaborate and interact with devices and data?
• How significant a change do we need to make to our application and device management strategies given the new architecture?
• How can we make our users more productive?

Understand the bigger picture
Importantly, your Windows 10 upgrade shouldn’t be seen as an IT project. It’s an enterprise-wide program that will require close collaboration between IT and other business functions – not just to plan the initial rollout, but to continually improve and optimize the workplace experience (WX) after migration.

Windows 10 is a fundamental part of a much broader modernized platform that supports WX transformation. And that modernized platform is the foundation of a great WX – one that brings people, processes and technology together to drive sustainable business value.

Get started today
With Windows 7 EOL approaching fast, the pressure’s on to migrate, but finding the bandwidth and skills to get it done right can be tough.

To see how Avanade can help you deliver a faster, lower-risk rollout and accelerate your workplace transformation, take a look at our quick guide.