Why haven’t you started the migration yet? It’s time to look at the reasons why you’re putting it off. Are you frightened by the costs? The downtime? The unknown? You just need to bite the bullet and put your fears into writing and discuss your concerns with your IT professional. You may find that you’ve been needlessly worrying and that things won’t be so bad while you migrate.

When are you planning this for? Don’t leave this until the last minute as you may find that IT professionals are booked out the month before as everyone else has left it until the last minute too! Get a strategic plan in place and keep everyone informed. If your office is closing over the festive season, this could be the perfect time to get it all done.

What operating system are you going to upgrade to? Windows 7 has been around for a while now and from all reports it’s pretty good in enterprise situations. Do your homework and make sure that other business software or mechanical devices that you use can be used with the latest Windows operating systems. If not, then you’ll need to investigate other options, such as Apple or Linux.

Who’s going to do this for you? This is one of the big questions to think about! If you normally do the IT around your business but feel positively overwhelmed with the thought of doing this upgrade to your office’s computers, then seek out an IT professional. Word of mouth is a wonderful recommendation, so ask your colleagues and other small businesses who they’ve used and what they thought of them.

How much? Weigh up the costs of this upgrade against the possible security issues if you stay using Windows XP. Without XP receiving critical security updates, your work environment could be susceptible to malicious software and attacks. Is it really worth the risk?

- See more at: http://resources.avg.com.au/business/does-your-business-still-use-windows-xp/#sthash.xDw3Anxy.dpuf