XP holdouts: How and why Microsoft Dynamics customers should plan an exit strategy

When Microsoft stops supporting and upgrading Windows XP on April 8, any remaining Microsoft Dynamics customers with users running legacy XP systems will want to have a plan to get those systems upgraded or isolated.

Namely, migrate all your remaining computers off XP or - if you're running other legacy hardware or software that requires XP - make sure the old PCs are well firewalled off or, ideally, disconnected from your company network and the Internet altogether. Otherwise, without Microsoft system updates and security patches coming in, unsupported XP systems could threaten your data, computers and network, making the cost of upgrading pale in comparison to a major malware outbreak or other malicious attack on your company's infrastructure.

Still, says Dynamics CRM MVP Chris Cognetta of Tribridge, those stragglers still facing the XP choice today have probably resisted upgrading for one compelling reason or another. So, three Windows operating systems later, it may be useful to understand why a company waited till now, and how it can best get out of the XP bind.

Beyond the financial crisis

For some companies, he says, holding off upgrading from XP may have been a matter of budgetary reality in a post-financial crisis world.

So how many companies could this issue touch? In his experience working with a range of Dynamics CRM customers, Cognetta estimates that, less than 20% of the companies he works with have any PCs or other systems still running XP. Broader measurements put