Town firms facing up to IT Windows deadline

AT least 1 in 3 businesses in Hinckley are going to be affected by the death of a significant chunk of Microsoft software in just 16 months time.

Windows 7, Office 2010 and lots of other software reaches the end of its life in 2020.

And because so many companies rely so heavily on it, it’s created a “ticking time bomb” for many local firms.

That’s the view of local IT expert Andy Viner at Intalect.

“We’re calling this The 2020 Problem,” Andy said. “Because it all expires in 2020. “But we want local businesses to take action now, not leave it till 2020 as it’ll be too late then.”

End of life means the software will no longer be supported by Microsoft. So if there are any problems with it, they won’t be fixed.

That makes it dramatically more likely the software will be targeted by hackers, making data theft more likely.

It also means any business using the software will no longer be GDPR-compliant. The software affected includes: Windows 7 Office 2010 Exchange 2010 Small Business Server 2011 Windows Server 2008 Andy has written a full guide, showing local business owners and managers how to identify whether they are using this software just by what they see on their screen.

You can get this guide free at http:// intalect.co.uk/.

Intalect was formed in 2004, and now looks after many local businesses in the Hinckley area.