Bath council complains Microsoft forcing them to pay £1.5 million to upgrade computers well “past their recommended useful life”

A bit like Brexit, it seems Microsoft’s well-publicized plans to end of life Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Office 2010 has still managed to catch some enterprises by surprise and unprepared.

One example is the Bath and North East Somerset Council who is complaining about being forced to pay £1.47million to upgrade their ageing computers, many of which are 7 years old.

According to council staff, some  150 desktops and 100 laptops that are “past their recommended useful life” will be replaced, as well as servers which stores all of the applications and data used by council staff in Keynsham.

This is due to this hardware not supporting Windows 10 and the needed Office 2016 upgrade.  Microsoft will of course not offer security updates for those old versions of Windows after January 2020, and without a fully patched PC the council will not be allowed to process anything from the central government, including revenues and benefits, and it would be unable to access NHS services.

The council also complained of Microsoft doubling their license fees from  £214,000 to £450,000, saying they refuse to negotiate this.

Saying  the licence is “essential for the entire council to function”, they claim  “unfortunately, they are a monopoly, so we have no alternative than to choose the cheaper buyout option and sweat our license assets until their end of life in 2025.”

“The Microsoft licences have a six-year life, terminating in 2025, where again we will face a choice of either a large capital purchase or sign up to another Microsoft subscription service well in excess of the annual £450,000 being quoted currently.”

Microsoft announced the end of mainstream support for Windows 7 in 2015, suggesting time does move a bit more slowly in leafy Bath.

Via SomersetLive