All users of business software will encounter end-of-life software (EOL). It is the term used to describe the point when software vendors stop selling, supporting and patching their software. While there is nothing to stop businesses from using the software beyond this point – and many do continue to use it – doing so poses a real, quantifiable threat to the future success and profitability of your business.
This may sound dramatic, but it is something every business leader, entrepreneur and small business owner needs to understand.
Just a few high-profile recent examples of end-of-life software are listed below, but a quick internet search will reveal there are many more:
So now we’ve explained what EOL is, let’s explain why you should care. I’ve listed five good reasons below, but first we need to talk about Technical Debt.
EOL software is one of the major – but not the only – factors causing technical debt, which is an inevitable issue for any organization that depends upon software. This is because, like cars, domestic appliances and IT hardware, software begins to age or degrade the minute you purchase it.
And, because software needs to be continuously updated to improve the user experience and keep pace with changing business requirements, technical debt can accumulate very quickly.
A useful working definition for technical debt is the combined cost of the multiple maintenance tasks required to keep the product up to date. These will include:
Technical debt starts to become an issue when a) functionality is compromised or b) the cost of maintaining the application is greater than moving to a newer version or c) both.
Not only is EOL software is a major contributor to technical debt, it also bring with it five key risk factors associated which will have an impact way beyond your IT department.
For example, although Microsoft gave advance warning that Windows 7 would be retired in January 2020, research showed that 17 per cent of desktops were still running the operating system as of June 2021. Businesses that failed to adapt paid the price when 98% of the computers impacted by the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack were running Windows 7.
A firewall and anti-virus are not sufficient protection against vulnerabilities that are unpatchable and that hackers are quick to exploit.
To take just one example, the expense of paying Microsoft to patch an EOL operating system can greatly exceed the price of simply replacing the OS. What about the high cost of a mission-critical app failing? These are all things to consider.
Software incompatibility is another issue that will slow down innovation. Very seldom is any piece of software used in isolation from other software and tools. Even if it is just the operating system, but more typically any piece of software will incorporate a wide range of components, plugins, developer tools etc. That means when using EOL software, you can’t always upgrade to the latest and greatest, so you’ll have to hold onto legacy applications (which are likely also EOL or soon-to-be).
Within the technology industry, there is an unspoken rule that new versions of software should be backward compatible. In other words, any application that can use the older version should be able to use the new release. However, in reality this doesn’t always happen. New versions of technical components of a larger system can contain changes that ‘break the system’. The implications of this are very significant. At best this means a major update, at worst you end up rewriting your application. I’ve referenced just two examples below:
Over time you may also find it much harder or impossible to find developers that know and are willing to work on the old software.
You may also find that your software product vendor/developers may not be able to efficiently or reasonably make the product work well on the latest versions of the tools and hence be forced to EOL a piece of software.
The only good news from this is that Developers need to keep a good focus on ensuring that software is maintained and kept up to date. Why is this good? Underlying tools must be maintained to continue to work and be secure. When these tools are EOLed, they rapidly become security and stability liabilities in your enterprise. Without critical security updates, hackers may take advantage of the unpatched vulnerabilities to attack your business.
Your business benefits from having current well maintained and supported software running your operations.
So, what are your options when faced with an EOL date for your software product?
We have established that Technical Debt and EOL software are real issues that all businesses should take very seriously. The implications of simply putting your head in the sand just isn’t an option for a business in 2023. The big question is how can I minimize Technical Debt and the implications of EOL software?
SCAD Software was founded in order to answer this question. For the last two decades we have helped companies of every size, from global organisations to start-ups, to build future-proof software, minimizing technical debt, speeding up innovation and reducing the cost to serve.
You can find out more here.
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