It’s widely accepted that technology is the key driver of economic growth in countries, regions, and cities – and the same goes for businesses. A strategic approach to IT can be the difference between a company that suffers growing pains and one that makes the transition smoothly.
As of today, October 13th 2020, Microsoft has made yet another change to its Office line of products by ending support for Office 2016 for Mac and Office 2010.
If your business is still using Office 2010 in any capacity, this “end of life” process for the software should be seen as a great opportunity to make the leap to Microsoft 365. Not only will you unlock many new features and apps, but you’ll be protecting your business from security vulnerabilities, too.
What does Office 2010 “end of life” really mean?
The problem is that, eventually, software gets out of date – even with occasional updates. Finally, the manufacturer will decide to put the app into an “end of life” state, and that’s exactly what Microsoft is doing with Office 2010 today.
What does that mean exactly? Here’s the breakdown:
Microsoft will no longer deliver software updates to Office 2010 via Windows Update.
Microsoft will no longer provide bug or security fixes which may be found following the end of life process for Office 2010. (This one is important – more on this later).
You won’t be eligible for phone or chat support from Microsoft for issues related to Office 2010.
Online support content will no longer be updated by the Microsoft team, and the majority of the existing online support content will be taken down.
Office 2010 will no longer be available to download from the Microsoft website.
Outlook 2010 will no longer be able to connect to Exchange Online, so your emails within the Outlook 2010 app will stop working.
Put simply? You can continue to use Office 2010 at your own risk, but it’ll essentially be unsupported by Microsoft after today
The risks of using Office 2010 after today
There are a couple of misconceptions out there about exactly what happens after the end of life process happens.
First off, if you decide to continue using the Office 2010 apps – Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. – they won’t simply stop working at midnight, so don’t worry. Likewise, any files you’ve created using Office 2010 will still be accessible just as they always have provided you saved them somewhere you can still access. The only exception here is Outlook 2010, which won’t be able to connect to Exchange Online via Microsoft 365.
But what about the risks?
As we mentioned above, the most important factor of the end of life process is that Microsoft will no longer be delivering security fixes for any of the Office 2010 apps.
As a business, this presents a potential (and ever-increasing) security risk. Why? Because the more time that passes after the support is dropped, the higher the chance that malicious third-parties will have found (and exploited) any security vulnerabilities in Office 2010. This could expose your files, your users, and even your customers’ data to significant cybersecurity risks. And because Microsoft no longer supports the apps, these risks will remain indefinitely.
Don't forget all it takes is a single vulnerability to expose your company’s critical data and have a devastating effect on your business.
If you’re still using Office 2010, now is the time to make the switch.
What to do if you’re still using Office 2010
Okay, so let’s imagine that you’re still using Office 2010.
As we’ve explored above, the best upgrade path for a small business today is Microsoft 365. Not only will you receive the very latest versions of the same apps from Office 2010, but you’ll also gain access to the new cloud-based services – including the collaborative power of Microsoft Teams. If, like many others, your business is doing more work remotely, this addition is a reason to upgrade in itself.
Here are the absolute basics of the available Microsoft 365 plans:
Microsoft 365 Business Basic (£3.80 ex VAT per user per month). This includes web and mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. 1TB of cloud storage with OneDrive. Email with 50GB mailbox. Full access to Microsoft Teams. The ability to share internal knowledge with SharePoint.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard (£9.40ex VAT per user per month). Everything from Basic, plus desktop versions of the Office apps, enhanced features for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Bookings, and MileIQ.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium (£15.10ex VAT per user per month). Everything from Basic and Standard, plus Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection, Selective Wipe from Intune, enhanced user policy controls, automatic deployment of apps, and much more.
Need help making the jump to Microsoft 365? Talk to Get Support today
If you’re not sure where to begin when it comes to switching from Office 2010 to Microsoft 365, don’t worry our technical guys are here to help.
Because we’re a direct Microsoft Partner, you can be sure that we can answer any questions you might have about Microsoft 365 – and get your business up and running, too.
If you’d like to know more about moving from Office 2010, give our team a call now on 01256 479700
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