After more than a decade, Microsoft is ending support for the 2013 version of Office. This boxed version of Office 2013 was incredibly popular and despite two releases of newer editions over the past 9 years, there are thousands of businesses in the UK still using Office 2013. If you’re one of them, now is the time to upgrade! Let’s talk about why…
When Does Office 2013 Support End?
Following five years of standard support, and another five years of extended support, Microsoft is officially ending updates for Office 2013 on April 11th, 2023. While Microsoft has not added any new features to Office 2013 for several years, they have continued to provide security updates until now.
What Happens If You Continue Using Microsoft Office 2013 After April 2023?
The Office 2013 software will continue to function. However, after April 2023 any organisations still using Office 2013 will be at risk of cyberattacks using newly discovered security flaws in their Microsoft software.
You may remember the WannaCry ransomware attack from in 2017 which took down out the IT systems of several businesses and even some hospitals. What you might not remember is that most of these ransomware infections occurred because the organisations were still using old Windows operating systems which were either out of their update cycle or had not been updated to the latest security patches. Keeping your software updated with regular security patches is also a key element of compliance for schemes like the UK government’s Cyber Essentials certificate.
What Should You Do If You Are Still Using Office 2013?
You can update to a newer version of Microsoft Office. The latest and most advanced version is called Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365). This is a cloud-based version of Office, meaning you can use it from any machine with an internet connection. You no longer need to pick which machines to install a limited number of Office copies on.
Microsoft 365 is not just the most up-to-date version of Office, it also packs in a lot more features, including…
- Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a new application which sits at the heart of the revamped Office experience. Similar to apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams is a chat-based collaboration tool that includes document sharing, online meetings, and a slew of other business-friendly capabilities which link directly to other Microsoft Office apps. - A Cloud Based Version Of Microsoft Office
Because Microsoft 365 is cloud-based, you are not limited to installing it on a maximum number of machines. You can download and install desktop versions of the apps on your main devices, but you can also login and use web-based versions of all the Office apps from any device with an internet connection. - A Scalable Office Solution
Unlike older versions of Office which needed an up-front purchase, Microsoft 365 is supplied on a monthly subscription service. This makes it a scalable solution, allowing you to easily add or remove users as your staffing levels change. Microsoft 365 subscriptions start from as little as £4.50 per user, per month (as of April 2022). Each user can then use Microsoft 365 on as many devices as they like.
Ready to Upgrade to Microsoft 365? Carden IT Services Can Help!
As an experienced managed IT services provider, we’ve helped businesses of all sizes to upgrade their Office installations to Microsoft 365 as well as helping them improve the efficiency, and security of their applications. We also offer advanced Microsoft 365 security reporting.
As of the time of writing, you have less than a year until the end of official security updates for Office 2013. If you have been putting off updating to a current version of Microsoft Office, now is the time to do so. If you would like advice on which version of Microsoft 365 to upgrade to, and professional help migrating your data, speak to our team today.
