Microsoft revealed the results of a startling study of the banking sector in India today. Conducted by Ascentius Consulting, the study revealed that some 34,115 Indian PSU bank branches are at risk, thanks to their reliance on Windows XP. Windows XP will no longer be supported by Microsoft beginning April 08, 2014, but the study shows that the penetration of Windows XP is still high at 40-70% in the banking sector.
Amongst the greatest risks facing banks that maintain their Windows XP installations, despite the end of support, are their ability to respond to customers and manage waiting times, Microsoft said.
A large number of branches that rely on XP, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas may go down and therefore deny service to customers completely.
In metro and urban branches, the impact may be as great as 55% of customers facing an extended waiting time of up to 30 minutes for an average transaction, the company said.
The fiscal impact of this could be as much as loss of business opportunity worth Rs. 1,100 crore in a day and a loss of income of Rs. 330 crore over a period of 3 days, Microsoft said.