As part of their regular software development cycle, Zoom recently updated their End-of-Certification (EOC) guidelines. This update added 23 new hardware products from prominent manufacturers that have become ubiquitous in everyday office operations. In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, announcements about a product reaching its End-of-Life (EOL) status are not uncommon. But what’s different about an EOC and how can technology managers prepare for and respond to these announcements?
For businesses, this can be a challenging moment, prompting immediate questions and concerns about the continuity of operations, security vulnerabilities, and future planning. As consultants, it is our role to prepare clients in advance and guide them through such transitions with foresight and strategic planning. Here, we provide an overview response to EOC/EOL announcements and introduce important practices for long-term technology procurement strategy with respect to the Zoom update.
Understanding the Implications of EOC Announcements
When a product is announced as reaching EOC status, it generally means that the manufacturer will cease all forms of support for that product. This includes security updates, bug fixes, and technical support. The implications for businesses can be significant:
- Security Risks: Without regular updates, the product may become vulnerable to security breaches.
- Operational Disruptions: Incompatibilities with newer technologies can lead to loss of functionality and operational inefficiencies.
- Increased Costs: Maintaining and troubleshooting unsupported products can be costlier in the long run.
These impacts are no less true in the case of the Zoom EOC announcement. The listed products will stop receiving updates as indicated and will eventually migrate from “Zoom Certified” to “Zoom Compatible” with yet to be determined limitations and reduced security. What steps can be taken to avoid these impacts?
Immediate Steps to Mitigate Risks
Upon hearing of an EOC/EOL announcement, technology managers can work with their advisory team to mitigate potential risks if the changes aren’t already planned for. The advisory team may include: internal staff, technology integrators, manufacturer representatives, and consultants.
- Inventory and Assessment: Conduct a thorough inventory of all instances where the EOC product is used or planned for use. Assess the criticality of each instance to the business operations and make adjustments as needed.
- Patch and Update: Ensure that the latest available patches and updates are applied to installed products or establish a schedule for when they can be updated. This can help to mitigate security risks leading up to the EOL date.
- Inform and Document: Reach out to the manufacturers and let them know how you expect to be affected. If you don’t already have the product information captured, collect all the relevant documentation for the product within reason. This will aid in the troubleshooting and transition process down the road and may help your team support the product more easily as the EOL date approaches.
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement but it’s more important to keep track of why these products were specified in the first place and leverage the announcement as a catalyst for the processes that should already be in place.
Strategic Planning for Long-Term Technology Procurement
While some immediate actions are necessary, a “pre-active” and strategic approach to technology procurement is essential to ensure long-term stability and growth. Here are some key strategies that we advise our clients to adopt so they are not caught by surprise:
1. Future-Proofing Technology Investments
Whenever we can, we advise our clients to invest in technologies that demonstrate a clear roadmap for future development and support. This involves:
- Vendor Reliability: Select vendors with a proven track record of product support and innovation.
- Scalability: Choose technologies that can scale with the business’s growth and evolving needs.
- Interoperability: Ensure that new technologies can seamlessly integrate with existing systems.
If you find yourself caught by surprise when you see one of these announcements and don’t have a clear plan of action in place, it may be a good time to evaluate alternates. Are there other products you’ve been interested in learning more about? How are other manufacturers communicating with their clients about the pending changes?
We understand that technology managers will always reserve the right to change their minds based on what works best for their organizational goals. When we look at the history of these guidelines, we see positive examples of manufacturers standing by their customers and offering firmware updates that extend the life of their products when the original software can no longer be supported. When possible, include your account representative in these discussions to best understand how they can help and if your plans should change.
2. Regular Technology Audits
If this isn’t already a part of your process, now is a great time to start conducting regular technology audits to identify potential risks and areas for improvement. This helps in:
- Early Detection: Identifying products nearing EOC/EOL status before official announcements.
- Cost Management: Planning and allocating budgets for technology updates and replacements efficiently.
Early detection during an audit may help identify “problem” products before they cause issues. Zoom is up front in specifying that the support period is anticipated to be 6 to 8 years from the initial hardware release date (emphasis ours). This means some products on this list were released 3 to 5 years ago and only have ~3 more useful years left. That may not be too comforting if you just installed one of these devices yesterday. It may be time to update your standards and include the new versions.
What else might we look for during an audit? How old is the most recent firmware? Are there other subtle cues from the manufacturer that this product isn’t a priority on their roadmap? While a given product may have a special place in your organizational plans, it’s nearly impossible to sway a manufacturer’s product roadmap. It’s better to cut ties with these products in a controlled way before they cut ties with you.
3. Training and Change Management
It may not seem intuitive but training and change management are important parts of this process to ensure smooth technology transitions. This may involve:
- Staff Training: Providing regular training sessions for staff on new technologies and processes.
- Change Management: Implementing structured change management processes to handle transitions effectively.
- So what can we learn from the Zoom announcement? A surprising bit about the overall technology stack that we all rely on behind the scenes. It may seem that our all-in-one conferencing appliances are consolidated versions of the more complex and custom hardware systems that came before them. On the surface this is true and manufacturers can still differentiate themselves with standout hardware and software features. When we drill down a bit deeper, we see an interdependent set of layers that all rely on each other and change more slowly than we realize. These layers include pre-packaged systems-on-chip, the operating system, the UC platform, and the manufacturer’s firmware.
Conclusion
Understanding the layers of software and hardware that these products are built on can be beneficial, but inside knowledge of software and firmware development release cycles should not be necessary for managing the technology side of a business. End-of-Certification announcements may occur unexpectedly, but they provide an opportunity to assess your portfolio and understand the technology landscape within which you operate.
We can’t stop of End-of-Life announcements from happening in the fast-paced world of technology, but we can prepare for them and manage our response. With a strategic and pre-active approach, businesses can navigate these transitions smoothly and emerge stronger. If you’re interested in working with TAD for some guidance and expertise to help turn your potential challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation, let us know. We’d love to help you adopt a technology procurement strategy to maintain a competitive edge in this ever-evolving market.
