Extended security updates (ESU) are available to purchase for those organisations that haven’t migrated over to Windows 11. Microsoft provided the same in the transition from Windows 7 to Windows 10. It’s worth noting that the ESU program does not provide any of the following :-
- New Features
- Customer requested non-security updates
- Design change requests
- General support
So essentially you are paying to keep your Windows 10 device secure in the event of any new exposed vulnerabilities. So what is the catch?
Well to put it bluntly – the price. As documented by Microsoft here Extended Security Updates (ESU) program for Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn
So based on the price “doubling” each consecutive year this looks like the following
| Year | Price (per Device) |
| ESU Year One | $61 USD / £45.40 |
| ESU Year Two | $122 USD / £90.80 |
| ESU Year Three | $244 USD / £181.60 |
So lets show how that looks based on different sizes of organisation (in GBP using todays conversion rate of $1 USD to £0.74 GBP)
| Organisation Size (Devices) | ESU Year One | ESU Year Two | ESU Year Three |
| 500 | £22,700 | £45,400 | £90,800 |
| 1000 | £45,400 | £90,800 | £181,600 |
| 5000 | £227,000 | £454,000 | £908,000 |
| 10000 | £454,000 | £908,000 | £1,816,000 |
| 15000 | £681,000 | £1,362,000 | £2,724,000 |
| 20000 | £908,000 | £1,816,000 | £3,632,000 |
| 50000 | £2,270,000 | £4,540,000 | £9,080,000 |
As with the last ESU you cant buy partial periods and they are cumulative. Essentially meaning you cant buy year two if you haven’t bought year one.
So for an organisation of say 20K devices not migrating and paying for ESU 1, 2 & 3 will cost you a mere £6,356,000. At which point you still need to migrate to Windows 11 having spent over 6 million pounds delaying the inevitable.
So if you’ve not yet started your journey to Windows 11 or maybe you have and are struggling to get it over the line then come and speak to the experts at HRP. We can help transform organisations of any size.