How can I convince my IT manager to upgrade the enterprise from IE6 to a newer browser?
We've already rolled out Windows XP SP2 (no hope of going to Vista or Windows 7 in the foreseeable future unfortunately) across the enterprise and our latest internal roll-out actually incorporates SP3 as well - but unfortunately IE is explicitly being kept at version 6.
Regardless of the numerous security warnings our there and lack of applicability in the greater world wide web, my manager still sees intranet apps written for IE6 as the main reason to stay on it. What can we do to swing the vote in our favour? We're tired of supporting an ailing browser when users call us up constantly complaining that website don't look right, and more and more people asking for browser tabs "because that's what they've got at home".
Any arguments we can put forward would be great!
Solution 1:
- Highlight the security risks that it exposes. Calculate how much damage can be done to the network through a malware attack that gets in through someone's IE6 install.
- Calculate how much extra time you spend on support handling user questions related to IE6 issues, and how much extra dev work is needed to accommodate the users. Put a yearly dollar range on this.
- Estimate effect on worker productivity of not being able to use features like tabs
- Calculate lost productivity due to inability to fully use websites that are not compatible with IE6
Get a range on how much money could be lost by keeping IE6 (even in unlikely scenarios), and how much money can be saved by upgrading. Money and ROI talk.
Solution 2:
I would be really pushing the increased security in both IE7 and IE8. Pop-up blocking, phishing filters etc...
IE6 is one of the biggest entry point for malware onto a Windows system. You can reduce a lot of this by leaving IE6