Do your Windows XP applications fear Windows 7 like Superman fears Kryptonite? Do they go all wobbly at the knees in its presence? Do you?

Well, brace yourself for a shocker – more ‘Kryptonite’ in the form of Citrix, APP-V, IE8, Virtual Desktops, Cloud have been identified and they are all staring down your application portfolio like a gang of bullies. This is not recent news – these heavies have been out in the field for quite a few years, just outside your window.

Answer yourself this: do your Web applications react to Internet Explorer 8 like a Gremlin reacts to ‘bright light, bright light’? Do you?

There is a sea-change going on right now with regard to applications, infrastructure, browsing and even more importantly, Office Data. Your apps are surrounded by hungry engines wanting to consume them and spit them out to your users. These engines are ready to serve you but only if you can tame them first. Are your apps robust enough to handle these new delivery channels?

Hiding in a corner, quivering like a jelly will just not do. Denial is not a luxury that you can afford and that’s not just metaphorically, that is literally. The people from Gartner will back me up on this but there’s no room here for quotes or stats – ask around and you’ll get nods from heads with glazed eyes that all this stuff is true.

Take Microsoft’s APP-V for example. It offers you an enticing little promise of application nirvana, where you could see your license costs shrink faster than a savings account with Northern Rock. How? By delivering your applications to the users that need them, regardless of where those users log in. Why tie your application to a particular computer and force the user to sit there when you could stream the application to that user on demand at any location? You’d only need one license per user rather than one license per ‘PC where the user might sit’. That’s a mighty proposition and could easily save you millions of pounds.

It’s the same for your Web applications. They will work on IE8 but you might need to give a few of them a little pep-talk to coax them into their new home. What about your old Office Data files? Hmm…they may need a stiffer talking-to but with love, not anger! They will shape up for Office 2010 just fine.

The price you pay? Preparation. Migration. You can’t get to nirvana without a good pair of walking boots, a map and above all the resolve and fortitude to cross a few fiery bridges and a few dark chasms – where would be the challenge in an easy path?

So at Camwood we do stock walking boots and we carry a good line in maps too. Again, not just metaphorically but also literally – check out our blogs on the Three Peaks conquest and you’ll see that our people have been up and down real mountains, with real courage and real determination. On the metaphorical side we are just as adept – we can arm you with the necessary footwear and travel guides to go from Windows XP and IE6 to Windows 7 and IE8, for real, without becoming lost in a blizzard or falling off a ledge. We will make sure of this by handcuffing ourselves to you if you want. Your fall is our fall and we don’t want that!

We aren’t claiming to be superheroes like the Man of Steel. We’re not even claiming to be common-or-garden heroes – we are plain folk who work hard to take good people and their faithful applications to pastures new.

Pastures with a lot less Kryptonite strewn about!