Half of enterprise Windows devices yet to upgrade to Windows 11

A recent study by ControlUp has revealed that half of enterprise Windows endpoints have yet to migrate to Windows 11, just months ahead of Microsoft's end of support for Windows 10.

ControlUp's Windows 11 Readiness report found significant industry and regional disparities in migration progress, highlighting ongoing challenges for businesses in meeting the impending deadline of October 14, 2025, for Windows 10 support to cease.

Migration progress and sector performance

The analysis, based on over one million enterprise Windows endpoints, shows that the education and technology sectors are at the forefront of migration efforts. According to the report, 77% of endpoints in education and 73% in technology are now running Windows 11. In contrast, other sectors are lagging, with the healthcare sector at 41% and finance at 45% completion.

ControlUp's findings indicate that industry readiness to migrate varies not only in terms of software update capability, but also in relation to hardware constraints. Notably, 19% of healthcare endpoints require full replacement to meet Windows 11 specifications, while this figure stands at only 3% in finance.

"While the 50% completion mark is a major milestone, it's not time to relax," said Marcel Calef, Americas Field CTO, ControlUp. "With Windows 10 end of support just months away, organizations need to act now to avoid being caught off guard. Our data shows that the rate of migration is uneven and many enterprises still face significant hardware and planning challenges."

Regional contrasts

Regional data from the report demonstrates differences in how quickly organisations are completing migrations. Enterprises in the Americas are behind, with only 43% of endpoints having been upgraded to Windows 11. ControlUp notes that 87% of devices in the Americas are technically ready for the upgrade, suggesting the backlog is not due to device capability, but potentially to planning or operational constraints.

European enterprises have the highest completion rate, with 70% of endpoints on Windows 11, followed by other global regions at 66%. These regional inconsistencies present challenges for multinational organisations aiming for unified security and compliance post-Windows 10 support.

Challenges for larger enterprises

The report further highlights the particularly pronounced difficulties faced by large organisations. Among enterprises with more than 10,000 Windows devices, only 42% have completed the transition to Windows 11. These larger companies often encounter unique pressures due to a mix of legacy hardware, distributed workforces, and complex internal processes, all of which lengthen the migration timeline.

On this point, Calef commented, "ControlUp's Windows 11 readiness assessment tool helps IT teams instantly evaluate endpoint compatibility, identify upgrade opportunities and flag devices needing replacement, all from a single dashboard."

The Windows 11 Readiness Assessment tool is incorporated within ControlUp for Desktops, allowing organisations to monitor and plan end-user device upgrades from a centralised environment.

Industry context and data collection

The results cited in the Windows 11 Readiness report are derived from managed data encompassing more than one million enterprise Windows endpoint devices as of June 2025. According to ControlUp, overall migration rates have improved substantially over the past year, having fallen from 82% of devices not running Windows 11 to the current 50% still requiring migration.

ControlUp's report indicates that many enterprises are facing ongoing transition and readiness challenges as the Windows 10 end-of-support deadline approaches and the focus on unifying endpoint management intensifies across regions and industries.