"If you leave things to rot, you will suffer the consequences," he said. "It's the organization leaving it to last. We will be able to upgrade [in the future] without the pain we are currently suffering. Microsoft has been telling us for years that support will end."

NT is not the only unsupported platform at Suncorp which still has Windows 95 kicking around.

Cameron said that, as the bank's infrastructure management lifecycle project matures, it will ensure it always has "supportable software and functional hardware" to reduce the amount of significant capital expenditure every few years to a more predictable outlay.

"We made a decision not to go down the Linux path, and I'm pretty comfortable with that," he said. "But I'm also very comfortable having Linux-based appliances in our network."

The consolidation project will also extend to Suncorp's mid-range Unix systems where HP is set to be ousted in favor of IBM.