Windows Server 2003 End of Life Impact on Businesses
The End of Life for the Windows Server 2003 family of products is July 14, 2015. On this date, all support for the server, including R2, will cease. IT companies now have an obligation to inform clients of this change, but what does Microsoft ending its 2003 server mean for your company
No Updates
37 critical updates were released in 2013 for Windows Server 2003/R2 under extended support. No updates will be developed or released after end of support. Imagine what impact zero updates will have on your infrastructure.
No Compliance
Lack of compliance with various standards and regulations can be devastating. This may include various regulatory and industry standards for which compliance can no longer be achieved. For example, lack of compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards could mean that companies such as Visa and MasterCard will no longer do business with your organisation. Or, the new cost of doing business will include paying catastrophic penalties and astronomically high transaction fees.
No Safe Haven
All servers running Windows Server 2003/R2 are affected. Both virtualised and physical instances of this server are vulnerable and would not pass a compliance audit. Many applications will also cease to be supported, once the operating system they are running on is unsupported. This includes all Microsoft applications.
No Savings
Staying put will cost more in the end. For example, a Custom Support Agreement (CSA) requires an application and has a high minimum entry cost. The cost doubles each year. Maintenance costs for aging hardware will also increase, and customers will face added costs for intrusion detection systems, more advanced firewalls, network segmentation, and other security measures—all simply to isolate Windows Server 2003/R2 servers.
What Options are There?
The advancements in IT services since 2003 means that customers have more opportunities to innovate and adopt not only the benefits that come from Windows Server 2012 R2, but the adoption of cloud computing solutions within a hybrid environment.
Option 1: Windows Server 2012 physical machine
Replace your existing physical server with new hardware using Windows Server 2012 with the assistance of your IT support services.Option 2: Windows Server 2012 in the Datacentre
In the datacentre advances in Windows Server 2012 give you virtualisation of computer storage and networking along with enterprise class scalability and increased performance.Option 3: Microsoft Cloud
Cloud options such as Microsoft Azure and Office 365 as well as the Cloud OS Network deliver applications faster, and increase productivity.Leaving Windows Server 2003 is an opportunity for change and opens up a new world of IT.
Take advantage of this opportunity and discuss your migration options with Hero IT Support today. We’ll also give you a free consultation for managed IT services at your business premises.