Microsoft® Windows Server 2003 will reach its end of support as of July 14, 2015. What does this mean you ask? It means that Microsoft will cease to offer any security, support, or technical content updates for this operating system. It is estimated that there are more than 15,000,000 physical servers that are likely to be upgraded over the next 12 months and chances are that includes you.
So what does this mean for your business?
You and your business need to begin planning your migration to Windows Server 2012, because your business and its operations will face higher costs and lower productivity, in addition to security and compliance risks – the longer you wait, the riskier your situation gets!
Don’t want to migrate to 2012? Here are your other options:
Stay Put.
In this scenario, you no longer require server support, are prepared for major vulnerabilities and are perfectly fine to just “kick the can down the road.”
Assuming you actually rely on your Windows 2003 server applications, this option is only viable if you already are underway with replacing all your applications and servers with a new architecture from the ground up.
In this case, the risk of unsupported servers/applications, security breach, functional errors, etc. is outweighed by the benefit of focusing all your resources on the overhaul effort to all-new applications, to replace all the services on your current Windows 2003 server.
Upgrade The Server.
Performing an upgrade to your existing server, if even an option, in most cases will result in functionality errors with your applications that you’ll need to resolve in a “live” environment.
Moreover, it’s likely the server itself is several years old (or more), so you’re solving one problem in a potentially reckless, short-sighted manner while leaving the legacy hardware issue for a later date, compounded by having to diagnose and resolve application failures (at an unknown magnitude of time and expense) in your live environment.
This option is extremely high risk, unless you are certain that you won’t encounter any significant application errors upon the server upgrade.
Conclusion
So what do we suggest? Migrating your server to 2012 is definitely your safest bet but how about giving us a call us today on (09) 526-1800 or send us an email at info@resultit.co.nz so we can discuss what’s best for you and your business.
