Discover
Discover and catalog all of the software and workloads your organization is running on Windows Server 2003/R2
July 14, 2015 marks a transition, which is the end of Microsoft's support for Windows Server 2003/R2. This means you need to ensure your business has a plan to migrate the applications and workloads currently relying on Windows Server 2003 onto Windows Server 2012 R2 or Microsoft Azure.
Why now?
Transforming your datacenter presents an opportunity to stay in compliance with current standards and ensure the proper level of security is maintained. It is also a chance to innovate not just your datacenter, but the applications that are critical to your business success.
"Upgrading your aging servers and operating systems helps mitigate compliance risks, reduce costs & provide significant benefits that can outweigh the costs of upgrading"
What end of support means?
On July 14 2015, Microsoft will completely end support for Windows Server 2003/R2. This means:
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 colud mean that companies such as Visa and MasterCard will no longer do business with your organization. Or, the new cost of doing business will include paying catastropic penalties and astronomically high transaction fees.
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 Safe Haven
All servers running Windows Server 2003/R2 are affected. Both virtualized and physical instances of Windows Server 2003/R2 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 instrusion detection systems, more advanced firewalls, network segmentation, and other security measures - all simply to isolate Windows Server 2003/R2 servers.
Full length awareness video providing Windows Server 2003 End of Support awareness.
Migration process with Sysfore
To help address data-center and application migration and innovation opportunities for your organization. Sysfore adopts the Microsoft four-step assessment process that helps you build and optimize a plan for your company.
Assess
Once you have a catalog, you will need to assess what you have by categorizing and analyzing your cataloged applications and workloads based on several factors such as type, criticality, complexity, and risk.
Target
Choose a migration destination for each application and workload among the folowing migration targets: Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft Azure, Cloud OS Noetwork, and office 365.
Migrate
With an understanding of what is still running on Windows Server 2003, what needs to migrate when, and where to migrate to, you can make a plan and begin to migrate
Sysfore is a leading Azure Cloud Enablement Partner for customer in South India. We handhold customers on their journey of discovery and enablement on the Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform. With more than 75+ engagements, we've served customers ranging from startups to large enterprises, in helping evaluate, plan, execute and manage varied workloads and scenarios on the Azure Cloud. Sysfore is also a certified Silver Partner on the "Azure Cloud Platform".