There’s a gift you can give your company, your employees and ultimately your clients and customers. It’s not a toy, but it’s something that shouldn’t be toyed with much longer – develop a strategy and implementation plan for moving your Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012. It is absolutely the best gift you can give your company and is the single, most important IT decision you can make to move your business forward in 2015.
If you have delayed updating and modernizing your Windows Server 2003, the harsh reality is: The end of extended support, which is coming alarmingly fast, will be on July 14, 2015. While Microsoft has offered extended support since terminating mainstream support of Windows Server 2003 in 2010, even this extended support will end in July, 2015.
We’ve talked about this transition in earlier newsletters but the reality of all this may just be hitting you…or not. The trajectory that the IT industry is on today is radically different from the trajectory the industry was on in the early to latter 2000s, when the majority of Windows Server 2003 servers were placed into service. Today, pressures are changing IT as we know it. Standardization of operating systems, mobility, and cloud usage are the industry drivers.
While you might feel like standardization, mobility and cloud usage has nothing to do with where you’re business is headed, here are three big ideas on why not to toy around with moving to WS2012: security, software and mobile devices.
Security – To remain on WS2003 once the extended support has ended, leaves your company and IT systems vulnerable to viruses, security breaches and hackers. A single incident can bring a business to its knees with extended downtime or compromised data systems. This isn’t a scare tactic; it’s a fact. No support means no fixes, no patches and no help. Can you really afford that?
Software – If you are still using a Windows Server 2003, chances are that you are also using aging software – some of it may already be unsupported or near its support life as well. Because of the changing industry standards, every software company has already or will be moving to upgrade their software to fit the most current standards. Remaining on WS2003 will not allow you to move forward with your software needs.
Mobile Devices – Your customers use them and your employees use them. People expect to be able to interact with your business through their mobile devices. The explosion of phones and tablets making their way into businesses is putting heavy pressure on IT departments to support or enable access from these devices. IT personnel are scrambling to balance keeping IT systems secure while allowing mobile devices to be used in business settings. Moving to MS2012 can be a tremendous help with securely incorporating mobile device usage into your business.
And the final thing not to toy around with this holiday season is contacting PCTech for help in planning and implementing a move to MS2012. We can partner with you to evaluate where you are, where you need to go and how you can get there. It can be totally overwhelming, we know; but we can help you with the decisions that benefit both your hardware and software needs and offer the longest return on investment, moving your company into a position of stability and growth in 2015.
If you have friends or business acquaintances who are still using MS2003, give them a gift this season by forwarding this newsletter to them. It may be the best gift they get all year!