Microsoft ®
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2
Technology Upgrade Program Overview [pdf]
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WINDOWS SERVER 2003 END OF SUPPORT APPROACHES
8/2014
Microsoft support for all versions of Windows Server
2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 will end on July 14,
2015. End of Support means the end of updates and
patches, and a loss of compliance for any datacenter
running this OS after this date. We recommend that IT
teams should begin putting plans in place now to upgrade
to the latest version,
Windows Server 2012 R2, or to shift applications to
the cloud with
Microsoft Azure or
Office 365 to help protect organizations from
security and compliance issues that may arise after
support ends. |
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WHAT END OF SUPPORT MEANS
The risks associated with not migrating servers and
applications could be significant when it comes to
security, compliance and costs.
- Reduced security: No security
patches will be available from Microsoft, exposing
your datacenter to vulnerabilities
- Compliance risks: Many
policies, including Payment Card Industry (PCI)
policies, will not be met with an operating system
that has reached end of support
- No updates: Hotfixes and bug
fixes will no longer be provided
- No support: Complimentary
support - phone and online - included with the
licenses will no longer be provided. Paid support
(e.g. from Microsoft Premier Support) will no longer
cover the Windows Server 2003 family of products
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MIGRATION OPTIONS
Start planning your assessment and migration to ensure
that critical applications and workloads are running
smoothly come July 14th, 2015. We have a number of
tools, resources, and partners to help you target and
migrate your Windows Server 2003 applications to Windows
Server 2012 R2. Customers with Software Assurance can
take advantage of their Planning Service Days benefit to
assist with the upgrade.
If you are interested in moving to a cloud-based
solution, you could also use this as an opportunity to
evaluate Microsoft Azure and Office 365 to reduce costs
and increase flexibility in your organization.
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