Business Case Study
Microsoft Server 2012 End of Life
How EC Managed IT supports its clients through their experience with Microsoft servers no longer being supported.
Business Case Study
Microsoft Server 2012 End of Life
How EC Managed IT supports its clients through their experience with Microsoft servers no longer being supported.
The Context
Our managed IT services clients have differing server environments, and different ages and implementations of their Microsoft Servers. These environments come to end of life often at different times, or when an operating system is no longer supported.
As of this writing Microsoft will end their support of Server 2012 on October 10, 2023. As part of our managed IT security offering, we have a high sense of urgency to ensure none of our clients rely on any server OS that is no longer being updated (patched). From a cybersecurity standpoint the risk is simply not worth it.
The Challenge
From a physical supply standpoint, there are varying levels of availability for hardware. As specialists with IT Projects we often upgrade our clients’ server infrastructure, or perform a cloud migration to bring them over to Azure. That said, over the last year we have had lead times on server hardware anywhere from 2-6 months.
This will affect the upgrade cycle for all who have current implementations of Server 2012. As we come closer to October 2023 upgrades will be needed worldwide, and we therefore anticipate a continuing demand for server hardware and a further supply constraint.
In addition, any company relying on an application that is built for server 2012 will need to consider the migration path to a new version in consultation with your software provider. If they are not able to meet the timeline of October 2023, consider moving to a more future friendly software offering.
We are calling out the important opportunity to plan in advance to enhance server security and business continuity.
The Plan of Attack
As of October 2022, we have notified all our clients who are on Server 2012 to begin the planning process. This always starts with IT consulting on the best path forward, whether new physical hardware or cloud migration. From here we proceed to quote, IT projects planning and delivery, and retiring older equipment.
The Delivered Outcome
To date we have consulted with a dozen or so quick responding clients, initiated multiple physical server quotes and IT project scopes, and are in the middle of a cloud migration.
For clients concerned about hardware lead times, it is time to seriously consider a cloud migration. We have deep experience with cloud servers, and this is our preferred path for a majority of customer for many reasons. We would love to consult with you about that!
The Takeaway
No matter what stage of your IT project, if it is related to cloud migration, cloud optimization, or Microsoft Office 365 migration, our team at EC has decades of combined experience with countless customized implementations and would love to help you get the best out of your technology investment.
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