Dont ignore Windows Server 2003 End of Support until its too late!

The world has changed dramatically since 2003Todays business environments are very different to those of 10 years ago. Windows Server 2003 has been a trusted friend for over a decade, but there are better ways to deliver against todays business expectations and technical possibilities. Its time to upgrade to a modern platform, taking advantage of virtualisation and access to the cloud for scale, agility and performance.

What End of Support means in practiceFrom 14th July 2015, Microsoft will no longer offer security updates, support or technical content updates for Windows Server 2003. The result?

Windows Server 2003 and the workloads and applications running on it will become more expensive to operate

Security patches and hotfixes will no longer be available, leaving servers and applications vulnerable to security threats and downtime

Outdated software creates compliance risks Exchange Server 2003, reaches End of Extended Support on 8th April 2014. If you

are still using this edition, you should upgrade urgently to continue to enjoy secure business-class email. This is a great time to consider our cloud based Office 365 productivity and collaboration solution

Benefits of a modern datacentreUpgrading from Windows Server 2003 is an ideal opportunity to transform your datacentre and leverage the power, experience and cloud innovation built into the modern Windows Server 2012 R2 platform. Together with System Center 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2 provides the building blocks for your business to benefit from the power of the private, public and hybrid cloud on your terms.

By upgrading to Windows Server 2012 R2, you wont just avoid the cost and risk of running unsupported server software. Youll gain access to powerful new capabilities that will help your business be more agile like virtualisation and access to the cloud.

Benefits of upgrading Paul Smith saved $1.2 million in the first year with expanded virtualised environment

running Windows Server 2012 http://aka.ms/Paul_Smith Marquette University reduced storage costs by 10x and server costs by 50%

by taking advantage of virtualisation and storage innovation in Windows Server 2012 http://aka.ms/Marquette

Unilever increased the speed of IT service delivery by 40% by moving to Windows Server 2012, and expects to double in size without increasing costs http://aka.ms/Unilever

Aston Martin improved performance and business continuity by moving to Windows Server 2012 R2 http://aka.ms/Aston_Martin

37 critical updates were released in 2013 for Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 will reach End of Support on 14th July 2015. Now is the right time to plan your migration to Windows Server 2012 R2 or Microsoft Azure

What are the risks of staying on Windows Server 2003?

Security and vulnerability exposures

Greater support and downtime costs

Regulatory compliance issues

Windows Server 2012 R2: Key Benefits VS. Windows Server 2003*

Key Windows Server 2012 R2 Benefits

Benefit Why it mattersWindows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2003

Enterprise-class virtualisation

Industry leading server virtualisation

Built-in enterprise-class virtualisation, with Hyper-V, for virtualising mission-critical business workloads whilst providing significant cost savings

4 7

Disaster recovery and data protection

Cost effective backup and disaster recovery

Backup and recovery of mission-critical data with Windows Server Backup. Hyper-V Replica automatically replicates virtual machines for cost-effective disaster recovery 4 7

Enterprise-class, cost-effective storage

Low cost, high-performance storage

Storage Spaces provides highly available virtualised storage utilising industry-standard hardware that can be scaled as needed for cost-effective high-performance storage, including de-duplication

4 7

Remote access and virtual desktop infrastructure

Remote AccessSimpler, more secure access allows your remote workers to securely access your corporate network and data with Direct Access 4 7

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Simple and cost effective VDI deployment and management out-of-the-box, including storage de-duplication to significantly reduce cost

4 7

Management and access and information protection

Management and automation

Powerful management and automation with PowerShell and Server Manager, and integration with System Center, improving IT efficiency whilst reducing cost

4 7

Access and information protection

Policy based security, identity and access control to your corporate applications and data with Dynamic Access Control 4 7

Top reasons to upgrade to Windows Server 2012 R2

*This table focuses on key benefits and is not a complete list of Window Server 2012 R2 features.

Enterprise-class virtualisation scale and performance

Low-cost, high- performance storage and de-duplication

Cost effective backup and disaster recovery

Hybrid cloud applications

Hyper-V network virtualisation

Powerful management and automation

Simple and secure remote access

Simplified, feature-rich Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Microsoft Services datacentre modernisation offeringsMicrosoft Services has a range of services available to help customers modernise their datacentre, from assessing the scope and impact, educating their operations teams on migration approaches, through to comprehensive platform migration services, de-risking the entire migration process.

The engagement involves application discovery, analysis and rationalisation, to determine the best approach to migrate applications when deploying a new server platform. The Microsoft application migration approach aligns to the well published Gartner model for application remediation and includes the following options:

Rehost the application to a new operating system (e.g. Windows Server 2012 R2) - Upgrade or undertake a new installation - Reinstall the application and reconfigure/migrate the data - Migrate with a migration tool Refactor the application through code configuration changes to support new infrastructure services

on a modern server or IaaS/PaaS platform (e.g. Windows Server 2012 R2 or Microsoft Azure) Revise the application by modifying or extending the existing codebase to support legacy

modernisation requirements. Then use Rehost or Refactor options to deploy to a modern platform (e.g. Windows Server 2012 R2 or Microsoft Azure)

Rebuild the application by discarding the existing application code and re-architecting the application Replace the existing application with a supported on-premise or SaaS application

(e.g. replace Exchange 2003 with Office 365)Learn more at http://aka.ms/dcservices or contact uk_mcs_datacentre@microsoft.com

Microsoft Assessment Planning (MAP) toolkitThe Map toolkit is an agentless, automated planning and assessment toolkit for quicker and easier server and cloud migrations. MAP helps you plan your migration to Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure with hardware and infrastructure readiness assessment.Find out more at http://aka.ms/map

AppZero Migration toolAppZero is an important Microsoft migration partner who provides tools that assist with migrating a variety of applications from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2 or Microsoft Azure.Find out more at http://www.AppZero.com

Nominate any ISV applications that are halting your migration so we can help accelerate the process of getting these supported on Windows Server 2012 R2Let us know which ISV applications are blocking your migration. We will work with the relevant ISVs to provide them with technical assistance to facilitate and accelerate their development and upgrade to support Windows Server 2012 R2, SQL Server 2014 and Microsoft Azure.Find out more at http://isvupgrade.com

Plan your migrationIts important to follow a structured migration process, that will include discovering and assessing applications and identifying your target destinations before starting your migration.

Many organisations run a multitude of different applications built specifically for a certain environment. It is important to take a strategic approach to server platform modernisation, where servers and applications are properly profiled and migrated to a modern platform, whether an on-premise server platform (e.g. Windows Server 2012 R2) or a cloud platform (e.g. Microsoft Azure).

Microsoft and our partners offer a range of services to support you with successful server and application migrations.

DiscoverCatalog your software and workloads

AssessCategorise applications and workloads

TargetIdentify your destinations

MigrateMake the move

Find out more information about Windows Server 2003 End-of-Support and whats new in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azurehttp://aka.ms/WS03http://aka.ms/WS2012R2http://aka.ms/Azurehttp://aka.ms/modern_datacentrehttp://aka.ms/office365

Download the Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure Product Evaluation and Whitepaperhttp://aka.ms/WS2012R2_Eval and http://aka.ms/WS2012R2_WPhttp://aka.ms/Azure_Trial

Attend a Transform the Datacentre WorkshopAttend a TDI Workshop to learn more about Microsofts Cloud OS Vision and Modern Datacentre Solutions, including Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure. Understand your options to transform your datacentre and take advantage of the private, public and hybrid cloud on your terms.http://aka.ms/TDI_Workshops

Find out more about the Microsoft Datacentre Modernisation ServicesThe Microsoft Datacentre Modernisation service offering is a services engagement that includes application discovery and analysis, as well as migration. The discovery and analysis phase captures important elements of application services, such as determining high-level business priorities and constraints, business criticality, and alignment and performance levels.More information can be found at: http://aka.ms/dcservices or contact uk_mcs_datacentre@microsoft.com. Alternatively contact your preferred Microsoft Accredited Partner for support with your migration and datacentre modernisation project.

Attend free on-demand product training in Microsoft Virtual Academyhttp://aka.ms/mva or contact one of our training partners.

Dont ignore Windows Server 2003 End of Support until the last minuteTalk to your Microsoft Account Manager, Services Executive, or Accredited Microsoft Partner now

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