End of Support Deadline – Desktop & Server Products
Overview
The following software reaches end of support from Microsoft on 14 Jan 2020.
- Windows Server 2008 (All Versions)
- Windows 7 (All Versions)
- Small Business Server 2011
- Microsoft Exchange 2010
Like all good things, eventually they come to an end, nothing will ring clearer in January 2020. As will any product provided by Microsoft they will eventually reach “End of Life”, lets take a closer look at what this means.
Product Support Lifecycle:
1. Mainstream Support:
Available for 5 years from product release, Microsoft continue to improve and maintain the software, achieved using security, bug fixes and enhanced functionality improvement patches.
2. Extended Support Phase:
After mainstream support ends Microsoft will begin a 5 year period of extended support for the product, this only focuses on providing addressing security vulnerabilities. You will no longer see additional features or design changes to the core product.
During this phase larger organisations may purchase an Extended Support agreement direct from Microsoft. This additional contract ensures Microsoft will continue to provide performance and operational fixes/updates to the products covered in the agreement. While these agreements are extremely expensive, IT departments may see a huge value in keeping thousands of workstations operating smoothly.
End of Support Impact
On January 14, 2020, Microsoft will be ending their Extended Support for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008/R2, and Exchange Server 2010.
That means any business or user actively using a workstation or server that is operating any of those three products or systems will immediately place their data at risk of theft, destruction, or cyber attack.
Organisations using End of Support (EOS) products now need to make preparations to upgrade or find replacements, out account managers are here to help and can be contacted directly by calling us on 01782 694288.
Why you need to take action
Out deployment and migration team are fully prepared to help migrate customers to a newer operating system, new workstation, or cloud based alternative.
Our goal is to transition all of our clients to supported systems in a timely matter. That is why it is important that you begin working on a migration plan with an account manager as soon as possible. Simply waiting until the last few months could result in a disastrous scenario where critical business data is put at risk once support ends.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what type of organisation you manage, support will end for everyone on the same day. Every affected business and user worldwide will be transitioning to newer systems over the coming months.
We are not anticipating delays when ordering hardware and software however engineering time is limited and allocation is based on a first come first served basis.
To avoid a delay we recommend you to contact us as soon as possible.
Upgrade & Migration Options
Whilst we can provide a number of suggestions these can be tailored to you individual business needs, we recommend talking to an account manager to book a free consultation.
Windows 7
Product Name: Windows 7
End of Support Deadline: January 2020
Recommended Replacement: Windows 10
We recommend upgrading your Windows 7 licenses to Windows 10.
We all know that Windows 10 had a rocky start, it was a big shift for Microsoft in how it operates and updates peoples machines however, it recently celebrated its third year of general availability.
It’s gone through several rounds of feature enhancements and bug fixes over the last 3 years and now offers stability that rivals windows 7 . It’s a reliable, secure operating system that you will quickly get accustomed to, seeing as how Microsoft designers and engineers used Windows 7 for inspiration.
If your computer is moderately new, you may be eligible for a simple software upgrade, saving you money and time. We can use the same hardware you have, but upgrade the operating system from Windows 7 to Windows 10. It is possible to further increase the performance of machines by optionally upgrading the traditional HDD to a faster SSD for very little cost, this will help to increase system performance and reliability whilst boosting productivity, lets face it nobody likes paying employees to watch loading icons or “not responding” windows.
To determine if your computer is eligible for an upgrade please call us on 01782 694288 or book a free consultation.
Windows Server 2008
Product Name: Windows Server 2008
End of Support Deadline: January 2020
Recommended Replacement: Windows Server 2016 or a Microsoft Azure Hosted Solution
Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 were designed using the same core architecture of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7. Microsoft typically releases a major server operating system shortly after releasing a major workstation operating system. Therefore, it’s not surprising to see Windows Server 2008/R2 on the same support time-frame as Windows 7.
Due to the importance of the role a server carries out within a business you would expect the hardware life to be shorter than your typical computer this is due to the device running 24/7 in what is usually the corner of the office on the floor or a warm cupboard located in the building.
There is some good news though, gone are the days that every business needed a server to perform these roles, since the launch of Microsoft Azure cloud platform in 2010 the majority of businesses can reduce costs and complexity by moving these workloads to a cloud platform hosted with Microsoft’s state of the art data centres in the UK.
Why move to Azure Hosted Solutions?
- No new hardware to buy every 4 or 5 years,
- Reduced Operating and Support Costs
- Reduced Energy Usage,
- Improved Security / Compliance
- Simplified System Architecture.
Like the Idea of Saving Time, Money and Resources?
Talk to one of our cloud solutions specialists on 01782 694288 or book a free consultation.
Wait I’m not ready to move to the cloud!
We understand not everyone wants to move everything to the cloud, do not fear we have the perfect solution for businesses that do not wish to move to a cloud based solution, Windows Server 2016 or Server 2019 can be deployed quickly and easily but please be aware this usually requires a hardware replacement or upgrade to deploy this solution as server hardware has significantly changed over the last 10 years.
You can learn more by talking to an account manager on 01782 694288 or by booking a free consultation.
Exchange Server 2010
Product Name: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
End of Support Deadline: January 2020
Recommended Replacement: Microsoft Office 365 or Hosted Exchange
Last but not least, is Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2010, In January, 2020, its Extended Support will also come to an end. From an infrastructure perspective, Exchange Server 2010 coming end-of-life has the least impact on systems in comparison to changing server or desktop operating systems.
A lot of businesses have already transitioned their communications and collaboration needs to a cloud-based system, like Office 365. Businesses that require advanced integration features with third-party software, or those with higher security needs, would normally already have upgraded their Exchange Servers to 2013 or 2016.
The migration to Office 365 is typically very smooth and easy, this can be completed out of hours and planned to cause minimal disruption to end users. It’s just an updated cloud hosted solution with better security and collaboration features, typically your end users wont even see a difference in how the email system functions as all existing mailbox data is transferred as part of the migration.
We recommend migrating to Office 365 over upgrading to Exchange 2016 based on the nature of the platform, migrate once and you have all the latest security updates and features as they are deployed on a monthly basis.
You can learn more by talking to an account manager on 01782 694288 or by booking a free consultation.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR – WHY CHOOSE OFFICE 365?
Office 365 is a lot like Trigger’s 20 year old brush as seen in Only Fools and Horses, “17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time”. Through all the years Trigger never had a day off whilst his brush was repaired or upgraded.
Office 365 offers the same functionality by applying security updates and additional features seamlessly in the background without disruption migration and additional costs.
Jonathan Lawton – Director, Hixon Group
Upgrade & Migration Services
Operating System Migration
Our account management team can help you decide on the best plan to reduce the risks associated with the looming 2020 deadline, we have migrated a large number of systems and can offer a huge amount of experience and guidance we simply cant give you in a blog post.
Give us a call on 01782 694288 for a no obligation chat or book a free consultation to discuss your migration options in more detail.