No Technology Support for Windows 2003 after July 2015, Microsoft Insists
Microsoft has maintained it would not extend the July 14, 2015 deadline for the support for Windows Server 2003, and has encouraged organisations that are running their technology solutions on Windows 2003 to begin to make alternative arrangement for a possible upgrade.
Recently, Microsoft announced that its support of Windows server 2003 will come to an end on July 14th 2015.
The date was determined based on Microsoft’s lifecycle support policies. No exception to the policy will be made for Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft, however, said the Windows Server 2003 would continue to run after end of support, but warned that running unsupported software carries significant security risks and may result in costly compliance violations.
“As you evaluate security risks, keep in mind that even a single unpatched server can be a point of vulnerability for your entire infrastructure,” the software company said in a statement.
Business Group Director, Cloud and Enterprise at Microsoft Nigeria, Mr. Alarape Oluyomi, said the world has changed since Windows Server 2003 was first deployed, but advised customers to consider upgrade, if they want to continue enjoying the benefits of technology solutions from Microsoft.
He explained that some areas where Information Technology (IT) professionals add significant business value to organisations by upgrading, include: Consolidating servers and virtualization stacks with Hyper-V built into Windows Server 2012 R2.
Updating applications to enable new mobile scenarios not possible 10 years ago, using Office 365 for Email or SharePoint, Microsoft Azure virtual machines to host web sites, or applications, and Microsoft Azure to create new SaaS applications.
He said customers who continue to run Windows Server 2003 will no longer receive security patches or updates. According to him, in 2014, over 20 security vulnerabilities for Windows Server 2003 were detected and addressed, but warned that this type of threat detection and prevention will not continue after the end of support.
“One single unpatched server puts your entire infrastructure at risk, virtualizing instances or running them in the cloud does not eliminate this risk.
Further, various regulatory bodies require organizations to run current operating systems, which presents compliance challenges for those that remain on Windows Server 2003,” Oluyomi said.
“Compliance violations are expensive and can hinder a company’s ability to do business. In the US, PCI and HIPAA regulations both require that customers run operating systems with current patches, he said, pointing out that Homeland security issued a security alert that describes the significant security risk associated with running operating systems that are no longer security patched. There is nothing a customer can do to technically mitigate known security issues, should they arise, in unsupported software,” he added.
He explained that the end of support date means that customers will no longer receive security patches or updates, even were vulnerabilities are identified.