“Sorry, your product is no longer supported” – You do not want to hear this phrase from your helpdesk especially when a critical bug or threat vector is disrupting your business. The solution is to keep your systems and tools up-to-date and under the umbrella of mainstream support.

With the end of support (EOS) dates approaching for SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 on July 9, 2019, and Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 on January 14, 2020, enterprises which continue to use these outdated products will no longer receive new security patches and will be left vulnerable to security and compliance risks, not to mention losing out on new features and upgrades.

Back in 2008

When Windows and SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 (formerly codenamed “Kilimanjaro”) were released back in 2008 and 2010 respectively, they were hailed as tremendous advancements in technology, given the shift from 32-bit to 64-bit computing. There was much ooh-ing and aah-ing over Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, the server virtualization feature in Windows 2008. Similarly, the nature of SQL Server 2008 R2, which offered high levels of scalability, application support, and almost unlimited memory, made it a market leader in relational database management systems (RDBMS) alongside Oracle Database and IBM’s DB2.

End of Life

Microsoft’s decision to retire its Windows and SQL Servers 2008 and 2008 R2 is not a sudden move. Mainstream support for Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 and SQL Server 2008/2008 R2 ended on January 13, 2015, and July 8, 2014, respectively. So, the fast-approaching EOS dates herald the end of extended support for both Microsoft products. There will be no more updates, security patches or support to help you tackle a bug in production or a security breach in your data or applications.

Challenges with Unsupported Servers after EOS

If you think it’s ok to ignore the patches and continue running unsupported software, think again. A recent study showed that a single security breach costs enterprises over $3.5 million both in losses of customers and revenue. While 20 percent of organizations lose customers during an attack, nearly 30 percent of organizations lose revenue. Some of the most common EOS challenges include:

1. Security Threats – When security updates stop for unsupported software, it leaves critical gaps in security. A single security breach can result in the loss of customers, revenue and reputation.
2. Compliance Violations – Running unsupported software poses significant risks leading to compliance violations. In such cases, companies could end up paying huge fines or face a shutdown.
3. Time-to-market – Unsupported software does not support innovation for applications. It takes longer to launch better functionality and richer features which leads to dissatisfied users

However, this is not all, with time, age will show as the servers will lose compatibility with more advanced systems. Software-related issues will become a gigantic headache and now with the new virtualization feature – VHDx – which is incompatible with 2008/2008R2, it will affect the user experience and server performance.

EOS: An Opportunity to Plan

One in six enterprises fail to plan well for EOS because either the executive team or the rest of the organization don’t have a clear understanding of the business impact and the severe risk posed by unsupported software. You must carefully evaluate your options and make sure you are choosing the right option that meets your business needs. The bottom line is, YOU NEED A PLAN!

Building a business case for migration

While on-premise servers and databases still play a significant role in IT, it is an undeniable fact that today 80% of organizations are adopting cloud-first strategies. There is enough data to show that companies that adopt cloud outpace their competition by 2x the operating margin and 50% higher average net income on revenue (source: Data & Analytics Maturity Model & Business Impact, The Digital Business Divide, Keystone Strategy whitepapers, 2016).

EOS is an opportunity to transform and migrate to Azure cloud, and the time to ask yourself questions like:

1. Should I rehost (move as-is), refactor, rearchitect, or rebuild (modernize) my applications and workloads?
2. Which workloads should I migrate first and when is the right time to move?
3. How should I build my business case for the move?
4. Is my migration timeline-driven or business priority-driven?

Benefits of migrating to Azure

Microsoft has already announced free Extended Security Updates in Azure for SQL and Windows Servers 2008/2008 R2. The benefits of migrating to Azure include:

1. Three years of Extended Security Updates at no additional charge on moving to Azure Virtual Machines (VM) and an upgrade to a newer version when ready
2. Usage of existing licenses to save up to 55 percent on Azure VMs with Azure Hybrid Benefit and Reserved Instances
3. No application code changes for SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2
4. Near-zero downtime for Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
5. Scalability and CI/CD with Windows Server Containerization
6. App Modernization using Azure cloud-native services Azure

NetEnrich 2008 Server Migration Offer

NetEnrich, a Microsoft Azure Gold Partner, can help you explore options and implement a smooth migration to Azure, with free extended security updates for three years. Here’s what we are offering:

1. For Microsoft Enterprise Agreement Customers – Free Azure Migration Assessment
   • Automated data collection – List of resources at risk
   • Azure instance right-sizing and consumption estimates
   • On-site workshop for migration planning and roadmap
2. For Customers in NetEnrich Cloud Service Provider 
   • Free Azure Migration Assessment
   • Free Migration for the first 25 VMs
     • Lift and shift migration of VMs
     • IaaS Monitoring, Management and Security
     • Certain terms and conditions apply

To know more about the impending “End of Life” for Windows & SQL Servers 2008/2008 R2, join our speakers Rob Davies from Microsoft and Chris Cramer for a 30-minute webinar, where they will go into detail about how organizations can strategically plan the next steps and avoid running the risk of security breaches and compliance violations.

Register for the webinar

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