Windows Server 2003 support will end in July

Mar 23, 2015 10:44 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft will stop providing support for Windows Server 2003 on July 14 this year, so after that, computers still running this OS version will no longer get updates and security patches.

Even though the security risks of running an unpatched version of Windows are pretty obvious, especially because we're talking about a platform that's in 99 percent of the cases connected to the Internet, a new survey conducted by Spiceworks shows that not all IT admins are planning to migrate from Windows Server 2003 in the next 12 months.

The survey included 1,300 IT professionals, and 22 percent of them admit that upgrading from Windows Server 2003 before July is not on their agenda right now.

The reasons behind this decision are worrying to say the least.

No less than 51 percent of the respondents say that Windows Server 2003 still runs like a charm on their servers, so if everything works so well, why do they need to change it?

48 percent of them explain that they do not have the time to handle such a complex task, while 37 percent say that they lack the financial resources to do it.

Huge opportunity for partners

The Windows Server 2003 end of support isn't only about bad news. Microsoft partners are getting one of the biggest opportunities in the last few years because, with so many organizations that are yet to upgrade, offering services and assistance to make this happen faster could be a very profitable business.

According to the survey, companies are preparing on average a budget of $60,000 (€52,000) for this task, which could lead to a $100 billion (€73 billion) business that involves not only migration services but also new software and hardware.

Microsoft itself is also offering resources to aid IT pros who are planning to upgrade, but with only a few months remaining until EOS, organizations need to speed up their efforts as much as possible to meet the July deadline.