Businesses Still Unprepared For Windows Server 2003 Deadline

We are now in July, and for companies that use Windows Server 2003, that means one thing – official extended support from Microsoft ends come the middle of the month.

This has been causing some degree of panic – after all, many millions of servers are still running the OS out there – and a new survey has thrown light on exactly how many businesses are staring down the barrel of this particular deadline.

As the Register reports, Avanade recently surveyed 100 companies, asking how their Windows Server 2003 migration was progressing, and found that almost half are going to fail to meet the July 14 deadline.

That’s a hell of a lot of companies which will be signing up to Custom Support Agreements with Microsoft at considerable financial expense.

Speaking of financial, some of those organisations are from the finance services sector, and you’d expect them in particular to be more on the ball regarding security and their upgrade path.

As we heard a few months ago, one report labelled the cessation of Server 2003 support as the biggest security threat of this year, with in excess of 10 million servers still running it globally.

Part of the blame apparently lies with the fact that Windows Server 2003 has remained a far less highlighted and discussed topic by the media in comparison to Windows XP, and the blaze of coverage that came with that particular OS reaching the end of its support life.

Of course, that affected consumers and not just businesses…

If you’re in hot water over Windows Server, then be sure to check out our article: The road to 2012: How to make a painless upgrade from Windows Server 2003.