IT support experts in West Palm Beach inform you that Microsoft is ending support for three of their most popular products in 2019. You need to determine the impact this will have on your company and what you need to do to mitigate or eliminate the risks.
The Products Impacted
Here's a list of the products impacted and their end-of-life dates:
- Windows 7: January 14, 2020
- Windows Server 2008: January 14, 2020
- SQL Server 2008: July 19, 2019
As you see, SQL Server 2008's end date is quite soon with the other two not far behind.
The good news is that there are updated products available. It's going to take time, money, effort, and knowledge to get updated and migrated in time.
What Is the Potential Impact?
Failing to upgrade can impact your company's security, according to IT support experts in West Palm Beach. When a product's end-of-life date arrives, the software doesn't stop working. However, Microsoft stops any development for the product. That may not sound bad, but part of the development stopped is security patches.
That means, if a hacker finds a new security hole in a discontinued product, there is no one working to patch that hole. And if one hacker finds it, everyone else will know quickly.
The Challenges to Upgrading
Upgrading is the solution to this potential security issue, as what IT consulting experts in West Palm Beach also suggest. However, there are challenges ahead:
- Equipment updates - The upgraded Microsoft products may have trouble working on the equipment you currently have in place. Newer software often requires more memory and newer technology. Computer manufacturers are seeing a large demand and may not be able to supply all the equipment necessary to handle the upgrades.
- Labor shortages - With so many companies facing the need to upgrade, the need for knowledgeable IT professionals is growing. If your own internal staff can't handle the upgrades and migration, you need to turn to an outside partner for assistance. However, even third-party providers are facing overloaded schedules.
- Migration issues - One solution to upgrade your own hardware and software is to migrate to a cloud solution like Microsoft 365. Unfortunately, migrating to the cloud requires knowledge and manpower that's already being strained due to the upgrade issues. Trying to do a migration without proper training and support can be disastrous.
If your company is still using these soon-to-be unsupported Microsoft products, you need to get a plan in place now and start taking steps to get away from them. Reach out to Nexxen Technologies. We are the experts on IT support West Palm Beach companies trust with their Microsoft upgrades.