Bad timing for a good advice. Microsoft asks all businesses and other networks using server 2003 to stop using it. They cite end of support to Server 2003 as the reason. The timing of stopping support and asking people to move on is wrong however.
With Windows server 10 around the corner, Microsoft could have extended the date for support so that people can move directly to Server 10 instead of Server 2012 R2. In its blog, Microsoft also offers the option of Office 365 and Windows Azure when it says “move on to something else that is safer”. In a note issued by Microsoft, Server 2003 will no longer be getting official support and that translates into invalid compliance as the entire infrastructure would be at risk if even one unsupported server is running on the network.
It is a fact that people need to upgrade or move to other platform once the official support to Server 2003 is stopped because the risks of hacking and other problems increase. Still, considering that the Windows 10 server would be way better compared to Server 2012 R2, most of the businesses would like to migrate directly to Windows 10 server. They simply won’t want to afford the additional overheads involved in moving to Server 2012 R2 and then to Windows 10 Server. Besides, many network admins are not satisfied with Server 2012 R2. They say the interface is too much of Windows 8 and they’d prefer to wait.
Microsoft is also pushing in Office 365 and Windows Azure as an alternative to Server 2003. People who go for Office 365 might not face as many problems as upgrading to new servers every few years because the platforms are cloud based and will always be updated automatically, thus making the companies run the latest version of whatever they choose between the two (Office 365 or Windows Azure).
According to experts, one-fifth of the people still using Server 2003 will wait till Windows 10 server is released while supporting their servers on own costs, which will still be less than migrating the entire set up to Windows Server 2012 R2. While Office 365 and Microsoft Windows Azure are good options, they can be customized only to a limit and that stops admins from going for those services. They are a good choice over even Windows 10 Server if the need of networks is limited to the facilities the cloud based servers can provide but still, admins feel Microsoft should have extended support until release of Server 10.
