If your business uses and relies upon Windows Server 2012 anywhere in your infrastructure, prepare to say farewell. Windows Server 2012 is coming to its End of Life phase, which means that Microsoft will be ending support. End of Life for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 is happening as of the 10th October 2023.
What is the End of Life?
End of Life is the term used by Microsoft to signify that although a product or service will continue to work, it is no longer eligible to receive technical support. This means that any issues that arise with that product will no longer be fixed by Microsoft, and Windows Updates will no longer provide new patches on the product or service.
This is incredibly important for businesses, because Windows Updates provides patches for bugs, and issues security fixes to protect your systems, your networks and your services running their operating systems against exploits, viruses and malware. As such, hackers keep track of products coming to their End of Life, because as soon as Windows Updates stop, businesses are vulnerable to cyberattacks.
What does the Windows Server 2012 End of Life mean for businesses?
Businesses who choose to continue to use Windows Server 2012 after its End of Life risk the security of not only the Server itself, but everything on that network. This is because viruses can enter through your unprotected product, and then use your network to travel between devices, hardware and software.
Additionally, third-parties will begin to stop developing or supporting applications that use this technology. This means that businesses who are using Windows Server 2012 may also find that their applications stop working, or are no longer supported which is a huge problem for operations should issues arise. This can also includes security software including anti-virus, leaving your business even more vulnerable.
Ultimately, this means that businesses using Windows Server 2012 will need to replace these systems if they want to continue operating in a safe, secure and compliant way. All businesses have a duty to be GDPR compliant and having non-supported systems is a significant risk to that. In addition, any business sectors that have regulatory compliance requirements, such as professional and financial services organisations, may find their memberships, affiliations, accreditations or insurances in jeopardy.
‘It’s a huge upheaval for businesses when products reach their End of Life,’ says Director Adam Kuznesof. ‘There’s an assumption that moving to a new product will be quick and easy, and it just isn’t the case. There’s an awful lot to take into consideration, and we want to encourage businesses to prioritise this transition now, to make it as seamless and pain-free as possible.’
What do businesses need to do now?
Primarily businesses need to find out how many systems they currently have running on Windows Server 2012. Then, businesses need to look at how many third-party applications use Windows Server 2012, to find out the upgrade path for the products in question. An upgrade path is the route that software provides will take in order to assist with the migration of their application to a new system so they may continue providing their service and support.
If you need some help with this, you can get in touch with your friendly IT support team. We can help you to find supported versions of all the products and services that you need, and upgrade or replace them so that your business can keep running smoothly.
‘One option for businesses is to move to Microsoft 365, which is a Cloud based service’ says Adam. ‘This is a great option for businesses using Windows Server 2012 to store data and not applications, and don’t want the hassle of replacing their systems every time it reaches its End of Life.’
‘There’s still a lot to think about when moving to the Cloud,’ says Adam. ‘There is a lot of planning involved, and businesses will need to think about the applications they use. However, if businesses start early, they’ll stay protected from a cybersecurity perspective, and keep things operating without too much disruption.’
Windows Server 2012 will reach its End of Life in October 2023. To start planning the transition, give us a call on 0191 482 0444.
