IT Is Slow to Migrate From Windows Server 2003

A wealth of CIOs and IT departments have marked July 15, 2015 with a big red marker–that's the day that Microsoft will cease issuing security updates for Windows Server 2003. Microsoft is encouraging enterprises to migrate to other options such as Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft Azure or Office 365 before the deadline. But a recent survey from Avanade reveals that most organizations are still dependent upon Windows Server 2003–and many will likely remain so after the deadline. A great deal are struggling to rewrite or modernize apps in order to make the transition, and there are additional obstacles in the form of concerns over business disruptions and the migration's cost. In addition, other IT projects are viewed as higher priorities. That said, an overwhelming majority of survey respondents are taking advantage of the deadline to increase their applications' cloud presence. "The good news is that many CIOs are using the end-of-support deadline as an opportunity to leverage cloud-based solutions to modernize their infrastructure and create a more agile environment for future migrations," said Rich Stern, corporate vice president and infrastructure services global lead for Avanade. "Interestingly, among this group, half of the respondents said they are looking to a hybrid platform of both public and private clouds." An estimated 200 IT professionals in the U.S. and Canada took part in the research.