Server 2003 End of Life - Time to ActWhat does Windows Server 2003 End of Life mean for my practice? If your Dental Practice is running Windows Server 2003 now is the time to be thinking of upgrading. Microsoft have released an official date for the end of support of Windows Server 2003 - and it's sooner than you think. The date is 14 July 2015, giving you about three months to upgrade! Here's why you should be thinking of making the switch now. Updates Since Microsoft will no longer be supporting Windows Server 2003, they will no longer release critical updates or patches to keep the machine up to date and to fix any bugs. Microsoft will also no longer provide standard product support. Software Compliance Although the major Dental software suppliers will continue to support it for now eventually they will stop support, usually once a required Microsoft feature such as the latest .net is not available, indeed some features such as the SOE Clinipads are already not supported using either Server 2003 or Windows XP. Security Issues Unsupported products are more likely to be targeted by malicious parties, as there are no security patches to fix the bugs that could work to their advantage. Having an unsupported server increases the risk of your practice being victim of a cyber-attack. Costs It is ultimately more expensive to run unsupported hardware and software - and this is definitely true of servers. With the increased risk of cyber-attacks, you also increase the risk of needing to pay out to fix any damage. Recovering from an attack or data loss can be costly. What you need to do We would recommend that if you are currently using Windows Sever 2003 you upgrade to Windows Server 2012 as soon as possible. This brings the benefits of many further years of support, a wealth of new features and supportable, reliable hardware. Please contact us using any of the methods below to talk about how we could help your practice migrate to the new version of Windows Server. |