Healthcare professionals devote their careers ensuring that patients live long fulfilled lives. The titanium hip replacement should last a lifetime. Bioengineers focus on solutions that persist through time, NOT quick fixes and replacements as soon as something new gets released. Because major surgeries like hip replacements are not things doctors want to inflict on their patients more than once.
BUT when it comes to Microsoft and other software products, the newest version is what’s preferred. And over time, if your organization hasn’t replaced its software, you’re likely risking big headaches both with support AND security.
You see… Microsoft and other major software developers are relying on increasingly short lifecycles for their products. This isn’t necessarily because they’re trying to swindle you of money (no comment here), but more so because the development cycle has sped up to the point where supporting dated versions of Microsoft platforms has become operationally infeasible for them to sustain.
What does this mean?!
Your IT departments need to vigilantly evaluate your hospital’s technology—including software and hardware—to determine when is the most cost-effective time to replace their systems, which includes workstations, servers, phone systems, and software. Delaying your decisions too late may lead to serious problems with your network’s support and sustainability (see below for details).
Over time, old technology becomes too slow and too vulnerable to cyberattacks that software developers like Microsoft prefer to eliminate the old stuff to focus their attention on more highly used systems.
Windows Server 2008 has less than two years of extended support left. At which time Microsoft is completely dumping support. What can you expect if you choose to hold on and are using this old server after January 1, 2020?
You no longer will have a Hot Fix Agreement Option—while mainstream support for your 2008 server ended on July 9, 2013 and extended support expired January 15, 2015, until now you’ve still had the safety blanket of Microsoft helping with ‘Hot Fixes’ if something happened to your server. At this point, you still have a very expensive, but very present Microsoft support team available to you in the event something goes wrong or you want security patches for your server. In the next two years, you’ll be completely up a creek without a paddle fending for yourself with no support whatsoever.
Why Ignoring End of Life Is A Bad Idea?
Likely you’re trying to save a few bucks by using outdated Microsoft Server 2008. Maybe you’re also running legacy applications past their prime to cut down on costs. I don’t want to sound too alarmist, but every day you keep legacy systems, including your Microsoft Server 2008, in production, you’re bringing on more risks to your organization’s ability to secure and keep its data.
Some of the big dangers with your 2008 Server?
Security vulnerabilities—say goodbye to security fixes and patches that Microsoft regularly releases (at least monthly). These patches make is so that your server is immune to latest cyberattacks. When Microsoft releases patches for other systems, rest-assured cybercriminals are looking for both unpatched machines and the same vulnerabilities in legacy systems. Since Server 2008 will no longer be supported, you will become a bigger security target (you will become the lowest hanging fruit).
Software incompatibilities—think that new application you just bought will run on your network? Think again! New applications are optimized for the latest operating systems. That means that if you need to run anything relatively new on that server, it likely won’t run (or at least will run VERY slowly).
Say goodbye to passing compliance—do you have HIPAA-HITECH pressures? What about PCI? Whatever industry and whatever compliance framework, if you are running servers that are past their prime enough to not even be remotely supported by the developers, it will not be security complaint. That means if you are found in violation (or someone reports you) you may face serious fines greater than the cost of replacing that old equipment in the first place.
High operating costs—the costs of maintaining buggy old software gets steep real quickly. When you and your team are relying on a slew of software that is legacy because it runs on Server 2008, when something breaks, you’ll be paying for hours upon hours of time to figure out and then remediate what’s wrong. The expenses of paying to just keep the application on that Server 2008 running will be more costly than a server replacement.
Poor performance and reliability—even if you’ve decided to go on using your Server 2008 given your security risks and high operating costs, you’ll likely forfeit additional productivity in trade for a clunkily runny server. Applications will certainly run slower than if you were running them on a newer server. And if something breaks, you’ll likely face serious outage time. All of this time add up to huge operating expenses that hold your organization back from growing or staying profitable.
Bottom line: there’s no bulletproof way to keep your end of life server. Your risks will outweigh the rewards of saving on hardware investments—even if you are on a tight budget! Need a second eyes on that old server? Not sure how to upgrade? Contact Us TODAY for a roadmap solution.
