In October, Microsoft ended support for Windows Server 2012, and last year it did so for SQL Server 2012. This has left organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks, as they scramble to upgrade their servers to supported products.
TD SYNNEX’s business development manager, Microsoft Cloud, Adeeb Altaji and Maz Mohammadi, business development manager, Azure ISV, sat down with ITWC chief information officer, Jim Love, during an ITWC briefing to discuss the risks that organizations need to be mindful of during a period of technological transition.
End of support, Mohammadi explained, means that organizations will no longer receive important security updates and technical support from Microsoft in case of a cyberattack or data loss. Ransomware is also a constantly changing threat that organizations have to be wary of, he added.
“If you delay fixing your system, you’re essentially leaving the door wide open for an attack. The longer you wait, the higher the risk becomes,” he affirmed.
Even more concerning is that organizations delay upgrades either because it seems daunting, or the server is working fine. In other cases, organizations find that upgrading their servers just takes too much time, resources, and money, said Mohammadi.
But risks are increased with delays, especially given the wide prevalence of remote/hybrid work and its own associated security concerns.
End of support challenges have, therefore, given organizations a new impetus to consider moving to the cloud, explained the panelists.
For instance, under the on premises model, organizations usually have to pay for the extra years of support that come under the extended security updates program, while Azure takes care of that for free. Azure also is hybrid, so customers can manage the pace of their transition to the cloud.
“It’s there to complement and do as much as partners and customers want and need,” explained Altaji. “If they would like to move over some of their business, say their Windows Server and their SQL Server to get the extended security updates, Azure is able to do that. Or, for partners saying, ‘you know what, this is the perfect time to migrate our whole business and our whole infrastructure into the cloud and into Azure’, then Azure is able to do that as well.”
However, organizations remain unsure of the right direction to take when considering cloud adoption. To address that, TD SYNNEX first runs a free assessment to determine what the organization has on premises, what that would look like when they transition to the cloud, and whether the organization is up to standards when it comes to cost and optimization.
Then the TD SYNNEX professional services team assists the customer with migration and deployment opportunities, no matter their choice of cloud service provider. TD SYNNEX also provides funding to help alleviate the costs associated with cloud migration.
Post deployment, the company offers technical support to customers in case they run into issues.
Further, Altaji explained that TD SYNNEX hosts webinars, training and similar initiatives throughout the year to promote knowledge transfer to partners and customers.
Altaji concluded the briefing by highlighting TD SYNNEX’s ‘Empower’ program, which, he said, is “aptly named because that’s what we’re really here to do.” The program provides incentives, training, and support to help partners boost their Azure cloud practice and reach their sales and business goals.
“The business cycle doesn’t make sense for everyone, every single step of the way; the cost might be high or a timeline or resources might be tied up with other things,” explained Altaji. “That’s where we try to help alleviate some of those issues, whether it’s from a knowledge perspective, or even from promotions and funding.”
