For more than 36 months, VirtaMove has been urging customers to perform server modernization – to move legacy Windows Server applications to modern Window Server platforms running WS2012 and WS2016. Why? Because running applications on operating systems that are out of date or have reached end-of-support is risky and costly. Doing nothing about modernization doesn’t in fact reduce cost or risks. Remember, if your IT team and outsourced resources are doing nothing or delaying the modernization of your servers, you‘re still paying them to do nothing. Paying good money for nothing at all effectively gives your business the lowest return on investment possible.

Many Microsoft customers believe that procrastination is easy. It may in fact offer the easy path initially, but the end result of procrastination is wasted time and energy. At the end of the day, you’ve only held yourself back from embracing change and creating a future.

So many reasons for server modernization

The reasons for moving and modernizing abound. If you want to get the most out of Microsoft’s new security and operating system features, then you need to move your applications forward – and not off Windows Server 2003 to 2008, but all the way to WS2012 and 2016.

Close security risks

Modernizing pays off by closing security risks inherent in WS2003. Recent malware such as WannaCry and Petya demonstrate these risks. Let’s say you decided to do nothing about modernizing applications, and systems are breached because of this decision. Willfully exposing your critical business data to risk opens you up to severe business and brand risk when breaches occur amounts to IT negligence.

Improve performance

Modernizing also improves the performance of business applications. You get to run uncluttered fresh installs of business applications on new and faster servers, or on a low cost, scalable cloud platform. Faster servers allow your users to do more business in less time, with less effort.

Defer costs and buy time

Moving legacy business applications to modern servers defers the significant costs associated with redeveloping business applications and retraining your application users. Users get to continue working with an application they know and don’t need training to get up to speed on an unfamiliar application. In some cases, moving legacy applications can defer more than one million dollars in application redevelopment costs.

Moving forward with automation

If Microsoft customers want to move forward, take advantage of new application management tools, close security holes, move to the Cloud, use new Docker-managed Windows containers, and unlock the latest innovations, they need to modernize now. All Microsoft’s new and innovative technology runs only on the latest versions of its software.

When it comes to Windows server modernization, there are no rational reasons and there is no benefit from sticking with a procrastination strategy. Procrastination isn’t a zero cost strategy for your corporation.

Tools exist to help you automate the migration of legacy applications to new operating systems. Automated server modernization offers a way to move legacy applications to modern servers now. Innovative tools, methodologies, and techniques exist today to make upgrading much easier and less expensive than conventional manual and outsourcing methods.

If you’d like to learn more about how automation can help you with Microsoft server modernization, let us know. Email us or give us a call; we’re always happy to talk about how best to modernize your applications, in a way that makes sense for your business and your budget.