End of Support - Don’t Take an Unnecessary Risk

 Author: Chris Sutherland, CSutherland@jackhenry.com

Halloween is over but some financial institution (FI) and IT departments are making a choice to push a scary situation to the limit.  A little over a year ago, we talked in a blog about “How long is too long?” for holding onto that legacy Windows Server 2003R2. Support for this server expires in roughly 200 days.  In September, ProfitStars’ Gladiator Security team produced a report from our server monitoring system showing that 309 of our clients still have at least one Windows Server 2003 Operating System.    

So what are the ramifications of still depending upon 2003 on your systems? It means that on July 14, 2015 there will be no more support for this operating system, no automatic fixes, no security updates and no online or phone technical support.  You will no longer receive patching or security updates that help protect your systems from harmful viruses, spyware or other malware that can lead to liability and potential stealing of personal and corporate information.

So what is your plan?  Are you an FI / IT department still holding onto the past?  While there are many things to consider in updating to the latest operating systems, such as application compatibility and migration of data, now is the right time to properly position yourself with today’s technology. Time and Windows Server 2003R2 wait for no man or woman.