When a vendor, in this case Microsoft, determines it is no longer beneficial to them, or their customer base to continue selling or supporting a product or service, the product is strategically removed from its support structure. This is known as the product (or services) end of life.
At first glance, this process would indicate no new features will be added to the product or service. However, with this specific Microsoft product – Exchange Server 2007, continuing to utilize this product after the April 11th 2017, end of life date, could have numerous negative impacts to your organization. Here are 4 things to know about Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 end of life date, and next steps:
- Security Updates: One of the support features Exchange Server 2007 will lose when it goes end of life in April is security updates. Without the ability to ensure this product is up to date, and patched for security vulnerabilities, will cause additional security weaknesses within your businesses network. Not only does this allow hackers and other malicious individuals to access/steal and infect your company’s data, but it also may put you in violation of numerous regulations.
- Future Hardware Refresh Cycles: Hardware refreshes are vital to employee productivity. At Applied Tech, we suggest on premises servers are refreshed every 4-5 years, every 4-5 years for desktop workstations, and every 3 years for laptop workstations (depending on industry). With Exchange Server 2007, still in an environment, after the established end of life date can cause software and hardware compatibility issues; causing downtime time, lost productivity and disgruntled customers.
- Outlook Compatibility: Until you upgrade, your email server will no longer be compatible with your email client. Access to email, calendaring, contacts, and tasks would be limited to mobile devices or Outlook Online. This can limit application integrations that may be required for employees to do their job, and can limit access to historical information when an internet connection isn’t available.
- Application Integration: Whereas modern products like Office 365 allow you to integrate most applications seamlessly; older, and more specifically, soon to be end of life products like Exchange Server 2007 provide limited integrations with current or future applications. Thus, resulting in reduced productivity, employee frustration, and ultimately effecting client relations.
Next Steps: The next step is to identify what to replace Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with, we can help you with that too. Exchange Online in the Office 365 suite is your best bet for the highest level of support for several reasons:
- It is a Cloud based solution
- Compatible with new devices & apps
- Improved security
- Better Compliance capabilities
- Guaranteed 99.9% uptime
- Easier to recover
- Integration across apps
To see how Applied Tech can help you with this problem, or if you have any questions about the end of life for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, or migrating to a different platform reach out to us below. We are willing to do a migration assessment FREE OF CHARGE . You can also contact us today at 608-729-1300.
