Microsoft is encouraging all businesses to embrace the era of the cloud on its Microsoft Azure platform, which offers simple and highly secure alternatives for organizations still running Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2 – whose support lifecycle is set to end on January 14, 2020 – and SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2, which ended its support lifecycle earlier this year in July. Microsoft Azure now offers solutions for service continuity on these platforms with costs up to 5 times lower than competing cloud service providers – plus the confidence from direct support provided by Microsoft's team of experts.
Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 were launched more than 11 years ago, and both played significant roles in bringing business applications onto 64-bit platforms. The enterprise sector, meanwhile, was in its early years of adopting virtualization and data analytics. Today, the level of technological advancement among businesses has reached an entirely different level, and innovations like cloud and AI – still seen as part of a far-flung future 11 years ago – is now commonplace in everyday work.
In addition to on-premises upgrades to current versions such as Windows Server 2019 and SQL Server 2019, Microsoft also offers simple and convenient alternatives on Microsoft Azure that are designed specifically for the 2008 releases. This allows businesses to instantly transfer existing workloads on both Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 onto a secure and stable cloud platform with no upgrades required.
Customers opting to transfer their 2008 workloads to Microsoft Azure will receive three years of security updates free of charge, effectively extending the life of the two platforms for another three years. Meanwhile, Azure Hybrid Benefit offers even greater value with special savings for customers who migrate existing Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 licenses with active Software Assurance onto Microsoft Azure.
Vasupon Thankakan, Cloud and Enterprise Business Group Lead, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited, said, "We understand very well that many organizations still rely on key applications designed to run on Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008. We are ready to bring these applications directly onto Azure straightaway – with no change at code level required in most situations. We also offer a toolkit that assesses your current IT infrastructure and provide recommendations on whether to migrate certain applications or systems to the cloud or choose an in-place upgrade."
Business customers still running Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 can learn more about alternatives for migration and on-premises upgrades at:
- Windows Server 2008: https://bit.ly/2scjtFv
- SQL Server 2008: https://bit.ly/2P9yBN0
The latest updates on Microsoft's movements in Thailand can be found at http://news.microsoft.com/th-th. For more information, contact Microsoft at https://aka.ms/ContactMSFTTH.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @Microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Established in 1993, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited aims to Make 70 Million Lives Better by enabling Thai people and businesses to realize their full potential through technology that transforms the way people work, play, and communicate. We offer software, services, and devices that deliver new opportunities, greater convenience, and enhanced value to people's lives. Working with communities and the Thai government, Microsoft and its partners are committed to working closely with organizations and people across Thailand to fully harness the power of technology and innovation.