Windows Server 2012 R2 End of Life Options for Bank and Financial Services
Topics on This Page
- Windows Server 2012 R2 End of Life for Banking & Financial Services
- Extend Windows 2012 R2 Server Lifespan to Maximize the Value of Your Microsoft Investment
- Upgrade Windows 2012 R2 Servers to 2022 Server and Keep On-premise or Migrate to Azure Cloud
- Extended Security Updates (ESU) Add 3 Years to Windows Server 2012 R2 Life
- Third-Party Microsoft Support Anchors Windows Server 2012 R2 and Lowers TCO
Windows Server 2012 R2 End of Life for Banking & Financial Services
Windows Server 2012 R2 ends on October 10, 2023. Bank and FinServ IT teams have several options to protect server workloads. They can extend the life on-premise, upgrade, or migrate to the cloud. Additional considerations include economic conditions, return on Microsoft investment, and total cost of Microsoft software ownership.
Audience: Bank CIO and IT Executives | Financial Services Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management
Extend Windows 2012 R2 Server Lifespan to Maximize the Value of Your Microsoft Investment
Bank IT can extend the life of their Windows 2012 R2 servers 3-5 years with Extended Security Updates (ESUs) and Microsoft third-party support. Maximize the ROI of your highly functional on-premise Win 2012 server fleet by deferring disruptive and expensive migrations.
Bank and Financial Services IT leaders can avoid expensive Microsoft Windows 2012 Server upgrades or migrations by running their existing highly functional systems and avoid long-term lock-in from Microsoft. ESUs and Microsoft third-party support give financial providers the strategic freedom to extend lifespans of hard-working, stable Microsoft Windows Server implementations and upgrade their Microsoft fleet when it best suits the enterprise.
Upgrade Windows 2012 R2 Servers to 2022 Server and Keep On-premise or Migrate to Azure Cloud
Financial service providers can upgrade their Windows 2012 R2 servers to Windows 2022 Server and keep them on-premise or migrate them to the Azure cloud. Experienced Bank IT teams know that Windows Server upgrades are disruptive and expensive, essentially restarting the ROI counter on their Microsoft investment. Windows server migrations to Azure are equally disruptive but also come with the additional hidden cost of Unified Support.
Banks should never upgrade Windows 2012 Server just to stay fully supported. Microsoft Windows Server upgrades used to provide significant, valuable new functionality. Now, instead of looking forward to new features, many Microsoft healthcare customers fear the expensive and time-consuming upgrade treadmill — with little perceived new value.
FinServ IT teams can defer Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 Server migrations until your organization is ROI-ready. Microsoft Windows Server migrations are expensive, disruptive, and typically don’t drive competitive advantage or revenue growth. However, Microsoft is forcing their bank and financial customers to move from robust, stable systems to new and unproven platforms through forced end of life support deadlines.
Extended Security Updates (ESU) Add 3 Years to Windows Server 2012 R2 Life
ESUs for Windows Server 2012 provide up to three years of security updates to Bank IT teams. ESUs will continue for three years, renewable on an annual basis, until October 13, 2026.
Eligible banking customers with Software Assurance under an Enterprise Agreement can purchase Extended Security Updates for Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 running on-premises. Financial Services providers with active Software Assurance or subscription licenses can purchase Extended Security Updates annually for 75 percent of the license cost of the latest version of SQL Server or Windows Server for the first year, 100 percent of the license cost for the second year, and 125 percent of the license cost for the third year.
Extended Security Updates do not include new features, customer-requested non-security hotfixes, or design change requests. However, Microsoft may include non-security fixes as deemed necessary. For on-premises servers, FinServ providers can use Azure Arc to receive automated/scheduled ESU updates and installation as well as the security and governance capabilities in Azure.
Third-Party Microsoft Support Anchors Windows Server 2012 R2 and Lowers TCO
Third-party Microsoft support for banks and financial services helps to reduce fees, preserve future flexibility, and extend the lifespan of current robust Microsoft Windows Server releases without requiring any costly, labor-intensive upgrades or migrations.
Banks Get Better Microsoft Return on Investment
Don’t change simply for the sake of change — avoid expensive and disruptive hospital Windows Server 2012 upgrades or migrations just to stay supported. Reduce support fees and avoid wasting potentially millions of dollars required to migrate or refresh well-running and stable Windows Server systems to unproven new platforms without a business case or ROI.
Economical, Expert Microsoft Support for Financial Services
FinServ providers get access to Microsoft Windows Server support experts on the frontlines. Third-Party Microsoft Support for Financial Services offers Designated Support Engineers (DSEs) with an average of 20 years of experience and industry-leading, 24/7/365 response times. DSEs quickly resolve Windows 2012 R2 Server issues and develop fixes that address customizations.
Bank IT Gets Win for Lower Total Cost of Microsoft Ownership
Free up funds for customer care growth and innovation while lowering your Microsoft TCO. Third-party Microsoft Support bank and financial services clients can take their substantial Microsoft Windows Server support cost savings and invest in new and innovative Bank/FinServ IT initiatives that create competitive advantage and drive business growth.
Europe (EU) US Cloud Microsoft Support Case Study
EU MICROSOFT UNIFIED SUPPORT CASE STUDY – FINANCIAL FIRM FACTORS IN US CLOUD 72% SAVINGS TO RECOUP 21 MILLION EUROS (EUR)
Global 2000 European Union (EU) investment firm is showing strong momentum including IT efficiency gains around Microsoft support. The financial enterprise is moving all its divisions from Microsoft Unified to US Cloud for a 72% cost reduction in 2021. Analysis shows the firm will recoup €21M EUR ($25M USD) over the next five years.
Audience: IT Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management | Enterprise IT Executives | EU Financial & Banking
Year 1 Transition from Premier to Unified – Big Euro Discounts
In order to make the transition from Premier Support to Unified in 2020 as painless as possible, Microsoft included a 35% Transition Adjustment and 37% Software Assurance Benefit credit to offset the Unified cost increases across all divisions for the Financial enterprise.
Some European Microsoft support customers are being sold Premier but the contract has all the monikers of Unified. Analysts note that most enterprises are now in Unified with the exception of government and education verticals.
MSFT Unified 72% Discount – Year 1 – One Division of EU Investment Firm
Year 2 Unified – No Discounts Offered Resulting in 72% Cost Increase
With the global economy shifting into recovery mode, analysts are reporting less discounting being offered by Microsoft for Premier or Unified support services.
Year 2 of MSFT Unified resulted in the removal of the 35% Transition Adjustment discount and 37% Software Assurance Benefit (SAB) credit.
Cost avoidance analysis of years 2022-2025 highlighted additional increases of 259% over the next 4 years when overlaying the firm’s IT roadmap with associated Unified costs.
The financial enterprise recouped €4 M Euros (EUR) in year 1 and an additional €17 M Euros (EUR) over the next four years allowing them to invest in strategic IT initiatives driving competitive advantage and growth.
Key Decision Drivers on Selecting US Cloud
Cost cutting of 72%
Singular Focus on Microsoft enterprise support
24/7/365 global coverage
Sub 15-minute response times
An analyst in London recommended US Cloud. Once IT Compliance addressed GDPR and follow the sun support, the transition was fairly straightforward. The cost avoidance will allow us to fund our new mobile platform scheduled for release in Q3 2022. — Phillipe I, Office of the CTO, Global 2000 EU Investment Firm
No TAMs – Only India Based Account Managers
It’s the first time we’ve seen a client report the CSAM contract explicitly calls out Microsoft Affiliate service delivery in India. This results in a double efficiency gain and gross profit increase for Microsoft.
1) Moving from Technical Account Managers (TAM) to Customer Success Account Manager (CSAM) cuts the average EU salary from €183,000 to €83,000.
2) By offshoring the CSAM function to India, Microsoft cuts that cost in half again to an average of €38,000 fully loaded with benefits.
US Cloud predicts this model will become the norm for 2022 and beyond as the “unlimited ticket” Unified load builds and the IT outsourcers scale out the CSAM delivery model for Microsoft.
EU US Cloud Microsoft Support Case Study
Investment in US Cloud Support Services Pays Dividends
Client: Large European Union (EU) Investment Firm
Industry: Wealth Management
Annual Revenue: €10 B
Key Drivers: Cost avoidance
Client Profile: A European (EU) multinational investment bank with over 11,000 employees that had migrated a majority of key Microsoft systems to the cloud.
Why Leave Microsoft Support: This sophisticated EU wealth management firm was being forced from Microsoft Premier Support into Unified Support. Traditionally the Client’s high-caliber internal IT staff solved the majority of Microsoft break-fix tickets. Only ultra-complex issues or ones that required code or tenant access were submitted to Microsoft Support. With the “all-or- nothing” pricing of Unified Support, the Client’s traditional approach of buying just the support hours they would need became impossible. Forced into the new pricing formula the Client immediately started to search for a replacement for Unified Support that more closely matched the Premier Support model they had tailored their internal resources to.
Switching to US Cloud: After searching for multiple alternatives in mid 2021, the Client admitted that only US Cloud had a service capable of replacing their Microsoft Support.
