With Microsoft soon discontinuing technical support for Windows Server 2003, Kevin Wade, who founded IntelliSystems in Augusta over twenty years ago, today warned CSRA-based small business owners that procrastination on updating their servers may well expose their businesses and customers to increased cyber-security risks. "Businesses worldwide run an estimated 23.8 million physical and virtual instances of Windows Server 2003, according to data released by Microsoft in July 2014," reports Mr. Wade. "Microsoft has announced that as of July 14, 2015, it will discontinue support for its 11-year-old server operation system, Server 2003. This follows in the wake of its recent discontinuation of support for Windows XP this past spring. Failure to upgrade your server off of this operating system dramatically increases any company’s cyber-security risks."

So what's the big rush?

"With server migrations taking 200 days from planning to completion (industry average), it's actually later than you might think," explains IntelliSystems senior technical engineer Peter Rittwage. "If you still have a server running this software active on your network, now is the time to take action and start planning."

 “We look forward to continuing and expanding our work with small businesses in the CSRA as they grow their digital operations in a secure and manageable way,” adds Kevin Wade.

End of support for Windows Server 2003 means:

· No further updates or security patches released. 37 critical updates were released for Server 2003 in 2013 alone. No updates will be released after 7/14/15.

· Loss of compliance. Various industry regulations and industry standards will no longer be able to be achieved if you are using Server 2003 actively on your network.

· Increased security risks. Any server running this operating system will be completely exposed to serious hacker attacks aimed at taking control of your network, stealing your data or crashing your systems.