End of support for Windows/SQL 2008 and 2008-R2 (what it means for SAP customers on Microsoft platform)

Most of the Microsoft customers would be knowing the EOS timelines for Windows/SQL 2008 and 2008-R2.

Does your SAP runs on Windows/SQL 2008 and/or 2008-R2 ? You would not be getting any security updates for these versions anymore after EOS. You might want to evaluate different options available, decide and plan ASAP as EOS timelines are 12-15 months from now.

What are your options to make sure your SAP platform is secure and compliant ?

1.    Migrate (Lift and shift) to Azure (Microsoft Public cloud) before EOS and enjoy the benefit of free security updates for next 3-years (Please note that your SAP platform at least need to be Windows/SQL 2008-R2 on Azure. Please refer SAP Note 1928533 - SAP Applications on Azure: Supported Products and Azure VM types). You can innovate for your business on Azure cloud using readily available to consume Digital Transformation tools (e.g. BigData, IoT, ML etc.) surrounding your SAP data and also plan to migrate to HANA before 2025 anytime . Please refer my other article : SAP HANA & S/4HANA Adoption on Microsoft cloud Azure to understand SAP Roadmap and why Azure would be the best cloud platform for you.

2.    Upgrade to latest Windows/SQL On-premise : Incase if you can not migrate to cloud for any reason. This will make sure that you would receive latest security, performance and innovative features and updates for the latest software.

3.    Buy Extended Security updates : if you can not migrate and upgrade. Please connect with your Microsoft account team to buy extended security updates to make sure that your platform is secure and compliant.

For more information please refer

·       https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/cloud-platform/windows-sql-server-2008