UK users still relying on the Windows NT 4.0 server operating
system have less than a year to upgrade before Microsoft drops
mainstream support.
IT managers must decide whether to sign a potentially expensive
custom support agreement with Microsoft if they want to continue
running NT 4 server from 2004 or incur migration and, possibly,
licensing costs moving to Windows 2000.
"The majority of the installed user-base across Europe is on NT 4
server. We are concerned that customers may not have the time to
migrate," said Microsoft senior marketing manager Lars
Ahlgren.
Microsoft would prefer users not to take out a custom support
agreement as it had only signed a few such agreements in the past.
But Ahlgren said, "We are anticipating many more."
NT 4 server has been available since 1996, so many installations
are running in mature, stable environments.
IDC research director Dan Kusnetzky said, "People will continue to
run NT 4 until either they stop using their installed NT 4
applications, their company is acquired or it goes out of
business."
While Microsoft is, officially, stopping mainstream support at the
end of this year, Kusnetzky said businesses with large enough NT 4
installations would still be able to receive support, albeit at
considerable cost.
One area where NT 4 server is still widely deployed is in Microsoft
Exchange e-mail systems.
A report from Gartner in July estimated that 5%-10% of enterprises
using Exchange have completed their migration from Exchange 5.5 on
NT 4 server to Exchange 2000 running Windows 2000.
Gartner said the complexity of the migration meant most
organisations had to evaluate their options carefully and this
resulted in the slow take-up of Exchange 2000 and the Windows 2000
operating system.
Ovum analyst Eric Woods said the next version of Exchange 2003
would target Exchange 5.5 users, providing them with a migration
path to a supported Windows server platform and the latest
Microsoft e-mail server. A beta release of Exchange 2003 is
available from the Microsoft Web site.
To help users migrate from NT 4 server, Microsoft has provided a
resource toolkit available from its Web site. Microsoft Windows
server marketing manager Mark Tennant encouraged users to download
the toolkit and look at the work required to migrate.