I’ve brought this up several times with people since writing the post, and the typical reaction has been “what? really?”. Even with only nine months to go (one down already!), there is still time to assess the importance of systems if such internal classifications don’t already exist, and prioritize upgrade plans accordingly. Entering EHFS doesn’t mean everyone will need/want to upgrade every system, however for mission critical apps, it’s probably a good idea to assess just how critical hotfix support is.

For many, it will be unrealistic to plan on having every system and and application tested and upgraded to a 2008 platform by July of next year. However, there is plenty of time to plan and upgrade select mission critical systems in a managed fashion, for which hotfixes and ongoing non-security support are deemed critical.

This leaves other systems running on a platform that is certainly mature, and likely to function in an acceptable manner without necessarily needing hotfixes. It does serve as a salient reminder that after July, the next support change will be the end of security patches as well.

Policy-wise, now would be a great time to clearly state that new Server 2003 deployments should not be entertained without clear justification warranting an exception, and that rebuilds and hardware refreshes should also include a 2008 upgrade if possible.