back to article Migration skills shortage looms as Server 2003 DEATH DATE approaches

A channel-wide migration skills shortage is a real danger this summer as stragglers strain available resources by making an eleventh hour dash to flee Windows Server 2003, distributor veterans are warning. Public and private sector organisation have 176 days to escape the software before extended support expires on 14 July, …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Really?

    Skills shotages?

    There isn't massive difference for most uses between 2003 and 2008R2. There are some, but really they are not insurmountable. Even jumping from 2003 to 2012 isn't a killer. The biggest issues are if you are running the likes of SQL2000 or old versions of exchange.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Really?

      More likely it's the cost of the new OS, SQL Server, and the hardware - and someone to actually perform the migration.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Really?

      There are no skill shortages, only the shortage of cheap skilled labour that the major outsourcers can make 80% profit on

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Really?

      "Really?

      Skills shotages?"

      Presumably they mean that anyone really good is already busy migrating people to Azure or private clouds and doesn't want to be bored senseless with vanilla server migration projects.

    4. Lusty

      Re: Really?

      It's not a skills shortage of people who can drive 2008 or 2012. It's a massive shortage of people who are able to actually plan large scale migrations and deliver them on budget while using the people who can drive the OS to do the work.

      The main issue is that most organisations have also been ignoring ITIL and TOGAF (among others) and so don't even have a CMDB let alone a service catalog from which to plan the migration, so step one is a huge discovery. Of course there is also a skills shortage in those areas too so that's not necessarily something that happened on purpose. For the larger and less well documented environments we have estimated 3 months or more just for discovery before the planning even starts.

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: Really?

        so step one is a huge discovery

        My thoughts exactly! And expect the unexpected as things break when you actually start switching things off.

      2. Peter2 Silver badge

        Re: Really?

        The real "skills shortage" if you could call it that is with the users. I'd be interested to know how many of those physical boxes are acting as terminal servers.

        The upgrade from 2003 TS is sensibly 2012 RDS. Sadly, this uses TIFKAM which may be the biggest barrier to an upgrade ever devised.

        The only remaining 2003 box we have is our terminal server, which is almost certainly going to be in use long past the EOL date simply because of user rejection of the fucking awful touch screen interface.

        Now try selling (expensive!) RDS licenses to upgrade to that, which will lower the productivity of anybody using it.

        One can't help but think that a "Plus pack" for RDS on 2012 containing a Win7 like interface would dramatically improve the adoption of 2012.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Really?

          @Peter2 I have to completely disagree with you there. We're at the point now where users are using Windows 8 at home and wondering why the work computer is so dated. It's the perception of IT people that users can't handle change holding up that change, not the ability of the users. At home that same set of users has managed quite well with updated versions of Office, updated Windows, iPads, Android tablets, Facebook, video messaging and various other completely new things. Somehow they coped without extensive training and therapy. From what I've seen, it's actually IT staff who don't like Windows 8 and are trying to keep users away from it. The abbreviation TIKFAM is a classic example - describing a menu as an interface to suit your agenda. I agree that full screen touch apps ought to be disabled on a corporate non touch desktop, but to imply a user is too stupid to click the massive outlook tile to open their email is ridiculous.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Really?

          "The upgrade from 2003 TS is sensibly 2012 RDS. Sadly, this uses TIFKAM which may be the biggest barrier to an upgrade ever devised."

          No issues at all here migrating hundreds of users and many different applications to RDS on Server 2012 R2. In fact users definitely preferred the new environment.

      3. P. Lee

        Re: Really?

        >The main issue is that most organisations have also been ignoring ITIL and TOGAF (among others) and so don't even have a CMDB

        +1

        If you're still on 2003, the chances are the rest of what you should have (information about your systems) is out of date too.

  2. ratfox
    Go

    Time to ask for a raise!

    Assuming you know how to do that job (not me).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Time to ask for a raise!

      Those of us with the skills have already had several raises. So much so that I now chuckle every time a recruiter tells me the salary offered for that exciting new position in the city he has...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Time to ask for a raise!

        Yep, me too. Your "exciting opportunity" pays how much? Oh stop, you're killing me!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Time to ask for a raise!

          Not sure why, but my anecdotal data is that IT jobs in London aren't really well-paid, especially considering the amount of financial companies present in the city.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Time to ask for a raise!

            "but my anecdotal data is that IT jobs in London aren't really well-paid"

            Where did you look? Capita's website?

            Try searching Jobserve for over £100 an hour or over £100K - there are plenty...

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Time to ask for a raise!

        " I now chuckle every time a recruiter tells me the salary offered "

        And those of us that are really good at it get the same but in terms of "rate offered".

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How much of this skill shortage is due to companies migrating away from Microsoft and needing some interfacing between the desktops and servers?

    1. Lusty

      Almost none. The only migration away from Windows I've seen in tens of thousands of servers is Oracle moving to Linux.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      None - Microsoft's server market share is still growing - lots of legacy midrange *Nix systems are getting migrated to SQL server and similar Wintel based solutions.

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