Guitars, Operating Systems, and Technological Evolutions (or Revolutions?) Forecasting the Impact of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 This is the first in a four-part series from Dell describing the vast potential of the new Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system.1 Additional topics will include strategic and tactical choices in migrating to the new OS from Windows Server 2003, the most efficient tools for the job, and how your team can handle inherent challenges. Evolution or revolution? It’s an age-old debate with thousands of examples, especially when it comes to technology used in many walks of life, from business to music. Take George Beauchamp as an example. In 1925, he experimented with guitar string, a piece of wood, and a magnetic pickup from an electric phonograph. Over the course of six years, his work evolved from tinkering in his dining room with a motor from his wife’s sewing machine to combining his inventiveness with the vision of another engineer, Adolph Rickenbacker. Together, they created the first commercially viable electric guitar – the Rickenbacker – a favorite instrument for pioneers such as the Beatles, clearly an evolution, and a revolution that continues to impact all types of popular music. Fast-forward 83 years and we’ve got so many technological evolutions that we can’t keep up. Many are transient, fads really. Others are enduring cornerstones that shape the way we live, how we express ourselves and how we conduct business. 1While there are plenty of promising features in Microsoft Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012, for brevity sake, we have chosen to focus on 2012 R2. This brings us to one of the biggest business-technology evolution stories of the decade: Microsoft Windows Server OS migration. More than 23 million servers in the world are still running on the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, making it the most popular engine for serving information and applications globally for over a decade. But, starting in July 2015, Microsoft will no longer provide basic support for it. There’ll be no more patches or bug practices. Because in one way or fixes for the old operating system. IT another, in both our personal lives and departments still running Windows in business, we are all riding a wave Server 2003 will be out of compliance of IT evolution, and the new Windows with various standards and regulations, Server OS will be right in the middle of potentially keeping businesses and it – taking place in data centers across organizations from making credit card the planet. transactions, isolating them from critical Is there really an IT evolution? vendors and channels. Old applications and vital system security may be at risk. Consider these forecasts. Maintenance costs for aging hardware In a recent white paper, the experts may skyrocket. at McKinsey Global Institute discuss Challenge and Opportunity disruptive technologies and their OS migration will prove a major potential economic impact. They list More than 23 million undertaking, even for the most the top four disruptions as mobile sophisticated IT organizations. For internet, automation of knowledge servers in the world example, many IT departments do work, Internet of Things (IoT), and not have a comprehensive asset cloud technology. McKinsey says are still running management database detailing these will potentially generate $14-30 all of the hardware, software and trillion in annual economic impact, on the Microsoft interdependencies in their data centers. with adjacent values in the forecasts They’ll have to perform discovery to such as a 10-20% cost reduction in find out what’s out there. Only then treatment of chronic diseases through Windows Server 2 can they select the optimal migration remote health monitoring. 2003 operating approach for each server. That means Dig a little deeper and you will in complex environments, it can take uncover more IT growth. Gartner system. hundreds of business days to audit, expects the platform as a service analyze, plan and refresh hardware and (PaaS) market to reach almost $7.0 software, all before migrating the actual billion in 2018, up from $2.5 billion operating system and applications. The in 2013. The potential increase in process could be labyrinthine and full of spending for PaaS technologies is an potential risks. average of $900 million per year from 3 But, done properly, the payoff can be 2013 through 2018. revolutionary. Why? Because of all the benefits that this new OS enables and the new fundamental tool-set that will underpin the next generation of business 2 2Report| McKinsey Global Institute, Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy, May 2013 | by James Manyika, Michael Chui, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Peter Bisson, and Alex Marrs 3 Gartner Market Trends: Platform as a Service, Worldwide, 2013-2018, 2Q14 Update, Published: 19 June 2014, Analyst(s): Fabrizio Biscotti, Yefim V. Natis, Massimo Pezzini, Paolo Malinverno, Jess Thompson, Michele Cantara, Jim Murphy But growth is not the only story. Peel Efficiency back the layers of IT projects and you’ll • Storage enhancements, known as …Shouldn’t this likely uncover “standardization.” IDC Storage Spaces will enable grouping points out that many organizations are virtual drives together in a storage pool “…already on a trajectory to minimize the that can be used and managed like growth and number of operating system versions any other drive, and will enable simple in use and reduce the variability of the mirroring to protect from drive failure, standardization in 4 configurations for each version” thus reducing overall storage costs. technology drive And what about the impact to our • Vast improvements in Windows lives? After all, shouldn’t this growth PowerShell will increase the server- positive changes in and standardization in technology drive to-administrator ratio and reduce positive changes in the quality of our the complexity of multi-machine the quality of our existence? McKinsey’s forecasts go on to management. predict that, because of these disruptive • Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) existence? technologies and this growth, by 2025: automates software updating—a task • 2-3 billion more people will access that used to take hours—on clustered the Internet servers while maintaining availability. • To sequence a human genome, it will • Work-style Flexibility – Microsoft’s take 1 hour and cost $100 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Windows Server 2012 and • 1.5 million driver-caused deaths will be will enable the deployment and Its Promise for New and averted by autonomous vehicles management of remote desktop Growing Businesses • 100-200% potential increase in North services, providing employees the What is your server environment like? American oil production flexibility to work anywhere, any time. Are you just getting off the ground and • Potential share of solar and wind power They’ll have access to the appropriate running only one or two servers? Or, for global electricity generation will environment in the data center from have you been growing for a while? Do you have more than 25 users? be 16% a range of devices. Depending on your answers, you may And which operating system will serve • RemoteApp – Remotely accessed choose either Windows Server 2012 as the driver behind a large percentage applications that look as if they are R2 Standard or Essentials. of these disruptive technologies, these running on the end user’s local The Standard edition now includes positive changes in our lives? Which computer will enable personalized, all the Essentials features and operating system will IT leaders choose consistent, and secure experiences for functionality. It enables increased for standardization? users, while also improving compliance virtualization technology with the through centralized control and access ability to run two virtual machines With the Microsoft Windows Server OS to confidential data. and the potential to run more with covering 73% of the server install base additional licenses. The Standard by the end of CY2014, Windows Server • Cloud Enabling – Hyper-V virtualization edition also lets you run virtual 2012 R2, will certainly weigh heavily in capabilities will reduce costs by desktops (VDI) providing a more the mix.5 enabling the consolidation of more flexible work environment. And workloads on fewer servers—reducing Office 365 integration can scale How? What’s in the new OS that drives beyond 25 users. consumption of resources such as potential value to your business or power and physical space—while Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials organization? supporting the agility of either private, is designed for smaller businesses. It is an ideal first server OS and Evolution Meets Revolution public or hybrid clouds. In a virtualized vastly more capable than a simple A lot has changed in eleven years. environment, IT can minimize the network-attached-storage (NAS) Windows Server 2003 has proven itself impact of both scheduled and solution for up to 25 users. Essentials an enduring workhorse, but 2012 R2 unscheduled downtime. And, can use provides great options that allow virtual machines to reproduce different you to remotely access your files offers important features: and folders, connect to PCs in computing environments for testing your office to run applications and troubleshooting. without any virtual private network (VPN) hardware investment. And it integrates with cloud technologies like Office 365 and Windows Azure. 3 4,5IDC White Paper, sponsored by Microsoft Corporation,Windows Server 2003: Why You Should Get Current, Al Gillen, July 2014 …these widespread benefits will likely have their footing deep in data centers around the world, and therefore in Windows Server 2012 R2, the revolutionary evolution of an • Directory Management Friendly – Transformations Active Directory (and its adjacent As you can see, the repercussions for operating system. services) is full of new features that continuing on Windows Server 2003 enable secure access to corporate could be harmful, while the benefits data from personal devices, that make of migration are undoubtedly positive.