Here at RKL eSolutions, we manage a wide range of technology projects and consulting activity including ERP software implementation and training, integration to eCommerce and other systems, custom development, networking, and infrastructure services.
One advantage of our broad service offerings is that we have a lot of experience to draw on when troubleshooting issues that cross technology disciplines. Nothing exercises this more than working through issues with an aging server infrastructure found underneath some ERP systems.
The Microsoft Stack
Sage 500 and Sage ERP X3 are both mature products and this means that we support several years of releases across over a decade of Windows Server and SQL Server versions.
Without question, small and mid-sized businesses need to extend their infrastructure investment and as a result of this, we still support a lot of Windows Server 2003 and SQL Server 2005 installations. However, both of these server products are out of mainstream support and are nearing the end of extended support as well within Microsoft’s support lifecycle.
While both of these server products still function, there are several things that are important to consider:
- The end of the support lifecycle means that Microsoft will no longer provide any critical security updates to these products.
- Both Windows Server and SQL Server offer significantly improved performance and manageability when you jump forward to their current versions. Sage 500 in particular sees measurable performance improvements when upgrading from SQL Server 2005.
- Windows Server is inclusive of Internet Information Server (IIS), a key server component in many system integration and eCommerce architectures.
- Similarly, SQL Server is inclusive of SQL Server Reporting Services and SQL Server Integration Services - two key components of many businesses’ business intelligence (BI) and enterprise integration strategies.
- Current versions of Windows Server and SQL Server can fully leverage modern server hardware, taking full advantage of large memory configurations (128gig +), high CPU core counts, and virtualization.
- The high availability story for Microsoft’s current server products is greatly improved over the 2003/2005 generation.
A Better Box
On the hardware side, there are also several things to consider. The current generation of server hardware represents tremendous value - especially when you consider consolidation of resources through virtualization and SAN storage solutions.
- Virtualization allows you to consolidate multiple physical servers into a single box by leveraging large memory and high CPU core counts. You can easily replace four older servers with a single box today, while still enjoying improved performance and room for growth.
- SAN storage offers high performance and high availability in a single solution.
- The price/performance measure of current generation hardware is simply higher than your current hardware.
- The efficiency of newer hardware is greater, resulting in lower power consumption and less heat generation.
Data Highways
Your network infrastructure plays a critical role in the success of your information services. Performance, availability, and security are all core functions of your network. This is also an area of high vulnerability and high demands from compliance requirements such as PCI.
It is important to evaluate whether your current network infrastructure and supporting hardware are up to the demands of your growing business. Ten year old routers and aging firewall appliances are simply not going to be up to the task today.
But This All Costs Money…
Yes, upgrading server infrastructure is an investment. But the return on the investment may actually be much faster than you think.
Here are other factors to consider as well:
- Some of our customers have seen improvements in key workflow processing times approaching an order of magnitude when moving from unsupported versions of server and ERP software to their respective current versions. Increased workflow efficiency in key order, shipping, and accounting functions is easily identifiable as tangible savings in workforce costs.
- Administration and support costs of current versions of hardware, server software, and business software are demonstrably less. The respective vendors have already invested in core improvements to their products, so you can shift support dollars to new initiatives and business growth instead.
- Facility costs, including space, power, and cooling, can all be reduced by moving to a contemporary server architecture.
- The information system security environment has changed significantly in the past few years. Having a current, fully supported IT infrastructure for your business is more critical today then ever. Aging server versions and network solutions are much more difficult, if not impossible, to keep up to date against current threats. The simplest impact of this is that your security risk is increasing. However, if your business is subject to any regulatory requirements the impact can be increased liability and compliance failure. HIPAA and PCI are two examples that demand actively managing your security posture, and keeping your server infrastructure up to date is a key part of this.
- Expectations of investors, customers, and regulatory bodies have greatly increased in recent years. The availability, security, and performance of our information systems today are under more demand than ever. Short term savings seen by extending current hardware and software life cycles quickly evaporate when you experience loss of business due to system downtime, security intrusions, and poor performance.
A Real World Example
The discussion above may seem academic. But we see examples on a weekly basis of businesses that are at the point of sorely needing to invest in updating their server infrastructure.
A recent example helps to illustrate this ...
Windows Server 2003 R2 is still found in many organizations. In some cases it hosts the RKL web services stack for Sage 500 that customers use for integrating eCommerce solutions. Recently, we have seen an increase in failures for credit card authorization calls out to Sage Exchange.
The underlying cause is a change in the level of security certificate that Sage Payment Solutions (SPS) is using to increase connection security to their payment processing services. Windows Server 2003 R2 requires a Microsoft hotfix to properly support this, whereas later version of Windows Server seamlessly accommodated the change.
Read More: Important Issue Affecting Windows Server 2003 and Sage Exchange
The difference of an interruption in service and the need to troubleshoot and update the servers, versus automatically accommodating the more contemporary security approach, is an example of how obsolete server software can impact your business.
Security and performance are the primary drivers. But I hope that some of the discussion above helps illustrate that beyond technology, there is actually a broader business impact that drives - and justifies - the investment in upgrading your server infrastructure sooner rather than later.
Need Some Help?
The team at RKL eSolutions is always available to discuss these topics in more depth with you. We pride ourselves in the partnership we have with our customers. Part of this includes helping them assess their current server infrastructure, help define proper upgrade paths, and assist in implementing those upgrades with minimum impact on their business.
If your business would benefit from that type of guidance, let's talk.
