Microsoft partner Wardy IT Solutions is offering 50 Azure migrations for free as part of a $2 million initiative to help more companies move to the cloud sooner.
The offer comes amid Microsoft halting support and security updates for SQL Server 2008/R2 on-premise environments, which comes into effect in early July.
The initiative is dubbed Azure Navigator, Wardy IT's new migration pathway specifically tailored for companies still running SQL Server 2008 or below.
“There appears to be a certain amount of gravity associated with upgrading older environments in Australia and a somewhat unsubstantiated perception that an upgrade can prove risky, costly and disruptive,” Wardy IT managing director Peter Ward said.
“However, if there was ever a time to migrate and modernise data platform workloads, it is now.”
Azure Navigator is a four-step process involving data platform workloads, which results in a customer migrating to the cloud. The program comes with three-year extended support and is executed by Microsoft certified data platform consultants.
Ward adds that there's some 52 percent of the marketplace is still running SQL Server 2008 or below, and says the initiative represents an opportunity for Australian businesses to reduce their potential for security vulnerability.
The $2 million figure is based on its estimate of data migration costs, which can run between $40,000 to $50,000, a company spokesperson told CRN. They also confirmed that there isn’t a specific Microsoft incentive backing the initiative.
“With end-of-service for SQL Server 2008 approaching later this year, now is the time to for IT managers and business owners to think about the necessary steps to modernise,” Microsoft Australia director of cloud and enterprise Brett Shoemaker said.
“This will help improve security and meet compliance regulations, gain richer insights from dispersed data, add intelligence and transform their applications.”
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