Microsoft are postponing date for end of Extended Support for Exchange Server 2010

With the intention of “meeting the evolving needs of (our) customers”, Microsoft has postponed the date for the end of Extended Support for Exchange Server 2010.

To allow the “extensive number of Exchange customers” to comfortably transition to the newest version of Exchange Server on-premises, Microsoft is now moving the deadline for Extended Support for Exchange Server 2010 from January 14th 2010 to October 13th the same year.  The date now coincides with the end of support for Office 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010.

We recognize discontinuing support for a product that has been as popular and reliable as Exchange Server 2010 can be an adjustment.

We also know that some of you are in the midst of upgrades to a newer version of Exchange Server on-premises, or more transformative migrations to the cloud with Office 365 and Exchange Online. With this in mind, we are extending end of support to October 13^th 2020 to give Exchange Server 2010 customers more time to complete their migrations.

From this date onwards, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support- which means no bug fixes, security fixes for vulnerabilities and no time zone updates.  Users still using the service will be left vulnerable to security breaches.

In a blog post, the company also reminds users of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to consider their future cybersecurity.

As a reminder, since Exchange Server 2010 runs on top of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, it’s important to consider how you will obtain security updates for the underlying operating system too. Please read more about your options here.

Customers with a complex deployment may find it easier to migrate to Office 365 and Exchange Online, using Microsoft’s free FastTrack service.  This way, customers can “get access to the most secure and productive software with the lowest TCO”, and avoid “big bang” version upgrades.

Users are also reminded that it’s not possible to upgrade from Exchange 2010 on-premises to Exchange Server 2019, and it’s necessary to upgrade first to Exchange 2016, or Exchange 2013 if this isn’t possible.

Source: theregister