ABSOLUTE DATA EXCELLENCE
ABSOLUTE DATA EXCELLENCE
For three end-of-support cycles, Microsoft made waiting free. This time it did not – and that, not the deadline, is the story.Key Takeaways The subsidy on waiting has been withdrawn - for three end-of-support cycles Microsoft made deferral effectively free on Azure,...
Copilot is ready the day you switch it on. Whether it delivers depends on something Microsoft cannot ship you: a governed data estate underneath it.Key Takeaways Adoption is outrunning readiness - enterprise Copilot rollouts are accelerating, but what varies from one...
Enterprise AI has moved from pilots to full-workforce rollouts - and the question few are asking is whether their data is governed enough to let an AI read it.Key Takeaways Speed is the wrong question - enterprise AI has jumped to full-workforce Copilot rollouts and...
For three end-of-support cycles, Microsoft made waiting free. This time it did not – and that, not the deadline, is the story.Key Takeaways The subsidy on waiting has been withdrawn - for three end-of-support cycles Microsoft made deferral effectively free on Azure,...
Copilot is ready the day you switch it on. Whether it delivers depends on something Microsoft cannot ship you: a governed data estate underneath it.Key Takeaways Adoption is outrunning readiness - enterprise Copilot rollouts are accelerating, but what varies from one...
Enterprise AI has moved from pilots to full-workforce rollouts - and the question few are asking is whether their data is governed enough to let an AI read it.Key Takeaways Speed is the wrong question - enterprise AI has jumped to full-workforce Copilot rollouts and...
Most organisations invest in perimeter security. The database – where the data actually lives – is the layer most often left ungoverned.Key Takeaways The perimeter protects the route, not the destination - Security investment concentrates on the edge, while the...
Still paying Microsoft for Azure by credit card? Discover why finance and IT leaders prefer the CSP model for predictable billing, built-in partner support, cost optimisation, and long-term value.Key Takeways Credit card billing creates risk - Failed or expired...
On July 9, 2024, support for SQL Server 2014 ended. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected. We're here to help you migrate to current versions for greater security, performance and innovation.We've...
On July 12, 2022, support for SQL Server 2012 ended. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected. We're here to help you migrate to current versions for greater security, performance and...
Still paying Microsoft for Azure by credit card? Discover why finance and IT leaders prefer the CSP model for predictable billing, built-in partner support, cost optimisation, and long-term value.Key Takeways Credit card billing creates risk - Failed or expired...
On July 9, 2024, support for SQL Server 2014 ended. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected. We're here to help you migrate to current versions for greater security, performance and innovation.We've...
On October 10, 2023, support for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 ended. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected. We're here to help you migrate to current versions for greater security, performance...
On July 9, 2019, support for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected. We're here to help you migrate to current versions for greater security, performance and...
Extended support for SQL Server 2016 ended on 14 July 2026. Without ESUs there are no more security updates – and this cycle, Microsoft has repriced the exit routes.The facts On 14 July 2026, SQL Server 2016 reached end of support. Mainstream support ended in July...
As the year draws to a close, we would like to express our appreciation to our clients, partners, and colleagues for the trust and collaboration that have defined the year. We wish you and your teams a restful festive season and a successful year ahead, and we look...
Microsoft SQL Server 2025 marks an important shift in how organisations modernise, optimise, and protect their data platforms. As data estates become more hybrid, more intelligent, and more tightly governed, SQL Server 2025 is no longer just another upgrade cycle. It...
Extended support for SQL Server 2016 ended on 14 July 2026. Without ESUs there are no more security updates – and this cycle, Microsoft has repriced the exit routes.The facts On 14 July 2026, SQL Server 2016 reached end of support. Mainstream support ended in July...
As the year draws to a close, we would like to express our appreciation to our clients, partners, and colleagues for the trust and collaboration that have defined the year. We wish you and your teams a restful festive season and a successful year ahead, and we look...
Standardised pricing will replace Microsoft’s long-standing tiered discount model - prompting many organisations to review the CSP programme for its cost savings, licensing flexibility, and simplified management.Microsoft Tiered EA/MPSA Pricing Ends Microsoft will...
As we wrap up the year, we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to our clients, colleagues, and partners for your continued trust and support. We hope the festive season brings you the chance to slow down, recharge, and enjoy time with family and friends. Warm wishes...
First Distribution’s Database Administration, Security and Compliance needs lead it to trusted advisor, Ascent Technology. For any large organisation, Database Administration (DBA) is a vital part of maintaining their Data Platform Operations effectively. As it has...
When Bidfood SA chose to modernise and migrate its data platform to Microsoft Azure, it turned to Ascent Technology for help. In a world that is digitally transforming, it is more vital than ever to an organisation’s success to utilise the latest platforms to drive...
A Windows Server and SQL Server consolidation, optimisation and migration to Microsoft Azure enables the company to reduce costs, modernise its data platform and boost its innovation capabilities. As an operator running two distinct betting businesses, Phumelela...
First Distribution’s Database Administration, Security and Compliance needs lead it to trusted advisor, Ascent Technology. For any large organisation, Database Administration (DBA) is a vital part of maintaining their Data Platform Operations effectively. As it has...
When Bidfood SA chose to modernise and migrate its data platform to Microsoft Azure, it turned to Ascent Technology for help. In a world that is digitally transforming, it is more vital than ever to an organisation’s success to utilise the latest platforms to drive...
Microsoft Azure Data Platform Services not only boosts the company’s DR facilities, it also helps them deliver value-added services and innovative strategic solutions to its customers. In a digitising world, it comes as no surprise to learn that Compatible Automotive...
Ascent Technology assists Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) with modernising its Windows Server and SQL Server, Azure Based Data Platform Architecture, ensuring Agility and Flexibility to cater for the company’s increased workloads. RMA is South Africa’s leading...
Ascent Technology continues its strong showing in the Microsoft Partner of the Year awards, as a finalist in the Data and Analytics Partner of the Year award.Finalist Data and Analytics Partner of the Year "It is always gratifying to be recognised by Microsoft as one...
Ascent Technology continues its strong showing in the Microsoft Partner of the Year awards, as a finalist in the Data and Analytics Partner of the Year award.Finalist Data and Analytics Partner of the Year "It is always gratifying to be recognised by Microsoft as one...
Ascent Technology continues its strong showing in the Microsoft Partner of the Year awards, as a finalist in the Data and Analytics Partner of the Year award.Finalist Data and Analytics Partner of the Year "It is always gratifying to be recognised by Microsoft as one...
We call it the standstill project: the recurring programme of work an organisation funds purely to keep what it already has. It is the tax the version lifecycle collects every few years – and July’s end of support for SQL Server 2016 has just issued the next invoice.
The estates treating 14 July as an isolated fire are misreading it. Windows Server 2016 – the operating system under many of those same database servers – reaches end of support on 12 January 2027, drawing on the same change windows, the same teams and the same testing capacity. SQL Server 2017 follows on 12 October 2027. SQL Server 2019 and 2022 are already dated behind them, in 2030 and 2033.
Each deadline re-runs the standstill project in full: the same estate discovery, the same regression cycles, the same cutover risk, the same quarter of consumed delivery capacity. Nothing new ships. The organisation pays in scarce engineering attention for the privilege of remaining where it is.
The deadline is not the problem. The queue is.
For a decade there was a quiet escape from that queue: move the workload onto an Azure virtual machine and Microsoft supplied Extended Security Updates at no charge. That arrangement ended with this cycle. SQL Server 2016 ESUs are chargeable in every environment, including Azure, at roughly the full licence cost per year – and enrolment after an ESU year begins is back-billed to the start of that year, so hesitation saves nothing.
The bridge also has a hard end. Coverage runs to July 2029 and no further; a 2016 estate still standing then has no supported option at any price. Three years of full licence fees, buying no capability, ending at a wall – that is not a plan. It is a countdown with invoicing attached.
The strategic read matters more than the numbers. Microsoft has repriced inaction. Deferral used to be a default that cost nothing; it is now a metered product with a published rate. Any organisation still on 2016 is making a priced decision, whether or not it has recognised the price.
An upgrade to SQL Server 2025 is a legitimate answer, and we will say so plainly. Vendor applications not yet certified for cloud, workloads bound by data-sovereignty commitments, latency-critical systems, recently refreshed hardware – these are real constraints, and for estates governed by them, an in-place upgrade to a current, supported, capable platform is the disciplined move.
Be clear about what it buys. SQL Server 2025 carries its own support clock, and the standstill project returns on schedule when that clock runs down. An in-place upgrade is a better version of the same transaction: this decade’s features, and the next decade’s deadline. Sometimes that is exactly the right purchase – but it should be made knowingly, not by default.
Azure SQL Managed Instance and Azure SQL Database are versionless. There is no release to fall behind, no extended-support date to diarise, no ESU programme to price. The platform is patched and kept current continuously, under an engine that preserves near-complete compatibility with on-premises SQL Server, while Azure Hybrid Benefit carries your existing licence investment across.
A workload migrated there properly has left the queue permanently. The 2016 project, the 2017 project, the 2019 and 2022 projects that estate was destined to fund – that entire category of work disappears for the workloads that make the move. Not every workload can: some genuinely need the control of SQL Server on an Azure virtual machine, and those remain on the version lifecycle. Knowing which is which is precisely the work that makes the exit real.
The question is not whether you can afford the migration. It is how many more standstill projects you intend to fund.
Ascent’s Migrate your SQL Server to Azure service is built assessment-first, because the assessment is what makes the exit permanent rather than cosmetic: it establishes which workloads can take the versionless tiers, which need the control of a virtual machine, and in what sequence the estate should move.
Delivery then runs as a governed migration under the Modernise–Optimise–Protect framework – performance baselined before cutover, cost engineered through Azure Hybrid Benefit and right-sizing rather than discovered on the first invoice, security and compliance controls carried across by design.
Because Ascent is a Microsoft Direct CSP, the commercial layer can sit under the same accountability as the delivery: licensing, Azure consumption and, where a short bridge is genuinely unavoidable, the ESU licensing itself.
One partner accountable for the migration and for the commercial ground it stands on – that is what turns Migrate your SQL Server to Azure from a project into the end of a cycle.
The 2016 deadline has already passed, and the next two are dated. The choice in front of a 2016 estate is between running the last standstill project deliberately – once, properly, to a destination without deadlines – or funding the next one by default.
The question is not whether you can afford the migration. It is how many more standstill projects you intend to fund.
Contact Us to put your SQL Server estate on the table: which workloads can take the versionless exit, which genuinely need a virtual machine, what an ESU bridge would actually cost you, and what a controlled migration that ends the cycle looks like.