ABSOLUTE DATA EXCELLENCE
ABSOLUTE DATA EXCELLENCE
Every SQL Server deadline buys the same thing: a project that delivers nothing new. There is a version of that project you only ever run once.Key Takeaways The standstill project - Much of what passes for modernisation is a project that delivers nothing new: months of...
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 This time it did not – and that, not the deadline, is the story.Key Takeaways The subsidy on waiting has been withdrawn - for three end-of-support cycles Microsoft made deferral effectively free on Azure,...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...
Every SQL Server deadline buys the same thing: a project that delivers nothing new. There is a version of that project you only ever run once.Key Takeaways The standstill project - Much of what passes for modernisation is a project that delivers nothing new: months of...
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 This time it did not – and that, not the deadline, is the story.Key Takeaways The subsidy on waiting has been withdrawn - for three end-of-support cycles Microsoft made deferral effectively free on Azure,...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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
Facing platform ‘end of life’ issues together with increasing pressures to digitise processes, increase profitability and innovate on product and service, organisations are finding Data Platform Modernisation projects can deliver significant value by enabling IT cost...
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...
On 14 July 2026, SQL Server 2016 reached end of support. Mainstream support ended in July 2021; the platform no longer receives regular security updates, bug fixes, or technical support from Microsoft. Organisations that have not enrolled in Extended Security Updates (ESUs) get no fix for any new Critical vulnerability, for as long as they stay.
For earlier versions – 2008 through 2014 – moving a workload to an Azure virtual machine earned free ESUs, and for SQL Server 2014 it still does, until July 2027. SQL Server 2016 is where that route closed.
Its ESUs are chargeable on Azure exactly as anywhere else, bar narrow exceptions for non-production and passive instances. Microsoft’s SQL Server guidance prices them at approximately 75% of the licence cost a year, and they cover only vulnerabilities rated Critical.
Coverage runs for up to three years, to 17 July 2029, purchased through volume licensing or as an Azure Arc subscription, subject to Software Assurance or equivalent eligibility. Enrolment after the term has begun is back-billed to the first day of that term – waiting does not reduce the cost.
Windows Server 2016 – the operating system beneath many SQL Server 2016 estates – reaches end of support on 12 January 2027. SQL Server 2017 follows on 12 October 2027. An organisation planning around a single deadline is in fact planning around three.
The principal paths are an upgrade to a supported SQL Server version, with SQL Server 2025 now the current release, or migration to Azure SQL – where the database engine is evergreen and carries no engine-version end-of-support date to plan around. ESUs are a bridge for workloads that cannot move yet; at that annual cost, for Critical fixes only, they are a planning instrument, not a strategy.
For South African organisations the compliance dimension is immediate. An estate left unsupported and unpatched is difficult to defend as reasonable safeguarding under POPIA, and the Information Regulator has already found a section 19 contravention where security controls were left unable to stay current, fining the responsible party R5 million when that was not put right. A South African cyber insurer asks applicants to sign that they run nothing the vendor no longer supports.
It is commercial as much as technical: bridge on ESUs, upgrade in place to SQL Server 2025, or move to Azure SQL and leave the engine-version deadline cycle behind.
Ascent works across all three – as a Microsoft Direct CSP we can transact the licensing for each path, and as a data platform practice we deliver the upgrades and migrations behind them.