Microsoft Warns the End of Support for Exchange Server 2013 Is Near

Microsoft has issued a public warning for Exchange Server 2013 customers as the software is approaching the end of support.

No further updates would ship after April 11, 2023, Microsoft tells everybody, as the end of support means the product would be entirely abandoned.

In Microsoft’s own words, here’s what Exchange Server 2013 customers are going to lose once the end of support is reached:  

• Technical support for problems that may occur
• Bug fixes for issues that are discovered and that may impact the stability and usability of the server
• Security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered and that may make the server vulnerable to security breaches
• Time zone updates

Upgrading to a newer version, pretty much the best option

Needless to say, those who want to continue running Exchange Server 2013 can continue to do so, but on the other hand, using unsupported software obviously comes with an increased risk of security exploits. The found security vulnerabilities would no longer be resolved.

“Exchange Server 2013 will continue to run after this date, of course; however, due to the risks listed above, we strongly recommend that you migrate from Exchange Server 2013 as soon as possible. If you haven't already begun your migration from Exchange Server 2013 to Exchange Online or Exchange Server 2019, now's the time to start planning,” Microsoft says.

The best two options for Exchange Server 2013 users is to upgrade to Exchange Server 2019 or to just embrace Exchange Online.

“If you're migrating to Exchange Online, you might be eligible to use our Microsoft FastTrack service. FastTrack provides best practices, tools, and resources to make your migration to Exchange Online as seamless as possible. Best of all, you'll have a support engineer walk you through from planning and design to migrating your last mailbox,” Microsoft said.