The support for Windows server 2003 has been ceased so a shift to windows server 2012 is required. It is not only necessity, but good investment of time and finance as well. There are three main steps which are required to keep in mind to avoid any pitfalls in journey -

1.       Review and evaluate equipment: Servers running 2003 should be able to run 2012 but only if the hardware was already legacy equipped at the time of server 2003 installation. Details need to be considered in depth.

2.       Check current server and hosting environment: Apart from calculating financial benefits of the shift, one must also reassess hosting environment to determine how much server population should remain in house.

3.       Plan for migrations of workloads: The major advantage of upgrading is ability to access the enhanced features present on windows server 2012 which will help one on enabling migration, consolidation and improvement of overall server operation

Read more at: http://www.itworld.com/native?prx_t=6gACAyjwFAPUsMA

Cloud is the new buzz word. Nowadays, more and more people are willing to shift to the cloud. There are too many paths available for this journey and each path which does appear to be good, might not result in a successful decision. So people need to consider more details than they actually thought. The first step is to categorize types of workload that one wishes to migrate. These are not the applications, but the patterns of processing the applications. Some of the patterns may be - Database-intensive; Compute intensive or; User interface- intensive. If you have, say 200 applications, then, place each application in one of these categories and you will end up dealing with 3 categories rather than 200 applications. Doing so, you will be able to select proper cloud configuration to service your applications. This approach will help you in saving time and money. Read more at: http://www.infoworld.com/article/3016559/cloud-computing/the-right-way-to-migrate-to-the-cloud.html

What are the problems faced when migrating multiple IT services to the cloud?  Inconsistent service attributes: Service attributes include security, reliability, availability, scalability, quality of service (QoS), support, and service level agreements (SLAs).  They determine how well a service will perform and how much time and energy will be required. Crosstalk: This can happen when multiple services compete for the same resource, such as bandwidth or network router processing power. Cloud services money pit: Each cloud service provider must charge a minimum monthly fee to cover its infrastructure costs which becomes excessive as the number of services and the number of providers increases. User friction frown: While single sign-on can alleviate a small portion of the redundant task "friction" caused by multiple IT services, keep in mind how much aggravation your users may experience. However moving to cloud computing can lower capital expenses, lower onsite management and upgrade costs, global service consistency, virtually unlimited scalability, and better support for remote and mobile workforces. Read more at :

http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/news-analysis/297554/headaches-multiple-cloud-services