Windows Server 2003 Upgrade Packages

Server Upgrades and New Installations

Microsoft stopped selling Windows NT Server in June 2003. Since January 2003 support for NT has been phased out. The latest schedule for NT support phase-out is here.
Windows Server 2003 Upgrades

All official support channels for NT 4.0 ended January 2005. The time to get serious about upgrading your NT network to Windows 2003 should be now.

Windows Server 2003 is the only real choice for new networks.
Why not use another Operating System?

There are two options for an upgrade or a new install of a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 network.

First Option- you do the buying, we do the upgrade

Second Option - We purchase everything for you and do the installation

How much does it cost?

After installation follow-up

Upgrade FAQs

Signing off on the work

List of Tasks for upgrading

First Upgrade Option

Windows Network Upgrade Option- You buy the hardware

You do all the buying and we perform the installations for you. You will buy all the needed licenses and hardware for the tasks at hand.

We will be happy to provide you with purchasing advice for hardware and software. Call us at 1-888-551-6879 or contact us to discuss your situation.

Your Responsibilities

Purchase all the hardware and arrange hardware support
Purchase all the software and licenses
Agree with us on a specification for the upgraded network
Arrange and pay for any Internet connections and other external services that need to be installed

Our Responsibilities

Provide hardware/software purchasing advice - if required
Carry out the upgrade
Provide email, telephone and remote control support plus re-visit your site, if necessary, to sort out any problems related to the upgrade for 30 days following the upgrade
Provide help with administration and other difficulties you might have as you get used to the new system for 30 days following the upgrade.
What happens after 30 days?

Terms: No deposit required. We invoice for the full amount after the Sign-Off
Contract: None Required as we use the agreed Sign-Off document
Timetable: We perform the upgrade over a Saturday & Sunday if possible then are on standby to come back on Monday morning should any problems crop up.

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Second Upgrade Option

We do all the buying on your behalf and perform the installation or upgrade for you. Call us at 1-888-551-6879 or contact us to discuss your situation.

Your Responsibilities

Agree with us on a hardware specification for the server and any other network equipment or software required.
Approve the costs for the upgrade
Issue POs in your company name or provide payment details as required.
Pay for any Internet connections and other external services that need to be installed

Our Responsibilities

Produce a network upgrade specification that meets your needs.
Research the best deal with suppliers and provide a detailed costing
Prepare information for your Purchase Orders
Arrange for Internet connection installation or other needed services.
Carry out the upgrade
Provide email, telephone and remote control support plus re-visit your site, if necessary, to sort out any problems related to the upgrade for 30 days following the upgrade
Provide help with administration and other difficulties you might have as you get used to the new system for 30 days following the upgrade.
What happens after 30 days?

Terms: No deposit required. We invoice for the full amount after the Sign-Off
Contract: None Required as we use the agreed Sign-Off document. Initial consultation on-site if required.
Timetable: Allow two weeks for delivery of equipment. We perform the upgrade over a Saturday & Sunday if possible then are on standby to come back on Monday morning should any problems crop up.

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After Installation Follow-up

Our Installation and Upgrade packages include thirty days of general network support. After the initial 30 days your are responsible for new issues. We will of course take care of any problems caused by oversights or errors which lay hidden beyond the initial 30 days.

Regular payments are required for ongoing network administration and maintenance. For larger companies these payments would be the wages of you full-time IT staff or perhaps someone in your company who handles the day-to-day updates and administration tasks in addition to their regular duties- allowing you to hire out expert help on an "as needed" basis. If you lack sufficient in-house skills or justification for an IT staff, monthly payments in the form of a Support Agreement may be just the insurance you need.

Here is what AVATAVA offers with respect to After Installation Support:

We offer Network Support Agreement Subscriptions
You may sign up at our Help Desk and pay for support on an "as needed" basis. It's free to sign up and doesn't cost anything if you don't need to use us.
You may hire us for the day or half day to come on site and sort out your issues or perform installations and upgrade tasks. Our listed rates are fair but the Support Agreement is often the most affordable choice.

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Project Sign-Off
The Sign-Off document is a checklist of tasks that you perform in order to be sure that your upgraded network is fully functional. When we believe the upgrade is complete we'll ask you to check it out and complete and sign the document to indicate that, to the best of your knowledge, you agree. This is a formal indication that we've completed the job and that we may pack up and go and send you your invoice.
If there are any loose ends or items that we've been unable to complete for any reason you can list them on the Sign-Off which we will countersign to indicate that we agree that these are still our responsibility to perform. Such items will hopefully be trivial matters such as sending you a network diagram. If, however, there was something more serious that needed time to resolve, was beyond our control or had only a small impact on your network's functionality we could indicate on the Sign-Off that we agreed you may withhold part of our fee until that task is resolved. An example of such a situtation might be that your DSL circuit is not yet active and we'll need to return to complete this task.

Here is a sample Sign-Off Document

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How Much Does it Cost?
We charge a fixed amount, agreed in advance, based on our estimate of the number of days of work that will be required on site. These are normally 12 hour days.

Our rates:
$800 per day in our Local Area.
$900 per day in our Extended Area.
$1100 per day if you're located beyond this.
Here is a list of our regular rates.

If we must travel more than 130 miles to get to you then we will need to negotiate the travel costs.

On average the Internet, server, and other network equipment part of the upgrade or install will take a day and a half to complete.

This is also a good time to put your workstations in order. This may include tasks such as:

Installation of brand new workstations as replacements and copying over all the settings and software from your old ones.
Check for and removing spyware, malware, Viruses, and Trojans, install Windows and Office updates, and any other software.
Removal of programs which are not approved.
Standardize your the Desktops.
Fix long-standing issues.
Change file share locations and printers.

Each workstation may require from 1/2 hour to 3 1/2 hours depending on what needs doing.

A typical network installation or upgrade takes about 3 days. The number of workstations and the amount of work needed on each one is a main factor to determines how long a job will take to complete.

We charge an additional fee of $500 for the Second Option where we do your buying for you.

You can expect to a cost of around $5000 more for the server Operating system, hardware, and other software.

Network Cabling, hardware, and time are not included here. If your building doesn't have this, expect another substantial cost. Wireless connectivity is an option if properly set up. As a rule, we don't recommend consumer grade wireless access points be deployed on corporate networks due to security concerns.

Call us at 1-888-551-6879 or contact us to discuss your situation.

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