Don’t get stuck with a proprietary appliance again

If you have an existing IAG 2007 or ISA 2006 appliance you are probably wondering how to upgrade it to TMG 2010 or UAG 2010. Well, if you purchased a Winfrasoft appliance the good news is that your appliances IS upgradable to UAG / TMG for FREE so long as you still have a valid support contract. However, if you are unlucky enough to have purchased one of our competitors then you may be in for a shock.

Current dilemma
Faith in the Forefront appliance market has been dealt a severe blow as customers who purchased competitive appliances expecting a FREE upgrade are now finding that there is NO free upgrade. Despite promises and assurances from some vendors that FREE upgrades will be available, customers are finding that their “FREE” upgrade will cost thousands of $/£ as the low spec desktop class hardware sold for ISA and IAG appliances are incapable of adequately running the 64-Bit Windows 2008 R2 platform on which TMG and UAG run.

For example, the “comprehensive” upgrade program launched by Celestix (http://www.celestix.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136) essentially says there is no upgrade at all. They require you to rip and replace with a new box for a 25% discount on the new one. As a result, there are customers that have spent a lot of money purchasing these appliances at the end of 2009 with the understanding that they an be upgraded only to now find that they need to spend a lot more money.

Solutions
Since the day we launched our first appliance we made sure that they were adequately equipped to run the new software, and since our appliances use TIER-1 hardware from HP, Dell and Fujitsu our customers are able to perform their own upgrades if required without invalidating the warranty – unlike traditional appliances. If you would like to upgrade you existing Winfrasoft appliance please contact sales@winfrasoft.com with your serial number.

If you don’t have a Winfrasoft appliance and are now faced with a scenario where you need to replace your existing appliance in order to upgrade, don’t get led down the same garden path a second time. Winfrasoft are offering up to £2500/$3700 off of a new Winfrasoft appliance if you have an existing competitive appliance to trade in. Alternatively, if you are happy to provide your own hardware support for Celestix and Network Engines we can provide you the required hardware, software and licences to upgrade these appliances yourself – even though the original vendor may not. Visit http://www.winfrasoft.com/applianceupgradeprogram.htm for more information on how to take up this offer.


Winfrasoft is a TIER-1 Microsoft Forefront Appliance manufacturer with award winning solutions backed by 24/7 support.