I recently took a position as an Operations Manager of a database team focused on SQL Server. We've got a large SQL presence (couple thousand servers) and I'm looking at setting standards for version usage and providing guidance to the business on planning for upgrades. We've just kicked off a project begin migration away from SQL 2012. That's better than starting next year but what are others doing in regards to lifecycle management? Do you cutoff new installs for a version before mainstream support ends, on the day it ends or sometime during extended support? When do you drop internal support for SQL versions and/or start your migration/upgrades to newer versions?
Looking forward to comments!