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Windows Server 2012: Navigating the New Licensing Structure

March 20th, 2013
Posted by: admin

 

By Bill Peters, AIS Network Director of Sales

Windows Server 2012, which was released last fall, is the latest among Microsoft’s Windows Server product offerings, and it delivers a dramatically simplified licensing experience.

What went away? Away went the Enterprise edition, which was retired.  Windows Server 2012 Standard edition includes all the premium features previously included in Enterprise edition.    Away went the Web Server, and now web workloads running on a Windows Server 2012 edition will continue to receive the “CAL waiver” that is in effect for these workloads today.  Windows Server CALs will not be required to access the licensed server if it is only being used to run web workloads.  Away went HPC Products.  Microsoft will now deliver the HPC Pack 2012 as a free download that can be used with any Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter license.   HPC workloads running on Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter editions will continue to receive the “CAL waiver” that is currently in effect for these workloads.

So what’s new? Well, now there are just four Windows Server 2012 editions from which to choose.  And, shaped by feedback from customers and partners, the new Windows Server licensing approach should help make choosing the right Windows Server a whole lot easier too.

Windows Server 2012 Licensing Overview

Microsoft holds that its new licensing approach will deliver the following benefits to its Windows Server customers:

Simple. It’s easier than ever to determine the right Windows Server edition for you.  Choose from just four editions of Windows Server 2012, based on the size of your organization and your requirements for virtualization and cloud computing.

Economical. All editions of Windows Server 2012 deliver excellent economics and ROI for your business. For example, the Datacenter edition, with its unlimited virtualization rights, provides the benefits of cloud-level scale with predictable, lower costs. The Standard edition now offers all of the same enterprise-class features as the Datacenter edition and is differentiated only by virtualization rights.

Cloud-optimized. Businesses today are rapidly adopting a hybrid approach across private and public cloud computing.  Windows Server 2012 offers the right edition for you, no matter where you are on your path to the cloud.  Use the Datacenter edition for highly virtualized cloud environments, the Standard edition for lightly virtualized environments progressing toward cloud, or the Essentials edition for an ideal cloud-connected first server.

Here’s the Windows Server 2012 licensing at a glance:

*CALs are required for every user or device accessing a server. See the Product Use Rights for details.

Why a streamlined licensing model for core infrastructure? In short, this new model enables easier assessment and management of your server environment.  For one thing, a single licensing model makes it easier for you to purchase the right product for your organization’s needs and also compare the cost of alternatives.  Another plus is that it allows for a single, familiar and easy-to-track metric for all infrastructure products (reducing management overhead).   Finally, as part of the alignment with the Microsoft private cloud licensing model, Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012, as well as Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI), now all have the same licensing and packaging structure.  Simple and convenient, right?

Choosing Between the Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter Editions

Obviously, the Foundation and Essentials editions are for small business.  If you are a mid-size business or a large enterprise, like the majority of AISN customers, your choice lies between Standard and Datacenter.  When it comes to determining which of the two editions is best for your enterprise, there are only two words to keep in mind: virtualization rights.

Both the Standard and Datacenter editions provide the same set of features (including high availability features like failover clustering).  The only differentiator between the editions is the number of Virtual Machines (VMs) being used.  If your strategy calls for a highly virtualized environment, then the Datacenter edition provides you with optimum flexibility, since it allows for unlimited virtualization.  If you aren’t ready to heavily virtualize your environment, a Standard edition license entitles you to run up to two VMs on up to two processors.

Calculating Your Windows Server 2012 License Needs

So, how do you decide how many licenses you’ll need? Good question.  Because the Datacenter edition allows for an unlimited number of VMs, only physical processors need to be counted when determining licenses for the Standard edition.  Here’s a quick formula:

1 license = 2 physical processors

To determine the number of licenses needed to fully license a physical server, simply count the number of physical processors in the server and divide that number by two.  That will tell you the number of licenses you need.

Each Standard edition license provides you with the right to run up to two VMs.  If you want to run additional VMs but do not require the highly virtualized environment that Datacenter provides (which is unlimited VMs), then you can simply purchase additional Standard edition licenses and assign them to a single physical server in order to increase your VM entitlements on that server.

Now for the nitty gritty.  What activities are NOT allowed under theWindows Server 2012 licensing?  You cannot:

  • Mix Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter licenses on the same server.  All of the processors on a given server must be licensed with the same version and edition.
  • Split your Windows Server 2012 license across multiple servers.  Each license can only be assigned to a single physical server.
  • Assign a Windows Server 2012 license to a virtual machine.  A license is assigned to the physical server and each license will cover up to two physical processors.
  • Use your Windows Server 2008 CAL to access Windows Server 2012. The CAL accessing the instance of Windows Server must be equivalent to or higher in version than the server being accessed.

Factoring in Software Assurance

A number of enterprise customers will be concerned about how Software Assurance will work with Windows Server 2012.  Here are some scenarios.

Software Assurance and the Datacenter Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Datacenter edition, you are entitled to the Windows Server 2012 Datacenter edition.  On the old version, a Datacenter license covered up to 1 processor.  With Windows 2012, a Datacenter license covers up to 2 processors.  So, for every two current Datacenter licenses with Software Assurance, you will receive one Windows Server 2012 Datacenter edition license.

Software Assurance and the Enterprise Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Enterprise edition, you’re entitled to receive two Standard edition licenses for each Enterprise edition license that you have.

Software Assurance and the Standard Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Standard edition, you’re entitled to receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license for each Standard edition license that you already have.

Software Assurance and the Web Server Edition. If you have Software Assurance on the Web Server edition, you’ll receive an additional Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license to use while also maintaining your right to run your current Web Server license.  For every two Windows 2008 R2 Web Server edition licenses, you’ll receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license.

What if I want to upgrade to the Datacenter edition? Remember that the Step-Ups from the Enterprise edition to the Datacenter edition are being removed from the price lists.  Therefore, if you’ve decided to move to a more highly virtualized or private cloud environment, you should consider taking advantage of the Software Assurance Step-Up benefit to upgrade to the Datacenter edition prior to the Windows Server 2012 General Availability.

Purchasing Windows Server 2012 Licensing

Okay, now how do you get going?

You can purchase Windows Server 2012 licenses through multiple channels, which provides you with optimum flexibility and choice to acquire the software.  Microsoft Hosting Partners like AIS Network are an excellent resource in evaluating your Windows Server 2012 licensing needs.  We can help you evaluate, plan, deploy, and manage any type of hosted system—from a small business implementation to supporting the largest enterprise applications built on the latest technology.

At AISN, we recommend Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) licensing (as opposed to other volume licensing), based on ease of deployment.   How does it work?  AISN tracks and manages the licensing for you.  We provide a monthly subscription-based pricing plan, including software assurance.  This eliminates any large, upfront costs needed to purchase the right amount of licensing as well as the over-purchasing of unused licenses.  However, if you own volume licensing we can utilize those licenses in our hosted environments.

Why so many options for licensing?  The various licensing options enable you to choose the program that works best for your management and operational needs.  We’d be happy to discuss with you in more detail all of your options and how they can be delivered via a custom hosted solution.  For a conversation about this and a free quote,  email me now and let me know your needs.

AISN is ready and eager to work with you on all of your hosting needs and on helping to save your business money too.

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SharePoint 2010 Security: Adding an SSL Certificate to Your Hosted SharePoint Site

June 11th, 2012
Posted by: admin

By Bill Peters
AIS Network Director of Sales

SSL certificates create secure (HTTPS) connectivity between your Web server and your visitors’ browsers.  If you are transmitting sensitive information via a Web site, such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or other personal information, you should secure it with SSL encryption to safeguard against others seeing your data.  If you do not use an SSL certificate, then you are vulnerable.

SharePoint Security

SSL certificates aid in ensuring data security for your hosted SharePoint site.

In a SharePoint environment, SSL certificates can easily be added to a hosted site in order to secure it.  There are different kinds of SSL certificates but I won’t address that in this blog.  Rather, this is about SharePoint 2010 security and the recent request by one client that we add an SSL certificate to his existing hosted SharePoint site with us.

In preparation, I asked him what domain name he wanted on the SSL certificate.   Unsure of my question, he responded, “Doesn’t the domain name have to match the domain of the (AISN) network?”

Here’s how I explained it to him.   In his case, the server hosting his SharePoint is a member server in the Active Directory domain called aisn.local.  Web sites which serve Web pages from this server (SharePoint included) can be addressed by either an IP address or a domain name.  This Web site domain is not the same type of domain as the Active Directory domain in which the server resides.  And actually, Active Directory domains such as aisn.local cannot be present on the Internet.  The ‘.local’ indicates to the Internet that it is a private, not a public, domain name.

That said, it is possible to have an SSL Certificate for either type of domain.  The real question is what are you going to use it for?  That was for my client to decide.

As I explained to him, if you intend to use the SSL Certificate for Server Identification, then we can get a certificate for you for “yournamehere.aisn.local”.  You would use this type of certificate when, for example, you remote desktop to the server.  It would guarantee that you are connecting to the right server.

If, however, you want to use the SSL Certificate for identification of your SharePoint Site, then you can pick any public name you want.  In this case, the domain must be registered publicly in order to get a public SSL Certificate.

So, for example, if you chose to address your SharePoint Site by the name “sp.yournamehere.com”, you would need to make sure that the domain name “yournamehere.com” is registered to you.  Then, you can define “sp.yournamehere.com” in IIS on your SharePoint server. You would also need to configure the public DNS for yournamehere.com such that the “host” known as “sp” points to the IP address on the server.

That explanation seemed clarify things for him.  I told him that I thought he was looking for the latter, but we do not know what his host and domain names are.  It appeared to me that he was addressing his SP site by IP address currently.  In order to assign an SSL certificate, it needs to have a full name.  We cannot register it to an IP.

Have more questions about hosted SharePoint 2010 and hosted SharePoint security?  Send me an email and I’d be happy to help.

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SharePoint FIS and SharePoint FIS Licensing: Usage Scenarios (Part 2 of 2)

February 19th, 2012
Posted by: admin

By Bill Peters
AIS Network Director of Sales

In my January 24 blog, I provided some responses to frequently asked questions about Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites and licensing SharePoint FIS.

In this second part, we’ll look at SharePoint FIS licensing in a little more depth and also look at some various usage scenarios.*  For the purposes of this blog, “internal users” refers to employees, affiliates’ employees, on-site contractors and/or agents.  “External users” refers to all others.

What do I need for intranet and extranet sites?

For intranet and extranet networks used to support internal content, SharePoint Server 2010 is required.  If only internal users can access the content being stored, it must be hosted on a server licensed with SharePoint Server 2010.  It’s important to remember that content is only accessible by users or devices with a Client Access License (CAL) for SharePoint Server 2010.  SharePoint Server can still be used to support external content, although each user or device requires a CAL, whether they are internal or external.

What do I need for Internet sites?

For servers used to provide external content (typically) over the Internet, SharePoint FIS is required.  If the content being stored and accessed is available to external users, it can be hosted on a server licensed with SharePoint FIS, and users accessing that content will not require a CAL.  It’s important to remember that while SharePoint FIS is restricted to external content, it is not restricted to external users.  For example, an internal user (e.g., employee) would not require a CAL to access external content on an instance of SharePoint FIS.  As you can see, the choice between SharePoint Server and SharePoint FIS for external content is a financial one, unless the external users have anonymous access—in which case, SharePoint FIS is the only feasible option.

Can you show me some usage scenarios?

The following common deployment scenarios are excerpted from a very useful and detailed document entitled, “Microsoft Volume Licensing Brief:  Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites” (October 2010), which helps in explaining the licensing requirements of SharePoint FIS.  Although covered for user-based CALs, these scenarios can also be used for device-based CALs.  For a copy of the full document, just email me at the address below.

First, have a look at the color code for the diagrams:

SharePoint 2010

Color code for diagrams. Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

SCENARIO A:  Intranet

Description: Internal users access information through LAN or the Internet. No other users (internal or external) have access to information or applications.

Example: A professional sports team sets up an intranet site accessed by managers, the coach, and players.  It is also used for support staff such as the physiotherapist who is an on-site contractor rather than an employee.  But the therapist still qualifies as an internal user.  A news reporter trying to access the SharePoint site is denied access.

Licensing:

  • Server — 1 SPS/Running Instance (RI)
  • Internal User — 1 CAL/User

Figure 1 – Scenario:  Intranet

SharePoint 2010 Sports Team Scenario

Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

Key Takeaway:

  • Licensing requirements for server and CAL remain the same for internal users based on the location of access (through LAN or the Internet).

 

SCENARIO B:  Intranet Plus Extranet

Description: An organization with information accessible only by internal users (i.e., internal content) chooses to extend access to a limited number of identifiable external users.  In this case, the identifiable external users have access to all information, previously accessible by internal users only.   The organization may choose to license those external users either via SPS/CAL or SPSFIS for authenticated external users.  This decision is typically made based on cost.

Example:  The Elm University publishes research papers, which are made available to specific educators from other universities (external users).  This situation is assumed to be an intranet plus extranet scenario, even though the Elm University does not have a public-facing Web site.

Licensing:

  • Server — 1 SPS/RI
  • Internal User — 1 CAL/User
  • External User — 1 CAL/User

-or-

  • Server — 1 SPS/RI (for internal use), 1 SPSFIS/RI* (for external use)
  • Internal User — 1 CAL/User
  • External User:  No additional licenses required.

SPS/CAL Only

Figure 2A – Scenario:  Intranet Plus Extranet Without SPSFIS

SharePoint 2010 Elm University Scenario A

Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

SPS/CAL Plus SPSFIS

Figure 2B – Scenario:  Intranet Plus Extranet with FIS

SharePoint 2010 Elm University Scenario B

Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

Key Takeaways:

  • You can choose between SPS/CAL or SPSFIS based on what is more economical to them given the number of external users.
  • The licensing requirement for internal user varies depending on the server license chosen and use (publishing or internal use of information/applications).
  • The university chooses to make external content available to selective external users.  With SPSFIS licensing, no restriction is made on how many external users access that information.

SCENARIO C:   Internet

Description: Internal users are publishing information for external users.  It is not possible to identify some or all of external users, so you must license external users via SPSFIS.  Because internal users access the same information as external users, all users can be licensed via SPSFIS, and no additional CALs are required.

In another example, a team of internal users is customizing the look and feel of the Web site and testing it before the changes go live in production; CALs are not required if the internal users have MSDN licenses.

Example: News Web site, knowledge forums, and social networking sites

Licensing:

  • Server — 1 SPSFIS/RI
  • Internal User — Need no CAL
  • External User — Need No CAL
  • Test/Dev: If users are covered via MSDN, no additional server licenses/CALs are required.

Figure 3 – Scenario:  Internet

SharePoint 2010 Newspaper Publishing Scenario

Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

Key Takeaways:

  • SPSFIS/RI is the only license required if internal users are accessing the same sites as external users.
  • Each staging server that is posting content requires its own SPSFIS/RI (same licensing requirement as production server).  This requirement excludes test staging servers because testing technical changes are covered under MSDN.

SCENARIO D:  Intranet Plus Internet

Description: You make some content available only to internal users, while other content is made available to anonymous external users.

You need one SPS/RI for the internal content, one CAL/user for all internal users accessing that internal content, and one SPSFIS/RI for the external content accessed by anonymous external users.  SPSFIS negates the need for CALs for internal users only publishing information and all external users.

Example: Woodgrove Bank offers loan information and the option to submit a loan application on its public-facing site, on which only internal users are allowed to view/work.

Licensing

  • Server — 1 SPS/RI for servers for internal information, 1 SPSFIS/RI* for servers for external information
  • Internal User (if only publishing) — needs no CAL
  • Internal User (otherwise) — 1 CAL/User
  • External User — needs no CAL

Figure 4 – Scenario:  Intranet Plus Internet

SharePoint 2010 Bank Scenario

Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

Key Takeaways:

  • If internal users are only publishing information and SPSFIS/RI is being used for the servers, CALs are not required for them.
  • If the contents/information/applications accessed by internal users are different from those accessed by external users, SPS/CAL licenses are required for internal users.

SCENARIO E:   Intranet Plus Internet Plus Extranet

Description: In this scenario, one subset of information is available only to internal users, another subset of information is available to both internal users and authenticated external users, and a third subset of  information is available to anonymous external users.

Example: Contoso Pharmaceutials maintains a public Web site accessible by all, offers collaboration with authenticated external users on specific research and development  projects, and hosts company’s internal intranet for its internal users.

Licensing:

  • Server — 1 SPS/RI for servers for internal information, 1 SPSFIS/RI for servers for external information*
  • Internal User (publishing) — needs no CAL
  • Internal User (otherwise) — 1 CAL/User, External User à needs no CAL
  • External User —  needs no CAL

*In the case of dedicated server for extranet, users would have a choice of SPSFIS to cover all authenticated external users or extending CALs to them, as discussed in Scenario 2.

Figure 5 – Scenario:  Intranet Plus Internet Plus Extranet

SharePoint 2010 Pharmaceutical Company Scenario

Source: Microsoft Volume Licensing

Key Takeaways:

  • This scenario shows that the Internet plus intranet plus extranet scenario is no different than the sum of the individual scenarios.
  • An organization can choose to make external information available to selective external users. However, with SPSFIS licensing, no licensing restriction is made on how many external users can access external information.

This is so confusing.  Isn’t there someone who can help me figure this out?

Yes, as I mentioned in January, if you think SharePoint FIS licensing is confusing, you are not alone.  I’m happy to walk you through it and help you assess your organization’s needs.

Call me at 1-888-401-AISN, or email me at:  bill.peters@aisn.net.  Or, simply leave a comment below.  Best of luck!

 

 

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SharePoint FIS and SharePoint FIS Licensing: FAQs (Part 1 of 2)

January 24th, 2012
Posted by: admin

SharePoint for Internet Sites

Ferrari's Web site is designed using SharePoint for Internet Sites. For more examples, go to our SharePoint FIS hosting page.

By Bill Peters
AIS Network Director of Sales

Offering cloud hosting for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites (SharePoint FIS) was a no-brainer for us.  After all, digital content creators’ interest in the cloud, and the mobile access it affords, is surging.

Including SharePoint FIS hosting among our product offerings represents the first of several steps that AIS Network will take to expand its cloud hosting services for professionals working in digital content creation fields such as Web development, design, publishing, film, architecture, advertising, marketing and public relations.

Here are some “Frequently Asked Questions” focused on what SharePoint FIS is and how to make some sense of SharePoint FIS licensing.  My next entry, Part 2 of this two-part blog, will include specific usage scenarios and how to handle licensing in those cases.

What is SharePoint FIS?

SharePoint FIS empowers creative teams to publish beautiful, interactive external Internet and extranet sites, while dramatically simplifying Web content management and administration.

Who uses SharePoint FIS?

Hosted SharePoint for Internet Sites (SharePoint FIS) is ideal for compliance-focused corporate enterprises, associations and institutions that need to interact with a large number of users via a public-facing Web site.  Digital marketers and design agencies, who need to launch multiple Internet/extranet sites quickly and easily, are also making great use of SharePoint FIS.   You’ll find some examples on our SharePoint FIS hosting page.

What are my SharePoint FIS licensing options?

SharePoint FIS comes in two flavors, Standard and Enterprise.  SharePoint FIS Standard is scoped for a single domain only and has standard SharePoint features for unlimited users (anonymous or authenticated).  SharePoint FIS Enterprise, on the other hand, is scoped for multiple domains and has enterprise SharePoint features for unlimited users (anonymous or authenticated).  According to Microsoft…

SharePoint Server FIS Standard:

  • Helps small and mid-size organizations create public-facing Internet sites or basic extranets.
  • Provides licensing for the same features as the Standard CAL for SharePoint Server.
  • Designed only to be used for creating and hosting a single site resolved from a single domain name (such as aisn.com) and its subdomains (such as support.aisn.com).
  • When combined with active Microsoft Software Assurance, it’s eligible to be stepped up to SharePoint Server for Internet Sites Enterprise for an additional fee.

SharePoint Server FIS Enterprise:

  • Designed for enterprises to create externally-facing public Internet sites and secure private extranets using the full capabilities of SharePoint Server.
  • Provides licensing for all SharePoint Server features (the same as SharePoint Server Enterprise CAL).
  • Offers the rights to host an unlimited number of sites and/or domains.

So, SharePoint FIS Standard is for just one domain?

Yes, SharePoint FIS Standard can only be used to support a single site and its related subdomains on a single domain.  Because the licensing of SharePoint FIS is per running instance, you can run more than one site/domain using the Standard edition only if separate running instances are used for each site/domain and a unique license of SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites Standard is allocated for each running instance.

Does SharePoint FIS Enterprise have FAST Search?

Yes.  For use in Internet/extranet scenarios, the on-premise server license also includes the rights to FAST Search. You can deploy a single server license of SharePoint FIS Enterprise as a SharePoint server OR a FAST Search server—but not both concurrently.  Keep in mind that FAST Search server licensing does not apply to SPLA licensing.

How is SharePoint FIS licensed?

SharePoint Server for Internet Sites is licensed per running instance.  No Client Access Licenses (CALs) are required, even for authors creating content.  When using SharePoint FIS for licensing external-facing scenarios, you must have a server license for all servers that are used to deliver content to external users – regardless of the farm configuration or whether or not users are directly accessing that server (staging, application, front-end, or index).

Servers in a development/test environment are exempt from this rule assuming they are covered by MSDN® developer program licensing. According to Microsoft, the underlying logic in this is that all servers supporting a specific solution (internal vs. external and production vs. development test) must be licensed similarly (i.e., in the CAL/Server model, the per-server “For Internet Sites” model, or the MSDN developer program). This is independent of the order in which information moves through servers.

What if I only need an intranet built on SharePoint?

Intranet sites are licensed using a Server/CAL (Client Access License) model.  SharePoint Server 2010 is required for each running instance of the software, and CALs are required for each person or device accessing a SharePoint Server.

This is so confusing.  Isn’t there someone who can help me figure this out?

Yes, you’re not alone in thinking that SharePoint FIS licensing is confusing.  I am happy to walk you through it and help you assess your organization’s needs.

Call me at 1-888-401-AISN, or email me at:  bill.peters@aisn.net.  Or, simply leave a comment below.  Good luck!

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How License Mobility Removes Barriers to Going to the Cloud

July 19th, 2011
Posted by: Michael Emrich

Cloud Computing Man, AIS Network

AIS Network takes SharePoint to the Cloud.

By Bill Peters
AIS Network Director of Sales

Thinking of moving to the cloud, but don’t want to see your Microsoft software with Software Assurance become shelfware?

We can help.  AIS Network is the first SharePoint 2010-focused hosting company in the world to become a Microsoft Authorized License Mobility Partner.

There are many reasons why a company may be hesitant about moving their on-premise SharePoint environment to the cloud. A big reason has been that companies do not want to abandon their capital investment in software bought through their Enterprise Agreement or other Microsoft volume licensing programs.

Client Access Licenses, purchased through Enterprise Agreements, are perpetual Microsoft licenses that a company may place “on premise,” or on its own servers.  Up until recently, the catch with CALs was the part about “on premise.”  In general, this software could only be placed on servers owned by the company who owned the software, and not on the servers of another provider, such as a managed hosting company.

This could be a real impediment to a company that had already invested in CALs if they wanted to move their applications to the cloud, because they would be unable to do so without getting new licenses from their hosting provider.   Microsoft has a different licensing model for hosted server applications, called SALs (Subscriber Access Licenses).  Unlike CALs, you do not own SALs blackjack – you pay a monthly fee to rent them.  Rather than buy and own software (CALs), companies get subscriptions (SALs) to the software from their hosting company.

This is a more predictable investment in that you have a monthly fee to access the software with no significant capex. Server software bought using the CAL system requires an expensive initial investment, but it guarantees the software for life if Software Assurance is included, which, over time, may have a lower cost of ownership.

That all changed on July 1st.  Microsoft is now offering a service called License Mobility through Software Assurance. What “License Mobility” means is that customers with active Software Assurance coverage on their CAL-licensed products can use their CAL-licensed software with a hosting company, rather than only on their own servers. Instead of paying a monthly subscription fee in addition to software you already own, you can just use the software that is already yours — in the cloud.  Depending on the actual environment, there may be a small monthly fee (a fraction of the full SAL fee) for this privilege. In addition to SharePoint Server, other software eligible for License Mobility includes Exchange Server, Lync, SQL Server, Dynamics CRM software, and System Center servers.

License Mobility removes another barrier that companies face while going to the cloud. No longer will previously purchased software need to become shelfware. If that has been a major factor in keeping you from going to the cloud, then you now have a compelling business case to consider moving to the cloud.

Are you looking for license mobility?  We can help.  Contact me directly at bill(dot)peters(@)aisn(dot)net.

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