Updated: July 11, 2020 (April 8, 2013)
Analyst ReportLicensing Internet Sites Built on SharePoint 2013
Organizations licensing SharePoint Server 2013 for internal use can now deploy SharePoint-based Internet-facing sites less expensively than was possible under the SharePoint 2010 license model. By abolishing the need for Internet-specific licenses, specifically SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Microsoft has reduced the cost of licensing external user access to a SharePoint-based public or extranet site by 50% or more. However, organizations planning to license and use SharePoint 2013 only for Internet-facing sites (without any internal sites) must be mindful of how they use the product or they may unintentionally create license compliance issues and generate expenses for themselves.
Most organizations deploying SharePoint use the product to construct intranet sites, accessible to internal users only. However, some organizations have used SharePoint to create Internet-facing sites accessible to others outside their organization, such as suppliers or customers. Among other things, this enables the organization to use a single platform for both the intranet and Internet-facing sites and leverage its SharePoint development and management expertise on all of them. If a SharePoint-based site is Internet-facing, both internal users (employees and on-site contractors) and external users (everyone else) must be licensed for access, and in some scenarios the particular licensing requirements differ. (See the chart “SharePoint Licensing: 2010 Versus 2013“.)
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