BackOffice Cancelled, Core CAL Introduced

The BackOffice name will officially disappear at the end of Sept. 2001 when Microsoft discontinues its BackOffice suite of server software for small organizations, although a related suite, Small Business Server, will live on. Microsoft will also replace the BackOffice Client Access License (CAL), an all-in-one license to access its most popular server applications, with a new “Core CAL” that no longer includes licenses to access SQL Server, but adds a SharePoint Portal Server license.

BackOffice Server’s Shortcomings

BackOffice Server (BOS) is a bundle of Microsoft’s most popular server applications, and the current version includes one copy each of Exchange 2000, SQL Server 2000, Windows 2000 Server, Host Integration Server 2000, Systems Management Server 2.0, and Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000, plus the licenses for each server. It also includes single copies of FrontPage 2000 and Outlook 2000, various management and configuration wizards, shared modem and fax utilities, and five BackOffice CALs, which allow up to five users to access all of the bundled servers. BOS’s estimated retail price is US$3,999, a substantial discount from the approximate US$9,000 estimated retail price of the individual server components.