New Enrollments Provide Broad Server Licensing

Two new licensing programs focus on bundles of related Microsoft server products used to build custom applications and to manage servers used for virtualization. The new programs, which will be available in Oct. 2009, will be most useful for customers who want to upgrade outdated server platforms or who want to significantly expand their server investments but at a predictable cost, paid over several years. However, the programs require careful long-term planning and introduce numerous exceptions to current licensing rules that will make license compliance more complex.

Platform Licensing

Microsoft has made small efforts in the past to simplify server licenses. Several products that use SQL Server are available with a built-in license for SQL Server, for example, and in Oct. 2008, Microsoft introduced the Application Platform Agreement (APA), focused on what Microsoft calls its application platform, which customers use to build business intelligence, enterprise resource planning, and transactional systems. The APA bundles SQL Server, Visual Studio, BizTalk Server, SharePoint Server (not including Client Access Licenses [CALs]), and the System Center Management Suite Enterprise (a collection of management licenses) into a program that entitles the customer to deploy covered products as broadly as they want within their enterprise during the agreement’s term, in return for an annual payment set in advance.