Price Changes for Hosters

Fees charged to hosting companies that offer Microsoft products as a hosted or managed service will change effective Jan. 1, 2011. In an effort to make hoster pricing more consistent with fees charged through other volume licensing programs, price changes for Windows Server, SQL Server, and other products licensed under Microsoft’s Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) will range from an increase of 30% to a decrease of 20%. Whether or not the increased costs or savings will be passed onto customers will be up to each individual hosting company.

Special Licensing Program for Hosters

The SPLA allows service providers to provide customers with applications and services built on the Windows platform for a monthly fee. Customers pay for hosted services and applications on a monthly basis, and service providers remit monthly payments to Microsoft for the services that actually get used. The SPLA fees provide the right to use the latest version of the licensed Microsoft software, and for many products offered under SPLA, Microsoft offers an approximately 12% discount to hosters willing to make an upfront three-year commitment.