- How much does volume licensing microsoft cost upgrade#
- How much does volume licensing microsoft cost software#
- How much does volume licensing microsoft cost license#
- How much does volume licensing microsoft cost windows 8#
How much does volume licensing microsoft cost software#
One key decision your organization will make is whether to purchase Software Assurance, a maintenance program for Windows, Microsoft Office and other applications. Licensing analysis therefore becomes a valuable skill in the IT and finance departments. Just like the Datacenter Edition, there are numerous types of Microsoft licensing programs that will be right for some customers and completely wrong for others. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for businesses to have a "dual processor running 20 virtual instances, and they will have bought 20 Windows servers," she says.ĭecide whether "Software Assurance" is worth it
"If you're running 40 virtual servers on a quad-core machine, you're going to save a lot of money by doing the Datacenter license."
How much does volume licensing microsoft cost license#
Once an enterprise is heavily into virtualization, the Datacenter License can offer excellent savings. The cost of Client Access Licenses, or CALs, must also be factored in, and prices can vary depending on how large the customer is and how savvy the customer is during negotiations.īut in general, if you have a dual-core machine running eight VMs, licensing costs are about the same whether you buy the Datacenter License or not, according to Farren. The Datacenter Edition costs about $3,000 per processor, while the standard edition starts at $1,029. One reason this license is underutilized is that just two years ago, virtualization density usually wasn't great enough to make the unlimited virtualization rights necessary.
"A lot of organizations don't know about the Datacenter Edition," and have simply licensed each Windows Server instance running on a virtual machine separately, says Cynthia Farren, who runs a consulting firm and writes a blog on Microsoft licensing for Network World. But Microsoft's Datacenter Edition license offers "unlimited virtualization rights, meaning customers have the use rights to run an unlimited number of virtualized instances of Windows Server on processors licensed with Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter without purchasing additional licenses," according to Microsoft. Windows Server is licensed per processor, and with today's multi-core processors the number of licenses required may far exceed the actual number of servers in a data center. Windows Server licenses can be quite costly in large deployments, and virtualization technologies can make licensing even more confusing than it was in the days when physical x86 servers ruled the data center.īut both problems can be solved by taking advantage of the "Datacenter Edition" license, a pricing scheme for Windows Server 2008 R2 which has been ignored by many customers that could benefit from it, according to analysts. Get "unlimited virtualization rights" with the Datacenter license
How much does volume licensing microsoft cost upgrade#
But here are five tips that could save your business money when it comes time to upgrade or purchase new Microsoft software. No single article can cover everything you need to know about Microsoft licenses.
How much does volume licensing microsoft cost windows 8#
But unless you're an expert negotiator, there's a good chance you're paying too much for Microsoft licenses.Įntire books have been devoted to Microsoft licensing, and the industry analyst firm Directions on Microsoft even holds a "boot camp" to help customers better understand Microsoft's licensing schemes.Ĩ amazing things you'll do with Windows 8 Microsoft earns billions of dollars a year selling software licenses for products such as Windows and Office - if you're running a business of any size, chances are you're a Microsoft customer. But unless you're an expert negotiator, there's a good chance you're paying too much for Microsoft licenses. If you're running a business of any size, chances are you're a Microsoft customer.