News

Licensing 6.0 Step-up Program on Tap

A few weeks after introducing a blockbuster list of changes to Licensing 6.0, Microsoft gave the licensing program another significant tweak in allowing Software Assurance customers with standard edition server software to upgrade to the enterprise edition at a reasonable price.

Currently, the only legal option for customers who, for example, have an application that outgrows the standard edition of SQL Server, is to buy a brand new license for SQL Server Enterprise Edition at full cost and find some other place in the enterprise to use the old SQL Server Standard Edition license.

Starting in July, however, Microsoft will introduce the Enterprise Edition Server Step-up License. Customers who already have a standard edition license and an Enterprise Agreement or Software Assurance covering that license can now upgrade to the enterprise edition for the difference in cost of the editions and any difference in cost between Software Assurance for the editions. The difference in cost can be spread over the remaining years of the Licensing 6.0 agreement.

Microsoft says the Enterprise Edition Server Step-up License is a promotional migration path that will be available only until September 2004.

For now, though, the program is a step back toward the multiple upgrade options Microsoft offered customers before dropping Software Assurance on customers as a one-size-fits-all upgrade method in August 2002.

The program applies to Windows Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Internet Security & Acceleration Server, Commerce Server and several versions of BizTalk Server.

The change follows a raft of changes introduced last week and scheduled to go into effect in September. Those changes apply to Software Assurance customers and include free online support for standard edition server software, free telephone support during regular business hours for enterprise edition server software, Microsoft Office home-use rights and free product training. The new step-up license also will qualify users for the free telephone support.

The step-up program also follows other changes Microsoft slipped into Licensing 6.0 prior to last month. Earlier, Microsoft changed the terms of server licenses to allow customers to only pay for the processors they use the software on in large-scale SMP servers. Microsoft also provided two Client Access License types with Windows Server 2003 -- per-user and per-device -- an improvement over the older one-size-fits-all method.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

Featured

  • Microsoft Offers Support Extensions for Exchange 2016 and 2019

    Microsoft has introduced a paid Extended Security Update (ESU) program for on-premises Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, offering a crucial safety cushion as both versions near their Oct. 14, 2025 end-of-support date.

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Notebook

    Microsoft Centers AI, Security and Partner Dogfooding at MCAPS

    Microsoft's second annual MCAPS for Partners event took place Tuesday, delivering a volley of updates and directives for its partners for fiscal 2026.

  • Microsoft Layoffs: AI Is the Obvious Elephant in the Room

    As Microsoft doubles down on an $80 billion bet on AI this fiscal year, its workforce reductions are drawing scrutiny over whether AI's ascent is quietly reshaping its human capital strategy, even as official messaging avoids drawing a direct line.

Most   Popular