Microsoft has cut the price of leasing software by as much as 25 percent.
Companies can sign up for discounts on SQL Server, SharePoint, and other Microsoft software, or two bundles of client-access licenses, according to notices posted on the Microsoft Incentives Web site.
One special promotion is "Simplify and Save," which offers savings of 15 percent for those who consolidate at least two existing license agreements into an Open Value agreement. Microsoft said the discount will run for the entire length of a three-year license deal.
Another offer is for between 15 percent and 25 percent off the price of the license and the Software Assurance costs of running Exchange Server, Office Communications Server, SQL Server, Office SharePoint Server, Visual Studio, Office Project, and other Microsoft software.
It is a condition of some Microsoft license agreements that companies take out schemes such as Microsoft Software Assurance in order to keep their software properly licensed, and therefore eligible for upgrades and promotions. Industry estimates suggest this situation can add as much as 100 British pounds a year per PC to the cost of running applications.
The cuts are similar to those that Microsoft has made on the cost of licensing specific products. The Microsoft Office Project Assurance Pack's price has been cut by 25 percent, and Microsoft Project Server 2007 has seen a similar price fall.
According to one analyst, when it comes to special offers, Microsoft does not tell enough people about them. "This is good news for users but Microsoft should be shouting about offers like this," said Tony Lock, analyst with Freeform Dynamics. "Software Assurance is not widely recognized and deals like this, which seems pretty much across the board of Microsoft software, should be better known."
Lock said that, while Microsoft has good market share, it is "not nearly as good as it could or should be, given offers like this."
Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London.
Microsoft on Tuesday announced a change in its licensing policy to make it easier for businesses that want the ability to shift server software that is running in a virtual machine from one physical machine to another.
The licensing shift, which had been expected, lifts a cap that had limited the ability to switch software from one physical machine to another within a server farm. Under the prior rules, such shifts could me made only once every 90 days. That's a problem because software from VMware and others aims to allow such transfers to be made dynamically in response to changing demand.
"Businesses are taking steps to make their IT operations more dynamic and are delving into virtualization as a cornerstone strategy," Microsoft Senior Director Zane Adam said in a statement. "Microsoft recognizes this and is innovating its licensing policies, product support, and a wide range of IT solutions to help customers get virtual now."
The change applies to 41 server titles, Microsoft said, including the enterprise version of SQL Server 2008, the standard and enterprise versions of Exchange Server 2007, as well as the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft System Center products.
Microsoft also plans to offer better support for businesses that are running its software inside other companies' virtualization engines. Under the changes, Microsoft will support its software running inside virtual machines from VMware, Cisco Systems, Citrix, Novell, Sun Microsystems, and Virtual Iron as if it were being run in nonvirtual environments.
In the past, many customers with problems running Microsoft software in VMware, for example, had to reproduce the problem outside of VMware in order to get technical support from Microsoft.
For some time now, Microsoft has been trying to shift its pricing policies to reflect a new world in which server software often runs inside virtual machines.
Microsoft is going to have more to say on the virtualization front at a September 8 event in the Seattle area.
In its continuing effort to adjust to the realities of virtualization, Microsoft plans on Tuesday to announce new licensing and support policies to address how software can be used across multiple virtual and physical machines.
The software maker confirmed the planned move to CNET News, but declined to go into details ahead of the Tuesday announcement. However, Network World speculated that the company may ease up on a licensing requirement that ties software in a virtual machine to running on a particular server.
That poses a challenge in a world in which virtualization software, such as that from VMware, allows companies to seamlessly move virtual machines from one physical server to another, based on demand needs.
Although it has had challenges of its own keeping pace with changes in the way server software is run, Microsoft has led the way in some new frontiers of licensing, such as how to deal with multicore processors.
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