Monthly Microsoft News _______________________________ April 16, 2009
Brought to you by En Pointe Technologies
Feature Article
Benefits of renewing your Enterprise Agreement
In today's business environment, corporate and government entities rely on software as one of their most important assets. Yet, when it comes to renewing their licensing agreements, customers are often overwhelmed by the options that are available and not sure where the breakeven point is for purchasing licenses with Software Assurance versus purchasing licenses individually.
A few things to consider...
Enterprise Agreement can be a cost-effective way to receive upgrades
Choosing not to renew and to repurchase a Select License later could be more expensive
Results show that customers are better off with an EA as long as they upgrade or refresh their machines every four to five years or more
An Enterprise Agreement can be an efficient way to transform IT infrastructure from a "costly expense" into a strategic asset
Our licensing specialists can provide life cycle management assistance and review which option is the most cost-effective for your organization. We will work with you to evaluate your Software Assurance Benefits, minimize your procurement costs and free up valuable IT resources offer solutions around the deployment of your Microsoft solutions. We'll stay with you throughout the licensing process, from contract negotiation, to license procurement and deployment, maintenance renewals and asset retirement. For more information on Software Assurance, Click here
Schedule a meeting with your En Pointe Account Executive TODAY to learn how to "Quantify" the Value of Software Assurance for your organization or contact us at MSTeam@enpointe.com to get your free IO Assessment!
For a limited time (February 1, 2009 - June 30, 2009), customers who purchased Windows Business or Professional Licenses with new PCs through OEMs after July 31, 2008 but more than 90 days prior, will be allowed to acquire Software Assurance coverage for those licenses. This promotion is applicable for the following programs and for the following Microsoft Windows products only:
Open Value and Open License programs only
Windows XP Professional (32 bit or 64 bit)
Windows XP Professional N
Windows Tablet PC edition
Windows XP Professional Blade PC Edition
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Blade PC Edition
Windows Vista Ultimate
Upgrade or OEM Licenses acquired prior to August 1, 2008 are ineligible for SA coverage under this promotion. Similarly, after June 30, 2009, OEM licenses acquired more than 90 days prior, are ineligible for SA coverage under this promotion.
Microsoft Financing: The IT you need - the financing to make IT work.
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Microsoft Volume Licensing Programs and License Agreement Types:
This promotion is available for the following Volume Licensing programs and license agreement types:
Open License: Commercial and Government
Open L for Commercial and Government
Open L&SA for Government
Open Value:
Corporate(now)
Government (available)
Customer Eligibility Requirements:
Customers must make a qualifying purchase as defined in the Terms and Conditions.
Offer:
Customers who make a qualifying purchase during the offer purchase period will earn money back in the form of a partner subsidy payout that can be used for implementation of their Microsoft solution including software, hardware and services. Customers who purchase more than one product group can earn higher payout amounts.
Promotion Details Now through July 3, 2009, EA and EA subscription customer can receive 15% off L/SA for specific Server and Desktop Application products and 25% off L/SA for specific Enterprise Edition server products.
Offer DetailsFrom now until July 3rd the following products are available at special pricing:
Now through July 3, 2009, you can sign an Enterprise Subscription Agreement for enterprise products (Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Microsoft Office Enterprise, Windows Vista Enterprise upgrade, Core CAL Suite, and Enterprise CAL Suite) at the equivalent of SA Only pricing, representing approximately a 26% discount on EAS list prices
Signing & processing an agreement for early a customer commitment. Both the invoice date and the effective date should be in accordance with the programmatic renewal date (i.e. a 6/30/09 expiring agreement is signed in April, but both the invoice date and effective date remain on 7/1/2009)
Incentive:
Lowers total cost of EA and optimizes payments for lower year 1 payment
Only Enterprise Agreements that expire prior to, and including June 30th are included and must be committed prior to May 31st
This offer is available to Commercial and Government customers
March 1st through July 3rd 2009, EA, Select and Select Plus new customers can receive 20% off Windows upgrade/SA products. This includes the Windows Vista version of the Professional Desktop
This offer is targeted at New & Renewal EA, Select and Select Plus customers
On March 1st this promotion will be available through lead status SKUs
This offer is available to commercial & government customers
Execute this offer through your local MSFT Team and they'll engage the licensing specialist
As a limited time offer from November 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009, Open License, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers also purchasing Windows HPC Server 2008 and to customers with rights to Windows HPC Server 2008. Customers can acquire a maximum of 300 licenses of System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise at the promotional price. The licenses acquired under the promotion must be utilized for High Performance Computing workloads.
As a limited time offer from November 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009, Open License and Select customers are eligible to acquire Windows HPC Server 2008 and Windows HPC Server 2008 OS licenses and licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings. The same offer is also available for licenses acquired for SPLA customers.
This offer applies only to customers purchasing at least 8 licenses of Windows HPC Server 2008 and/or Windows HPC Server 2008 OS. Customers can acquire a maximum of 1,000 licenses of Windows HPC Server 2008 and/or Windows HPC Server 2008 OS at the promotional price.
As a limited time offer from January 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009, qualifying Open License, Open Value, Select, Select Plus and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition with MSDN Premium licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers with existing licenses for:
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition without Software Assurance
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition without Software Assurance
This offer is valid for up to the number of existing Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 Professional Edition licenses without Software Assurance that the customer owns. Licenses acquired under this offer supersede and replace customers' existing licenses (one for one).
As a limited time offer from December 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, Open Value, Select, Select Plus and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire Visual Studio Team Suite 2008 Step Up Licenses from Visual Studio Team Architecture 2008, Visual Studio Team Database 2008, Visual Studio Team Developer 2008 and Visual Studio Team Test 2008 at potential savings. They are also eligible to acquire Visual Studio Team Architecture 2008, Visual Studio Team Developer 2008 and Visual Studio Team Test 2008 Step Up Licenses from Visual Studio Professional with MSDN Premium at potential savings. Because these are Step Up Licenses, customers are required to have active Software Assurance coverage on their qualifying licenses.
Promotion Details Now through July 3, 2009, you can sign an Enterprise subscription Agreement for enterprise products (Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Microsoft Office Enterprise, Windows Vista Enterprise upgrade, Core CAL Suite and Enterprise CAL Suite) at the equivalent of SA only pricing, representing approximately a 26% discount on EAS list prices.
Offer Details
EA Subscription will be offered at the SA only pricing, a significantly lower price point, u to a 26% discount to the current subscription offering
Promotional pricing available only to Enterprise Products
Promotion is available through Business Desk in qualified regions and Globally on EA Price Lists April 1st to July 3rd
Represents approximately to reverse the cost of a traditional EA and postpone the purchase of the license until the end of their agreement, if they choose through a license buyout
Terms & Conditions
On Commercial Price List April 1st - Government availability to be determined by your licensing Resource
Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite is a set of Microsoft hosted messaging and collaboration solutions consisting of Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint® Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Office Communications Online.
These Online Services are designed to give you business streamlined communication with high availability, comprehensive security and simplified IT management. Your business benefits from always using the most up-to-date technology that is deployed rapidly, maximizing your valuable IT resources and reducing your need for infrastructure investments.
For more information contact your En Pointe Account Executive today or email msteam@enpointe.com.
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance
PCs and their supporting infrastructure represent 30% to 45% of an organization's IT budget, making reducing this cost a high priority for CIOs. One of the most effective ways to reduce the cost of PC ownership is to optimize IT processes that will, in turn, reduce IT labor. Determining the level of IT process optimization is the first step towards reducing IT labor costs. To help companies determine their IT optimization level, Microsoft developed the infrastructure optimization (IO) framework, which is a guide to help organizations improve IT operations and thus reduce IT labor.
The Microsoft IO framework is based on seven IT best practices that were identified in research conducted by IDC in 2006 and sponsored by Microsoft. All seven best practices include activities that are enabled by a variety of different vendor products. Microsoft's Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance is one of the offerings that will support these best practices. MDOP is a suite of tools that reduces the cost to implement and sustain these best practices.
Based on research gathered from 141 organizations, the seven best practices identified by IDC that generate IT cost reduction include:
Standard Desktop Strategy
Comprehensive Directory Solution
Single System Management Tool
Automated Packaging Tools and Software Distribution
Centrally Managed PC Settings and Configurations
Automated User Provisioning
Comprehensive PC Security
Collectively, these best practices are capable of reducing IT Labor by up to $830 per PC per year for organizations with a zero adoption rate of these best practices. Few, if any organizations will have none or all of the best practices. Therefore Wipro believes the savings will likely range from $200 to $500 per PC per year for the average organization. Implementing best practices requires an investment, which will vary greatly from organization to organization because of different IT infrastructures.
Depending on the best practice and the starting point, the cost for implementing a best practice can range from $50 to $500 per PC. These costs include a number of factors such as hardware, software, and IT labor. There are estimates that MDOP can reduce the cost of implementing a best practice by $10 to $150 per PC.
Once a best practice is implemented, there are on-going costs to support it. MDOP provides tools that reduce these costs by $5 to $50 per PC per year depending on the best practice. MDOP is a product suite of four technologies that include:
SoftGrid Application Virtualization: Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization dynamically delivers applications to PCs reducing application deployment and support costs.
Asset Inventory Services: Microsoft Asset Inventory Services provides intelligence about installed software on an organization's PCs.
Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset: Microsoft Diagnostic and Recovery Toolset reduces the time it takes the service desk to diagnose and repair PCs.
Advanced Group Policy Management: Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management simplifies the management of Group Policy Objects in an organization.
MDOP extends the value of Windows Vista. It helps to reduce application management costs, instantly delivers applications as services, and provides better control over enterprise desktop environments. An independent study by Wipro documents that MDOP provides one-time savings ranging from $10 to $150 per PC in the implementation of best practices such as standard desktop strategy, comprehensive directory solution, automated user provisioning, and comprehensive PC security program. 7 The following table summarizes Gartner estimates of the innovative technologies in MDOP. To see further detail on these value estimates, please refer to Gartner in the research note titled, Quantifying the Value of Microsoft's Desktop Optimization Pack.
MDOP Component
Benefit
3 Year Value (Per Desktop)8
3 Year Cost of MDOP (Per Desktop)9
Application Virtualization
Turns Windows applications into centrally managed services, that are delivered instantly to any desktop or laptop PC and won't conflict with other applications
$18.00
Asset Inventory Service
Analyzes all applications installed on the desktop and translates inventory data for many titles into instantly available, administrator-friendly information
$0 - 4.50
System Center Desktop Error Monitoring
Proactively manages problems with applications and system components that crash or cause live PCs to hang
$27.00
Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset
Quickly repairs unbootable or locked-out systems, recovers lost data, minimizes future downtime, removes malware, and pinpoints the cause of PC problems
$5.00
Advanced Group Policy Management
Increases control over Group Policy objects through better change management, versioning, roll-backs and robust role-based administration and delegation
Enhances deployment and management of virtual PC images on a Windows desktop and provides a seamless user experience on a virtual PC environment, independent of the local desktop configuration and operating system
Summary Microsoft will introduce two new Online Services offerings, Office Communications Online Standard and the Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite, through the Volume Licensing sales beginning in April 2009.
Details
Microsoft Online Services launched the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS) in November 2008, which is a communication and collaboration service offering that includes hosted messaging, collaboration, instant messaging, and web conferencing.
In April, 2009, Office Communications Online will be introduced as part of the set of services included in BPO Standard Suite, which will include:
Exchange Online Standard - hosted messaging
SharePoint Online Standard - collaboration
Office Communications Online Standard - instant messaging and presence
Office Live Meeting Standard - web conferencing
These services can be purchased as standalone services, or as a suite.
Additionally, Microsoft Online Services is introducing the Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite. The Deskless Worker Suite is a set of reduced feature functionality from Exchange Online and SharePoint Online that is targeted at users who spend a fractional amount of their time on a shared terminal computer. The Deskless Worker Suite includes:
Exchange Online Deskless Worker
SharePoint Online Deskless Worker
These services can be purchased as standalone services, or as a suite.
Microsoft Online Services are licensed on a per-user / per month subscription basis.
User Subscription License (USL) - non-perpetual subscription rights to the service
USL for SA - discounted user subscription license available for purchase if a customer has a current client access license (CAL) under software assurance (SA)
Based on customer feedback, we are moving the scorecard, dashboard, and analytic functionality from Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server into Office SharePoint Server Enterprise
PerformancePoint Server 2007 will no longer be a standalone item on the Microsoft price list as of April 1, 2009. For organizations interested in PerformancePoint Server, it can be obtained by purchasing SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise CAL with Software Assurance. In the future, the monitoring and analytics capabilities will be included in the next release of SharePoint Server and will be available to SharePoint Enterprise CAL customers. Customers with rights to PerformancePoint Server SP3 will be able to download it mid 2009(please contact your account manager for details). Performancemanagement is a critical component of business intelligence and Microsoft will continue marketing and R&D investment in this area in future product releases.
Current SharePoint Server and SharePoint Server ECAL customers with Software Assurance (SA) have rights to equivalent number of PerformancePoint CALS and the PerformancePoint Servers respectively, and can begin using Monitoring & Analytics today. In the next release, monitoring and analytics capabilities will be part of SharePoint Enterprise. While Microsoft hasn't announced any particulars around packaging and licensing for SharePoint ‘v-next', the intent is that SharePoint ECAL customers will be able to use BI throughout their entire organizations simply by deploying SQL Server and Excel.
L&SA: PerformancePoint Server customers who've purchased licenses and Software Assurance will be granted a SharePoint Server for every PerformancePoint Server, and one SharePoint Standard CAL and one SharePoint Enterprise CAL for every PerformancePoint Server CAL, effective upon removal of PerformancePoint from pricelist. That is expected to take until April 1st, 2009, to be reflected with WWLP. However, each customer situation is different and will be handled on a one-to-one basis.
If customers require additional PerformancePoint Server 2007 CALs, they should purchase SharePoint Server 2007 E-CALs with Software Assurance to be entitled to PerformancePoint Server 2007 CALs. If customers require additional PerformancePoint Servers, they should purchase SharePoint Servers with Software Assurance to be entitled to PerformancePoint Servers.
Microsoft Forefront Security for Office Communications Server - Launch April 2009
Summary Microsoft Forefront Security for Office Communications Server (FSOCS) will launch on the April 2009 Volume Licensing price list.
Details FSOCS provides fast and effective protection against IM-based malware for Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 and OCS 2007 R2 environments by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners. FSOCS also helps reduce corporate liability by blocking instant messages containing inappropriate content.
This release includes:
Support for OCS 2007 R2
Support for OCS 2007 Enterprise Edition server roles
Integration with OCS 2007 Access Edge role to protect corporate IM from external public IM threats
Localization in 11 languages
FSOCS is licensed per user/per device for 1 or 3 year contracts through Open and Volume Licensing programs. It is also included in the Forefront Security Suite and the Microsoft Enterprise CAL Suite.
Summary Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 will launch on the April 2009 Volume Licensing price list. The new product is licensed in the same manner as the product it replaces, Commerce Server 2007 SP2.
Details Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 powers multi-channel e-commerce solutions for high performance organizations while offering faster and lower cost e-commerce Web site design, integration and deployments. Commerce Server 2009 offers built-in shopping solutions that allow creative professionals to build unique shopper experiences through interoperability with Microsoft SharePoint, while providing developers and designers a new multi-channel foundation with additional built-in features that can help customers grow their business.
Commerce Server 2009 is licensed on a per-processor basis just the same as Commerce Server 2007 SP2. When licensing Commerce Server 2009 you will receive the new features (Commerce Foundation and SharePoint Commerce Services), as well as a version of Commerce Server 2007, which Commerce Server 2009 depends on. Commerce Server 2009 does not require licenses for any other previous versions of Commerce Server. The installation process requires the installation of Commerce Server 2007 first followed by Commerce Server 2009. For existing users of Commerce Server 2007 Standard or Enterprise, you only need to install Commerce Server 2009.
Visual Studio Team Foundation Server provides collaboration capabilities for more efficient team communication. It is an extensible team collaboration server that enables all members of the extended IT team to effortlessly manage and track the progress and health of projects. Features include source code control, work schedules, bug tracking and more. Users who access Team Foundation Server require a client access license (CAL). Full details are in the licensing agreement.
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server is an integrated collaboration server for Visual Studio Team System. It combines team portal, version control, work item tracking, build management, process guidance and business intelligence into a unified server. It allows everyone on the team to collaborate more effectively and deliver better quality software.
Team Foundation Server helps your software development teams work better together while being more effective delivering solutions aligned with your business needs. Teams are empowered to do great work with services for version control, build, work item tracking, planning, and reporting integrated into a single, secure collaboration platform. Projects managed in Team Foundation Server benefit from integrated process workflows and guidance-both custom-defined and industry-recognizedbest-practices-to ensure predictable, successful results. Team Foundation Server was designed from the ground-up for performance and reliability, maximum customization and partner-integration, and minimal administrative overhead by leveraging existing technologies such as Microsoft SQL Server, Windows SharePoint Services and Internet Information Server.
Gain better predictability and quality Enable team members to continuously integrate and improve their work by automating builds, executing tests, and providing real-time performance and quality metric reporting throughout the development life cycle.
Take control of your code Take greater control of your code by getting the latest version on checkout, comparing branches, annotating code, and tracking your workspaces.
Simplify administration, operations, and setup Simplify project management across your organization through integrated Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007, easier setup, and support for more users.
Feature Highlights
Version control to manage change to project artifacts
Work-item tracking to communicate and manage work across the team
Team build to regularly integrate your team's work together
Reporting and business intelligence on project status, performance, and quality metrics
Customizable process templates to define your development process
Integration with Office Excel and Office Project for project management
Customers who license Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects, Visual Studio Team Edition 2005 for Software Developers, Visual Studio Team Edition 2005 for Software Testers, Visual Studio Team Edition 2005 for Database Professional or Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite will be deemed to have one Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server User CAL for each corresponding Team Edition role License. The right to access Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server with SQL Server 2005 Technology under that CAL will expire when the corresponding Team Edition role or Suite License expires.
Customers with active Software Assurance for their Team Edition role or Suite License will be deemed to have Software Assurance for their complimentary Team Foundation Server CALs. Such coverage will expire when the corresponding Team Foundation Server coverage expires.
Microsoft Performance Point Update: Microsoft BI Strategy
The Microsoft BI strategy is to bring BI to the masses through the familiar, widely used tools of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server and Microsoft Office Excel®, while building on the highly scalable Microsoft SQL Server® business intelligence platform. This strategy enables customers to deploy complete BI solutions through existingInvestments in these three key Microsoft products.
Based on customer feedback, Microsoft has decided to consolidate Microsoft Office PerformancePoint® Server scorecard, dashboard, and analytical capabilities into Office SharePoint Server Enterprise as PerformancePoint Services.
This consolidation will enable customers to deliver capabilities at a lower total cost of ownership. You can be confident that supporting Planning customers remains a top priority for Microsoft. In mid-calendar-year 2009, Microsoft will release Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (SP3), which will include updates to the current product's Planning module; thereafter Microsoft will not make further investments in stand-alone versions of Office PerformancePoint Server. Microsoft will work closely with customers on a one-to-one basis during this transition.
Planning, budgeting, and forecasting. Office PerformancePoint Server SP3 will be the final release of the Planning module. Through an extensive review, Microsoft concluded that planning is not critical to driving broad BI deployment, but can be better served through tight alignment with customer enterprise resource planning or general ledger investments, such as those within Microsoft Dynamics® business management software. Microsoft has communicated its BI strategy directly to existing Office PerformancePoint Server customers. If you have not heard this update, please be aware of this change. As always, Microsoft will support its customers through this transition period. For more information or questions regarding the above contact your En Pointe Account Executive or TeamMicrosoft@enpointe.com
Licensing Updates
Windows Server 2008 related to CALs and Virtualization
A number of trends, including consolidation and high availability, are driving more deployments and evaluations of Hyper-V. Based on feedback from our customers, we are updating our licensing policies to address these new scenarios enabled by virtualization. Currently, if your physical server environment is running Windows Server 2003, matching version CALs are required for all users (i.e. Windows Server 2003 CALs). However, if you move your physical Windows Server 2003 Operating System Environments (OSE) to run as virtual machines hosted by Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 CALs are required. This is per the current use rights. With the change in our licensing policy, Windows Server 2008 CALs are no longer required if you are using Windows Server 2008 solely as a virtualization host. The only exception to this is if you are running Windows Server 2008 virtual machines, which would require Windows Server 2008 CALs. To help demonstrate the effect of the licensing change, we have included three scenarios below and the resulting requirements.
Scenario 1 - Customer Deploying WS08 Workloads
Scenario 2 - customer only deploys WS08 Hyper-V to consolidate WS03
Scenario 3 - Customer deploys WS08 Hyper-V to consolidate WS03 but also has WS08 deployments
There is no change in licensing or CAL Requirements
WS08 CAL are no longer required
WS08 CAL requirements will apply for the WS08 deployment
This is irrespective of whether he customer Deploys WS08 Workloads (other than Hyper-V) in a physical Or virtual environment
Customer will still need CALs for the appropriate WS edition (WS03 in this example)
A CAL for particular version of windows server allows the user/device to access all instances of that version of windows server (and prior versions) across the organization
This change will help ease the adoption of virtualization technology for our customers. If you would like more in depth information on this change, please read the updated Volume Licensing Briefs or contact your En Pointe Account Executive or email us at TeamMicrosoft@enpointe.com
Office Forms Server 2007 End of Life April 2009 - Licensing Guidance
Summary Microsoft will remove Office Forms Server (Forms Server) from the April 2009 Volume Licensing price list. As a result, these products (all SKU's) will "end-of-life" and no longer be available for customers to purchase. Microsoft is making these changes based on feedback from customers and to align with future business strategy.
Details: FORMS SERVER 2007: Although standalone Forms Server SKUs (Forms Server, Forms Server CAL, Forms Server for Internet Sites) are being discontinued, forms and workflow capabilities remain an important part of the SharePoint value proposition. SharePoint Server 2007 already has all of the functionality that was available in Forms Server and customers interested in that functionality may license SharePoint Server and the SharePoint Enterprise CAL (or "SharePoint Server for Internet Sites" for external-facing deployments). Forms capabilities will continue to be offered as part of the future roadmap for the SharePoint Server Enterprise CAL and SharePoint FIS.
Customers with active Software Assurance (SA) on Forms Server and/or Forms Server CALs will be entitled to SharePoint Server 2007, SharePoint Standard and SharePoint Enterprise CALs (on a one-to-one basis with their Forms Server/CAL licenses on SA). Note that because the SharePoint Enterprise CAL is a step-up SKU-and requires the SharePoint Standard CAL-Forms Server CAL customers on SA are entitled to both the Standard and Enterprise CALs of SharePoint to maintain feature continuity.
Customers must have purchased Forms Server with Software Assurance or Forms Server CAL's with Software Assurance prior to April 1, 2009 to be eligible for this migration right.
As a limited time offer from February 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009, Open Value, Select and Select Plus customers are eligible to acquire User Subscription Licenses (USLs) and Device Subscription Licenses (DSLs) for Forefront Security Suite at potential savings.
Summary Microsoft will offer SharePoint Designer 2007 free of charge, as a download, starting April 1, 2009. This change is being made in order to help customers get the most value out of their investments in SharePoint products and technologies. Microsoft will remove SharePoint Designer 2007 from the April 2009 Volume Licensing price list. Customers with active SA as of March 31, 2009 will be able to upgrade to Expression Web. SharePoint Designer is not “end-of-life.” The next version of SharePoint Designer will ship together with the next release of SharePoint.
Details The ability to create SharePoint solutions and customizations is a key part of the SharePoint value proposition. Microsoft's strategy is to allow its customers to put these capabilities in the hands of more users, allowing them to make the most of their overall investments in SharePoint.
Starting April 1, 2009, SharePoint Designer 2007 will be available, free of charge, as a download at http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint. As a result, Microsoft will remove SharePoint Designer 2007 from the April 2009 Volume Licensing price list. Note that SharePoint Designer is not "end-of-life". SharePoint Designer capabilities will continue to be part of the future roadmap of SharePoint product and technologies. The next version of SharePoint Designer will be available at the same time as the next release of SharePoint.
Customers with active Software Assurance coverage for SharePoint Designer 2007 as of March 31, 2009 will be able to upgrade to Expression Web. While Expression Web currently does not work against SharePoint sites, this additional value will enable customers to leverage Expression Web for non-SharePoint sites while continuing to use SharePoint Designer 2007 for SharePoint sites. Expression Web will directly support SharePoint sites in a future release. Extending rights to Expression Web will help address potential CPE issues from customers as a result of these changes, while also helping customers create great experiences on SharePoint.
As a limited time offer from August 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009, Open, Open Value, Select, Select Plus, and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) CAL 2007 with Software Assurance at potential savings. This offer is available for Commercial and Government customers only.
As a limited time offer from February 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009, Open License, Open Value, Select, Select Plus and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Enterprise Edition 2006 licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings.
As a limited time offer from February 1, 2009 through July 31, 2009, Select, Select Plus and Enterprise Agreement customers who have or are acquiring 250 or more CALs for Office SharePoint Server 2007 may be eligible for potential savings on the purchase of Project Server 2007 CALs with Software Assurance and licenses with Software Assurance for Project Server 2007 and Office Project 2007 Professional for Windows.
This offer for potential savings on Project and Office Project licenses requires a minimum purchase of 250 Project Server 2007 CALs. Furthermore, the offer to acquire Project Server CALs is only valid for up to the number of Office SharePoint Server 2007 CALs the customer has or is acquiring
With the acquisition of 200 or more System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE) licenses between December 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009, a Select, Select Plus or Enterprise Agreement customer will be deemed to have:
5 System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 server licenses
1 System Center Configuration Manager 2007 server license
1 System Center Operations Manager 2007 server license
Use of the above software will be governed by the terms and conditions of the customer's license agreement and the product use rights for the above products.
The customer's right to use the above referenced products under this offering is evidenced by their license agreement, evidence of their qualifying SMSE licenses, and this product condition note. The right to use the above referenced server licenses expire upon expiration or termination of the qualifying SMSE licenses.
The customer has the option to acquire Software Assurance for the server licenses granted under this offering. That coverage must be acquired by no later than June 30, 2009. Customers without media for any of the above products should contact their reseller for media fulfillment options. Media fulfillment charges may apply.
Policy provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product support availability at the time of product release and throughout the product life. By understanding the product support available, customers are better able to maximize the management of their IT investments and strategically plan for a successful IT future. http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#Support%20Lifecycle%20FAQs
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