Taking the pain—and some costs—out of upgrading
By Alan R. Earls
With new versions of Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Windows Server coming out soon, Software Assurance may make the process easier and more affordable.
In Summary:
| • | Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 are scheduled for release early in the next calendar year. |
| • | Software Assurance offers many benefits for making an upgrade – including free next version upgrades for those with current software versions. |
The premise is simple. Most software users stick with a favorite operating system or application for the long term, embracing updates and upgrades as time, energy and funding permits. But each time a new release comes out, it can, at the least, require staff time and effort. A solution that has been widely hailed by Microsoft business customers is Microsoft Software Assurance.
Software Assurance is a maintenance offer that provides training, support, and software upgrades in a single package that includes New Version Rights – meaning, you can get new software versions that are released during the term of your Software Assurance coverage at no additional cost.
Keeping it Simple
One company that has taken advantage of Software Assurance is Mitera, a healthcare organization based in Athens, Greece and provides access to more than 30 medical specialties. Technology plays a major role in Mitera's success. Financial, medical, information, and imaging systems are integrated so that all relevant data on each patient is available in a unified electronic patient record. In addition, Mitera has created a business intelligence and decision support system based on Microsoft® SQL Server™.
However, due to budgeting requirements, Mitera could only upgrade the software on a portion of its 110 desktops each year, which created a support burden on the IT staff. So, Mitera signed a Microsoft® Open Value Volume Licensing Agreement to cover all of its Microsoft desktop operating system and productivity software (including version upgrades), as well as Client Access Licenses for various Microsoft server offerings. The agreement included licenses for Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition, Microsoft Exchange Server, and the Windows Server™ 2003 operating system. Mitera also takes advantage of Software Assurance benefits that come with the Open Value agreement, including:
| • | The ability to spread licensing costs out over three annual payments. |
| • | New version rights, which provide immediate access to new versions of licensed software released during the three-year agreement. |
| • | Extended Hotfix Support, which allows Mitera to request nonsecurity hotfixes for products in the Extended Lifecycle Support phase and pay for the hotfixes only when they need them. |
Mitera IT Director Markos Speis estimates that the volume pricing for licenses acquired through the Microsoft Open Value Volume Licensing Agreement saves Mitera approximately 15 percent in acquisition costs compared to the full retail price. "Innovation is a key to success and with our Open Value agreement we can use the latest version of Microsoft tools with minimum cost," says Speis.
The Software Assurance feature within the open value volume licensing agreement offers a combination of productivity benefits, support tools, and training to generate more value from the software. With the New Version Rights benefit, the company upgrades all of its users to new versions of software as soon as they are released. Fair Isaac also uses the training vouchers and eLearning courses to help prepare both its IT staff and end users for upgrades. And the Employee Purchase Program gives Fair Isaac employees retail discount pricing on Microsoft productivity software for home use, so they can use the same software that they use at work.
Getting Ready
Today, according to John Cullen, product manager in Windows Server Marketing, there are particularly strong reasons for many Microsoft business customers to consider Software Assurance, namely the pending release of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
Both products are due out in the new year and are currently moving through a pre-release process. For example, Microsoft recently reached another milestone with the initial Release Candidate (RC0) of the Windows Server 2008 operating system with built-in Web and virtualization technologies that can increase the reliability and flexibility of your server infrastructure. It also provides new virtualization tools, Web resources, and security enhancements to save time, and reduce costs. In particular, new tools with Windows Server 2008 such as IIS7, Windows Server Manager, and Windows PowerShell, allow you to have more control over your servers and streamline Web, configuration, and management tasks. Writing recently about Windows Server 2008 for Betanews.com, Scott M. Fulton, III, stated, "The abilities to consolidate servers, to manage hardware more effectively, to remotely manage hardware without the graphical traffic, and to radically alter the system security model, could present a more compelling argument for customers to plan their...migrations now..."
Similarly, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is also waiting in the wings. It builds on the management capabilities of previous versions and provides a variety of tools and frameworks to better manage the enterprise data environment. The expanded management automation capabilities of SQL Server 2008 is expected to reduce the administrative overhead that is required to maintain data services and ensure compliance with change management policies. Furthermore, a new end-to-end performance monitoring and analysis suite helps to optimize the responsiveness and scalability of SQL Server services across the enterprise. Finally, the scalable management interfaces and tools can help to reduce server management effort freeing IT staff to focus on higher value activities.
Writing recently in Redmond Developer News about a Community Technology Preview release of SQL Server 2008, Jeffrey Schwartz noted that the new version has features that include e-charting capabilities for the reporting-services component of the database, (based on technology Microsoft acquired from Toronto-based Dundas Data Visualization Inc.). Other new capabilities Schwartz noted were Automatic Page Repair, which continually monitors consistency of the primary and mirrored database, and Extended Events, which tracks SQL Server and has access to the operating system.
"Software Assurance helps customers get the most from Microsoft software through a broad range of benefits," says John Cullen. Aside from direct savings on licensing costs, Cullen says benefits can include increased worker productivity, accelerated organizational performance, and a faster return on software investment.
However, Andrea Schneider, in SQL Server marketing, stresses, Software Assurance is valuable for all Microsoft products, not just for SQL Server or Windows Server.
Alan R. Earls is a contributing writer for Momentum, the Midsize Business Center newsletter.
