Upgrade Options: Solutions Pathway

Microsoft recognizes the need to provide small and midsize business customers with an easy way to migrate their technology products as their business needs change—whether that entails a migration into, within, or out of Windows Essential Server Solutions (WESS) family of products to their standalone components. With that in mind, we have launched a program, named Solutions Pathway, which provides solutions to alleviate the additional stresses of running a successful business and enables companies to easily migrate to a new Microsoft solution from the one they are currently using.

Solutions Pathway offers a tiered discount that will be applicable to various upgrade and migration scenarios. The program replaces previously offered products, such as Version Upgrade (VUP), Product Upgrade (PUP) and Transition Pack (TP)—for all customers wanting to purchase any WESS 2008 family of products: Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008.

Solutions Pathway does not offer migration options to standalone components for SBS 2003 and SBS 2003 R2 customers, as this program caters only to customers purchasing WESS family of products.

For SBS 2003 and SBS 2003 R2 customers who want to purchase standalone components, Transition Pack is only available on the FPP pricelist through the Distributor channel for Americas Operations Center and EMEA Operations Center. Starting in April, the Asia Pacific Operations Center will have all SKUs available on the pricelist. Click here for pricing details and how to buy.

The option to migrate to standalone components is available to SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 customers on Solutions Pathway. See details below.

Purchase Process
Migration Options and Savings
Next Steps to Migrate

Solutions Pathway Purchase Process

The purchase process in Solutions Pathway is fast and simple—with instant upgrade and discount options.

Upon entering your 5x5 product key in Solutions Pathway, the system will automatically validate and recognize what product you have and will provide the possible upgrade paths available to you. It will also automatically calculate the appropriate discount, depending on what changes you are making.

Get more familiar with the Solutions Pathway purchasing process by taking the test drive.

Note: Customers and Microsoft partners have different entry Web sites to Solutions Pathway. Microsoft Partners should go to the Microsoft Partner Program Portal to transact the Solutions Pathway changes here. Customers can start here for Windows Small Business Server 2008 or here for Windows Essential Business Server 2008 family of products.

Migration Options and Savings

The following table lists the supported scenarios for Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essential Business Server 2008. Note: You must purchase software and CALs to participate in Solutions Pathway. A server software license purchase must be made in every fulfillment order made on Solutions Pathway, unless listed otherwise. You should be familiar with the quantity of CALs you require, as Solutions Pathway only entitles you to upgrade the CALs you currently own before the upgrade.

From	To	Savings
Microsoft SBS 2000 Windows SBS 2003 Standard Edition Windows SBS 2003 R2 Standard Edition	Windows SBS 2008 Standard Windows EBS 2008 Standard	20 Percent
Microsoft SBS 2000 Windows SBS 2003 Premium Edition Windows SBS 2003 R2 Premium Edition	Windows SBS 2008 Premium Windows EBS 2008 Premium	20 Percent
Windows SBS 2008 Standard	Windows SBS 2008 Premium Windows EBS 2008 Standard	30 Percent
Windows SBS 2008 Premium	Windows EBS 2008 Premium	30 Percent
Windows SBS 2008 Standard Windows SBS 2008 Premium	Stand-alone components	20 Percent
Windows EBS 2008 Standard	Windows EBS 2008 Premium	30 Percent
Windows EBS 2008 Standard Windows EBS 2008 Premium	Stand-alone components	20 Percent
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 credit: Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition¹	Windows EBS 2008 Standard Windows EBS 2008 Premium	20 Percent
Windows Server 2008 CAL credit¹	Credit for Windows EBS 2008 CAL Suite (Standard only)	20 Percent

¹Limited duration programs ending at 11:59 P.M., Pacific Time, on December 31, 2009. See Terms and Conditions for details.

Standalone Components

Solutions Pathway offers a tiered discount that is applicable to various upgrade and migration scenarios. The program replaces previously offered products, such as VUP, PUP and TP—for all customers wanting to purchase any WESS 2008 family of products: SBS 2008 and EBS 2008.

The following table lists the standalone components:

Product	Components
Windows SBS 2008 Standard	Windows Server 2008 Standard—1 license Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition—1 license
Windows SBS 2008 Premium	Windows Server 2008 Standard—2 licenses Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition—1 license Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard for Small Business—1 license
Windows EBS 2008 Standard	Windows Server 2008 Standard—3 licenses Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition—2 licenses Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007—1 license Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium Business Edition—1 license²
Windows EBS 2008 Premium	Windows Server 2008 Standard—4 licenses Exchange Server 2007 Standard Edition—2 licenses System Center Essentials 2007—1 license Forefront Threat Management Gateway Medium Business Edition—1 license² SQL Server 2008 Standard—1 license

²Forefront Threat Management Gateway, Medium Business Edition is a volume licensing product and is not in a full packaged or retail box. It is available for download only at Microsoft Volume License Services. You must have a Volume License agreement and an online account to download this software.

Next Steps to Migrate

Click on the product that you would like to upgrade to. This will take you to more information and guidance to begin the Solutions Pathway migration.

Small Business Server
Designed for small businesses, Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) is an affordable, integrated server solution that helps you protect your business data, increase productivity and present a more professional image to customers – giving you the tools you need to help grow your business capacity.
Essential Business Server
Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS 2008) is an enterprise-class server solution designed and priced for midsize businesses, integrating management, messaging and security server technologies. By helping to improve IT manageability and reliability, EBS 2008 turns a midsize IT infrastructure into a strategic asset, boosting productivity and growth.

Solutions Pathway

Small Business Server
Upgrade or Migrate
Essential Business Server
Upgrade or Migrate

Learn more about Solutions Pathway

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