It’s no secret that Microsoft® is trying to convince their customers to move their software and IT to the cloud. One of their goals is to replace perpetual licenses for products such as Microsoft Office, with subscription licenses for Office [...]
SQL Server® 2016 Editions
Dec 2016I recently wrote a blog about SQL Server® 2016 Licensing, in which I briefly described the most popular editions and licensing requirements. Today, I’d like to identify four other editions, which may be less popular, but instrumental to many organizations. [...]
SQL Server® 2016 Licensing
Nov 2016Microsoft®’s popular relational database management system, SQL Server®, is available in multiple editions with features and licensing options intended to appeal to a wide range of users. The most common editions and licensing requirements are summarized below: SQL Server 2016 [...]
Microsoft® Licensing Changes
Oct 2016Much has been written about Windows Server® 2016 and System Center 2016 during recent weeks. Both are mission-critical products which are used by countless organizations. Both have significant improvements over their predecessors (2012 R2), but another notable distinction with these releases is [...]
Software Audit Errors
Oct 2016I have often written about how to prepare for software licensing audits and what to expect during the process, but I rarely mention the errors we witness during mitigation. As you’re probably aware, major software companies such as Microsoft® and [...]
An Audit by any Other Name
Sep 2016I often find myself answering questions or writing about software licensing audits. Audits are mandated by software developers such as Microsoft®, Oracle™, and others, often under the guise of assisting the customer with their software asset management, but the reality [...]
It has been nine months since I wrote about Windows Server® 2016 and the licensing changes it would bring. The most notable change is that Microsoft’s® flagship server OS platform will now be licensed on a per-core basis, rather than per-processor, [...]
Software licensing audits are a standard practice for many software vendors. There was a time when they occurred primarily when the vendor had reason to suspect a customer of non-compliance, but randomly conducted audits have become increasingly common as vendors [...]
Windows® as a Subscription
Jul 2016There has been a great deal of speculation about whether Microsoft® would offer Windows® on a per-user, subscription basis, and it appears to finally be on the horizon. While the offering, expected this fall, will only be available to businesses, [...]
Few would dispute that cloud computing is one of the most significant IT paradigm shifts during recent years. Huge server farms are replacing traditional on-prem datacenters and the economies of scale enable third parties to replace, or at least supplement, [...]
