Software Assurance licensing agreement's timeframe

I am about to upgrade a small W2K server to SBS2K3 and am wondering if
Software Assurance is a good idea. Microsoft says "With Software Assurance,
Microsoft customers automatically receive the next version of Small Business
Server at no additional cost if the new version releases within the licensing
agreement's timeframe." What is the "licensing agreement timeframe" if I buy
SBS2K3 today?

 

Once you know the answer to "What is the 'licensing agreement timeframe'?",
your next question is (presumably) going to be "when will the next version
of Small Business Server ship", and sadly you aren't going to get an answer
to that from anyone who knows....

SA is, and always has been, a little bit of a leap of faith. You have to
trust MS that they will release a new version sufficiently soon, which also
has something good so that you'll want to upgrade. Right now the only
updated server software on the horizon is "R2" (read
http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/win2003_r2.asp for more info) which is
currently in beta. It's not known yet whether there will be a SBS "R2" or
not - at least that's what MS told us that in a public Technet chat session
last week.

If it was my own money, I wouldn't bother with SA on SBS2003 right now. If
your client has money to burn, though, why not get the SA in case something
good *does* come up in the next few years?

James

 

The Software Assurance (SA) covers the entire period of an Open License
agreement (which is normally 2 years). There is another option called Open
License Value which lets you make a 3yr agreement and pay in installments.

I mostly agree with James comments... especially that SA is a leap of faith
. However, I think at this point (with R2 planned for this year and
Longhorn planned for 2006) its likely that new SBS version (or versions)
will come up within 2-3 years. Plus SA has other benefits (not only
licensewise).

The two main factors I would consider would be-> a) If your client likes to
keep current with technology, and b) If you have a lot of CALs.

 

Sorry... "Longhorn planned for 2006" should have read "2007".

--
Javier [SBS MVP]
www.msmvps.com/javier
<< SBS ROCKS!!! >>

 

There is another timeframe - 90 days i.e. if you buy OEM SBS 2003 (with your
new Server hardware), you can buy SA on the same day you buy OEM SBS 2003 or
within 90 days. If you haven't bought SA within 90 days of your purchase date
on your inovice of your OEM SBS2003 then you can't buy SA. The 90 days grace
to buy SA is only for the OEM purchase.

The other option is SA under Open License as already mentioned by Javier.

HTH,

-- Jay Scale

 

Javier - could you expand on the benefits esp: why it makes a diff if you
have a lot of CALs?