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Confused about Companion Device Licensing? Softchoice can help.

The Windows team at Microsoft made a subtle but impactful announcement on April 18th that … [Read More...]

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SQL EAP Licensing changes now in effect (long term benefits still remain)

  Customers who Signed By to April 1st Saw Advantages in EAP Agreement Terms … [Read More...]

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Softchoice’s SQL 2012 Field Guide Now Available!

Last month Softchoice surveyed our broad base of Microsoft customers to find out more … [Read More...]

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All About the Core – Key SQL 2012 Update for SPLA Partners

There’s significant buzz about the updates and changes afoot for SQL 2012, but what does … [Read More...]


Confused about Companion Device Licensing? Softchoice can help.

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Windows team at Microsoft made a subtle but impactful announcement on April 18th that took some time to acquire traction in the blogosphere. The announcement: The introduction of the Companion Device License (CDL). 

Microsoft subject matter experts at Softchoice are preparing a variety of resources and information for you on this new development to help shed light on what this means. We’ll be digesting what the impact of the CDL will be and how you & your organizations can make preparations in future blog posts.

In the meantime, here’s our review of the basics…

Continue reading »

Filed Under: Licensing, Pricing

SQL EAP Licensing changes now in effect (long term benefits still remain)

April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Customers who Signed By to April 1st Saw Advantages in EAP Agreement Terms

In a recent survey conducted by Softchoice in March, nearly 70% of customers surveyed had either never heard of an EAP Agreement (Enrollment Application Platform Agreement) or expressed specific interest in learning more. Surprisingly, only 15% of customers were currently leveraging EAP advantages in their organization.

As of April 1st, significant changes took effect with regards to the minimum number of processors required for an initial EAP and not everyone took advantage.

Prior to April 1st, Microsoft outlined a 6 processor requirement to enroll in an EAP and after April 1st, the new EAP requires a 50 core minimum (12.5 processors at an average of 4 cores per processor). This change effectively doubles the amount of processors running SQL needed to get into the enrollment.

If your organization was one of the many who took advantage of an EAP before the licensing changes of SQL 2012 took effect on April 1st, well done!  The decision will yield benefits for years to come.  But what if you didn’t act in time?  SQL 2012 packs many reasons why customers should look to switch or upgrade.  The EAP is still the best purchasing vehicle for customer running SQL and should be investigated in most circumstances.

Although we’ve outlined the benefits of an EAP several times with content provided in our SQL 2012 Licensing Field Guide and via our blog in postings like this, here’s a quick recap on how working with an EAP through Softchoice can help you navigate the SQL licensing waters.

What is it? Continue reading »

Filed Under: Licensing, Pricing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Softchoice’s SQL 2012 Field Guide Now Available!

April 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Last month Softchoice surveyed our broad base of Microsoft customers to find out more about their interest and readiness to begin a migration to SQL 2012. As a thank you for their participation, we offered them an advance peek at our Softchoice exclusive SQL 2012 Licensing Field Guide. Now available for wide release, we’re posting the Field Guide as a free download to all of our Softchoice followers.

Our ebook includes insight on:

  • Industry trends: What’s affecting our IT environments?
  • Reasons to migrate to SQL 2012: Key benefits for your business
  • What’s new with SQL 2012 Licensing Models & Pricing Changes
  • How Softchoice can help you evaluate your adoption strategy with our SQL TechCheck

Download your complimentary field guide today for key insights into how to best prepare for a migration to SQL 2012.

Filed Under: Business Solutions, Licensing, Pricing, Product Roadmaps Tagged With: , , , ,

All About the Core – Key SQL 2012 Update for SPLA Partners

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There’s significant buzz about the updates and changes afoot for SQL 2012, but what does it mean for our SPLA partners?

In general, the key takeaways from this product update include:

  • Replacement of Processor License with Core Licenses
  • Retirement of the Datacenter edition and the Workgroup edition
  • Retirement of SQL Enterprise SAL
  • Introduction of the new Business Intelligence SAL
  • SQL Web remaining with SPLA/Removed for other Microsoft vol. licensing programs

So what does all that mean to you?  Beginning in spring when SQL 2012 launches (or whenever you choose to deploy) you’ll be paying for the power that you need instead of the physical processors.  In addition, SQL Enterprise will offer unlimited virtualization rights. Given how pricey the Datacenter SKU has historically been, this could mean cost savings for service providers that were previously licensing Datacenter.

The new way of licensing SQL 2012 is a bit interesting.  Instead of licensing by the physical processor you will need to license by the core.  The cores will be approximately ¼ of the costs of SQL 2008R2 processor license.  However, there’s a 4 core minimum in order to report this SKU.  In other words, if you have a machine with two cores, you still need to report four cores! 

Here are some simple guidelines:

  1. Count the number of cores on the server
  2. Minimum four core licenses are required per physical processor
  3. Purchase the appropriate number of core licenses for the future
  4. Licenses are sold in packs – each pack includes two core packs. 

The transition process is a bit cloudy, (no pun intended).   One of the key benefits of SPLA is the ability to use the latest version and downgrade to previous SKU. This is an option within the parameters of specific dates:

  • Spring 2012: General availability for SQL 2012
  • January 2013:  SQL 2012 will be available on the SPUR and on the pricelists. There will be two SKUs for each product (1 for SQL 2008R2 and 1 for SQL 2012)
  • Spring 2012 – January 2013: SQL 2008R2 and SQL 2012 will be on the pricelist.  This means if you are not ready to move to 2012, you can continue to license 200R2 in the same fashion you’re doing it today (per physical CPU).  Once you migrate to 2012, you need to adhere to the 2012 use rights and report 2012 SKU.

More information on this coming soon!  Look for another blog post on SQL 2012 as more information becomes available.  If you have a volume licensing agreement, check out the other blogs on this at http://blogs.softchoice.com/microsoftnavigator/2011/11/04/sql-2012-denali-microsoft-outlines-upcoming-licensing-changes/

Filed Under: Licensing, Pricing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

System Center 2012 – New Changes for SPLA Partners

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Recent changes to Microsoft System Center means good news for our SPLA Partners. Microsoft announced a simplified licensing structure that provides more flexibility, particularly for  those with highly virtualized environments.

What’s new?  On the server front, there are now only two editions each with the same feature functionality; Standard and Datacenter.  Pricing has yet to be announced, but rest assured Datacenter will cost a bit more than standard.  Standard will only allow the management of 1 OSE per processor vs. Datacenter which will allow unlimited OSEs (as long as each physical processor is reported).  This is a processor based licensing structure, and all SAL licenses for the server components will be removed for the new model.

There are 3 SKUs for Subscriber Access Licenses (SAL); System Center Configuration Manager (includes virtual machine manager), System Center Client Manger Suite (includes Service Manager, Operations Manager, Data Protection Manager, and Orchestrator), and System Center Endpoint Protection 2012.

More information to come as we get closer to general availability (mid-year 2012).  

For additional information and training support, view:

More to Come!

Filed Under: Licensing, Pricing Tagged With: , , ,

Sharing is caring! System Center 2012 Update Slideshare Now Available

January 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Great news for System Center 2012 customers. With the aim of making System Center more cloud-friendly, Microsoft has made changes to the way that the licensing model for this popular product works. What used to be an extremely complex licensing system has been made much easier for clients to understand and manage. View our slideshare for a quick overview of what these key updates are and work with a Softchoice Microsoft specialist to understand your needs under this new model moving forward.

http://www.slideshare.net/softchoice/system-center-2012-january-licensing-update

 

Filed Under: Licensing Tagged With: , , , ,

Licensing System Center 2012: It’s really that easy!

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There’s no question that System Center is Microsoft’s flagship product that supports the management of virtual and physical IT environments. Unfortunately, up until now, the Licensing for System Center has been a difficult thorn to manage despite the benefits.  Good news for System Center customers this week. With recent changes announced by Microsoft to the licensing model for System Center 2012, things just got easier.

In the past, users of the System Center products have been required to license multiple components individually for different pieces of the solution. A license for the server; a license for the servers being managed and a license for all the clients being managed. This is all further complicated by the fact that System Center is a bundle of more than five technologies.

The products involved could be any of the following: Data Protection Manager, Configuration Manager, Operations Manager, Service Manager, Virtual Machine Manager. The end result means many sku’s to choose from.  As if that’s not complicated enough, a variety of different bundles also exist (Enrollment for Core Infrastructure, Server Management Suite Datacenter, Server Management Suite Enterprise, System Center Essentials). These bundles often make using the different technologies under the System Center brand a very cost effective solution but knowing how to properly assess the licensing requirements  is a daunting and overwhelming task.  Microsoft took notice and made things simpler.

  • There are no longer any standalone management licenses.  They will now be sold through one of two suites for managing servers: Standard or Datacenter.
  • Everything you need to run System Center is included with each of these suites (yes, even SQL). 
  • Server Management Suite Datacenter (SMSD) and Server Management Suite Standard (SMSS) will be licensed per physical processor.  Each license will cover 2 physical processors.
  • SMSD will allow for the management of unlimited virtual OSEs.  SMSS will allow for the management of 2 virtual OSEs. The real distinction therefore becomes whether you want to manage a physical environment or a virtual one.

And it’s really that simple. There are of course implications to those who’ve already invested in these a la carte options for purchasing System Center. For customers invested in Software Assurance (SA) rest assured that there is a migration path that exists. The below table describes at a high-level what to expect.

 

The rest is history.

Filed Under: Licensing Tagged With: , , ,

Microsoft System Center 2012 Update

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Softchoice is pleased to present some helpful resources for our clients that help navigate the recent changes announced for System Center 2012.  The good news is that licensing just got easier. Stay tuned for additional information and resources on this site including a Softchoice slideshare as well as a blog post written by one of our internal Microsoft experts. Access the System Center 2012 Datasheet and the System Center 2012 FAQ for an overview. Stay tuned to The Navigator for additional info and resources to follow soon.

Filed Under: Licensing Tagged With: , , , ,

Softchoice study finds ‘floodgates’ opening on Windows 7 [Infographic]

December 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Data. Softchoice sure gets a lot of it – from about a million computers a year in fact. When you look at the guts of a million computers a year, you start to see some trends. One trend we’ve been tracking is the surprising longevity of Windows XP — an operating system that has been the ‘comfortable pair of jeans’ for corporate North American desktops for the better part of a decade. It’s an interesting history, but based on our analysis, Windows 7 fever is gripping corporate North America, and things are finally beginning to change.

Now there have been many studies on the ‘intentions’ of organizations to deploy Windows 7, how they planned to do it and when (here’s one, for example). But a chasm often exists between intentions and reality. Another frequently cited data point is Windows 7 shipments. But shipments are just that – shipments. Often the computers that Windows 7 shipped on, particularly in late 2009, were retrofitted with Windows XP to remain compatible with existing corporate infrastructure.

This study is different. What you’ll see in the infographic below is a healthy cross-section of ‘in the wild’ data we gleaned over the course of hundreds of customer IT asset management service engagements. Looking at this data in aggregate provides a much clearer picture of the real state of the union in corporate North America.

After a decade of the status quo, it now looks like change is firmly afoot. The migration to Windows 7, while not complete for most organizations, is underway at quite a clip. Many organizations, it seems, had been taking the ‘wait and see’ approach, as is quite common with desktop operating systems. Well, they waited – and they saw – and now they’re acting.

So is 2011 the “Year of Windows 7”? As we sit here in December, that’s an easy thing to proclaim – at least until 2012 rolls around.

Filed Under: Research Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Seven SQL 2012 Wonders: Why the Switch to “Denali” is A Savvy Move

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Making the move to a new version of a relational database management system is no small task. The migration effort can be downright daunting in its complexity. As with the installation of a new OS, organizations face a tremendous implementation, testing and validation effort. In many cases, custom code and stored procedures may have to be re-written, or applications updated, or other processes need to be modified in order to take full advantage of the new database platform.

In the face of all of that effort and investment, why migrate to SQL Server 2012? The Softchoice Navigator has compiled what we view as the seven wonders of SQL 2012 that make the move worthwhile for any organization.

1.)    AlwaysOn – High Availability and Disaster Recovery

Many applications and distributed systems rely on SQL Server databases in order to function. While you might be able to accept a downed server or two in an array of web servers, an outage in SQL Server is frequently the last thing your business can sustain. 

In SQL 2012, Microsoft introduces AlwaysOn to address the need for a highly available SQL Server infrastructure. AlwaysOn is a (high-availability (HA) and disaster-recovery (DR) ready-for-the-enterprise solution that provides a new option for DBAs who previously might have leveraged other options, such as database mirroring or Windows Server Clustering in their SQL environments.

There’s still a great deal for Developers, DBAs, and Systems Engineers to uncover about the AlwaysOn solution and how it will enable seamless failover but the buzz about this feature is considerable. If there’s a key benefit in SQL 2012 that is generating excitement, this is it.

2.)    Give Me Speed

SQL Server 2012 is going to be fast. New technologies like In-Memory Column Store are showing dramatic improvements in the ability to return a dataset from a query. Microsoft reports that in some cases, execution of queries has been up to one hundred times faster than in previous versions of SQL Server. In-Memory Column Store (codenamed “Apollo”)  is an underlying technology in PowerPivot, and is now a core technology in the SQL platform.

Existing features are faster too, including Full-Text Search, which has also been improved to provide faster query execution. Changes to the way that Full-Text Search uses memory, block in db operations, and other changes have resulted in dramatic improvements in its performance.

3.)    Better Data Quality Services

Data input to a SQL database table isn’t always going to be 100% correct, and sometimes it needs to be cleaned up before accurate reports can be produced. But what if there are millions of rows in a table with dozens of fields? A manual effort could take weeks, and probably introduce even more errors.

Data Quality Services (DQS) in SQL 2012 leverages an internal Knowledge Base about what data in specific fields should look like, and once that KB is populated with information about your data, DQS will be able to ensure high quality data and that your reports will be accurate. What’s best about the DQS feature is that it doesn’t take a highly skilled DBA to configure and use – end users can manage that process themselves.

4.)    Beefed Up BI Capabilities

SQL 2012 includes improved Business Intelligence capabilities, powered by a Project “Crescent”. Crescent is part of SQL Reporting Services, and allows users to visually represent data, enabling an interactive way to gain real business intelligence from the information at hand.

A further benefit of using AlwaysOn is that mirror servers can be used to create and run reports. Using Crescent, those reports, or ad-hoc queries, can be run against target servers that are part of a Database Availability Group, which allows real-time reporting without affecting production systems.

The Sematic Model within Denali enables business intelligence solutions to scale to very large organizations and includes one mode of use for all types of end users – users who create simple reports, or who are building customer BI applications.

5.)    Shiny New Developer Tools

SQL 2012 will include a new set of developer tools that are compatible with Microsoft’s Visual Studio suite, and that are also backward-compatible with previous versions of SQL Server. These tools are intended to make the lives of developers not only easier, but also more productive too.

Juneau is comprised of a set of tools to enable developers to build, test, debug, control revisions, and modify databases and associated applications for various platforms, such as downlevel SQL Server instances, or SQL Azure. Also included are query tools, which may make visits to the SQL Server Management Studio increasingly rare for developers and DBAs.

6.)    Server Core Support

SQL Server 2012 is now supported on Windows Server 2008 Core. No version of the Windows OS is completely free from the need to apply updates (ie: say “Patch Tuesday” and everyone knows what you mean), but by installing SQL Server 2012 on Windows Server Core, you’ve significantly reduced the number of OS components that need to be updated. That in turn can reduce the number of updates that require a restart of the OS. And both of those things can, again, translate into improved ability to meet your SLAs.

7.)    Cloud Capabilities

Even better news, SQL Server 2012 is cloud ready. This means:

  • flexible options for deploying SQL 2012 using the same version of SQL that you would use in a traditional deployment scenario
  • quickly deploying SQL and managing it with the same tools that you would use to manage a traditional implantation
  • integration with platforms such as SQL Azure, which will allow organizations to scale services out rapidly without needing to change platforms.

SQL Server 2012 CTP 3 is available for download today with the final version release date currently scheduled for Q1 of 2012.

Filed Under: Business Solutions Tagged With: , , , , ,
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