With the May 2010 release of SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft made several changes to the licensing, packaging and pricing of its platform for collaboration and Business Intelligence (BI) toolset from the 2007 version. These changes include price increases for select SharePoint products, the integration and addition of new technologies and enhancements products into the SharePoint family and two new server licensing options.
10% price increases on several licenses:
With the changes to the 2010 release Microsoft raised the price of several SharePoint 2010 licenses by 10% in May, 2010. This includes a price increase for SharePoint Server 2010 ECAL, Search Server 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 license. However, it should be noted there was no price increase for the Standard Client Access License.
Changes to the SharePoint 2010 Licensing Model from SharePoint 2007:
These changes from the 2007 version include the renaming of Windows SharePoint Services to SharePoint Foundation 2010, the addition of “FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint” license and a second option for licensing Internet or extranet sites access by non-employees. It is important to note that like most Microsoft server products, SharePoint is licensed on a server-CAL model where a company purchases a SharePoint server license for the right to run software on a physical or virtual server and the SharePoint Server CALs (Client Access Licenses) grant users the right to access the servers. Also, Microsoft offers two options for purchasing CALs: device-based CAL (Device CAL) or a user-based CAL (User CAL).
The Device CAL is required for every device that accesses SharePoint 2010 Server, regardless of the number of users accessing the server while the User CAL is required for every person who accesses a SharePoint 2010 Server, regardless of the number of devices each person uses to access the server.
In SharePoint Server 2010 Microsoft has renamed Windows SharePoint Services to SharePoint Foundation 2010. SharePoint Foundation 2010 is still a free add-on for Windows Server and offers the most basic level of functionality which is consistent with the 2007 version. Also, in the 2010 version Microsoft added additional capabilities like core run-time components of Business connectivity Services.
In SharePoint 2010 Microsoft added a fourth tier of functionality from the 2007 version with the addition of “FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint” license. FAST for SharePoint Server technologies allows users better search tuning, greater scale and other enhancements over the built-in indexing and query capabilities that SharePoint Server 2010 has. FAST for SharePoint only works with SharePoint 2010, requires its own server licenses for the subset of servers that implement the search farm and also requires both the SharePoint Standard CALs and Enterprise CALs for each client submitting inquiries to the FAST for SharePoint search engine.
In the 2010 version, as with previous versions, SharePoint Enterprise CAL builds on the capabilities of the Standard CAL version and for customers who want the enhanced capabilities of the ECAL like web forms, Performance Point and Excel Services. But in SharePoint Server 2010 ECAL Microsoft added serveral new capabilities such as Access Services and Visio Services to its 2007 predecessor. Click here to access the SharePoint 2010 version comparisons provided by Microsoft and here to see what the 2007 versions of SharePoint are.
Microsoft is offering an alternative to the server-CAL model for customer scenarios involving Internet or extranet sites. A SharePoint Server for Internet Sites server license includes both the right to run a single instance of the SharePoint software on a server and the right for an unlimited number of nonemployee clients to access the server. The two options customers have are SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Standard licenses or SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise licenses. SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Standard licenses is a new option offered with the 2010 release provides the right to run a single instance of SharePoint Server 2010 on a server with only Standard CAL-level capabilities enabled which can be used to create and host a single site resolved from a single domain. SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise provides the right to either SharePoint Server 2010 with both Standard CAL-level and ECAL-level capabilities enabled or FAST for SharePoint on the licenses server. The terms of the server license allow a single instance of either SharePoint Server 2010 or FAST for SharePoint, but not both, so an external-facing SharePoint site that uses FAST for SharePoint will require at least two licenses for SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise and all servers used for the site that have ECAL-level features to external users require a SharePoint Server 2010 for Internet Sites, Enterprise license.
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