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New System Center 2012 licensing model

Today Microsoft released some details about the new licensing model of the System Center 2012 products.

In a constant effort to reduce the different licensing models they have significantly changed the way you need to license your products. Pricing at this time is not yet available but you can already prepare yourself to check which licenses you need to purchase for the new suite.

There’s of course a difference between existing customers and new customers but in general this is what’s new in the licensing model:

What’s included?

To maximize the support for your private cloud the following tools will be included when you buy a standard or Datacenter edition of System center 2012:

  • Configuration Manager

  • Service Manager

  • Virtual Machine Manager

  • Operations Manager

  • Data Protection Manager

  • Orchestrator

  • App Controller

  • Endpoint Protection

Difference between Standard and Datacenter Edition of System Center 2012:

The Standard and Datacenter editions of the System Center 2012 server management licenses differ only based on the number of Operating System Environments (OSEs) that may be managed.

Standard edition:

  • allow customers to manage two OSEs on premises or two OSEs in a public cloud environment.
  • Targeted at lightly or non-virtualized private cloud workloads.

DataCenter edition:

  • Allow an unlimited number of OSEs in an on premises environment or eight OSEs in a public cloud environment.
  • Maximizes cloud capacity with unlimited Operating System Environments (OSEs) for high density private clouds.

Server Management Licensing

System Center 2012 server management licensing maximizes your private cloud value while simplifying purchasing:

  • License required only for endpoints being managed. No additional licenses needed for management servers or SQL Server technology.

  • Consistent licensing model across editions. Processor based license, covering up to two processors targeted at most common hardware configuration.

  • Same capabilities across editions differentiated by virtualization rights. All server management licenses include the same components and the ability to manage any private cloud workload.

Client Management Licensing

System Center 2012 client management licensing provides simple, cost-effective options to manage and protect client systems. Client management licenses are available in three offers:

  • System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager is available on a per-user or per-OSE basis as well as in the Core CAL and Enterprise CAL suites.

  • System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection: System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection (the next version of Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010) is available as a per-user or per-device subscription as well as in the Core CAL and Enterprise CAL suites. The subscription includes all antimalware updates and product upgrades during the subscription period.

  • System Center Client Management Suite: The System Center 2012 Client Management Suite is available on a per-user or per-OSE basis as well as in the Enterprise CAL suite. It is composed of Data Protection Manager, Operations Manager, Service Manager, and Orchestrator.

Core CAL and Enterprise CAL Suites will continue to be the most cost effective way to purchase client management products.

The new licensing model is mainly focused towards the private cloud and significantly reduces the number of options to choose from while keeping enough options for your environment.

More info here Microsoft licensing model System Center 2012

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