While some information on Oracle’s acquisition of Sun has been made public, there are still a number of unanswered questions – one of them being about licensing. While we don’t have any more information on this, but we’re speculating that it can be a very sweet deal for the right company.

Our friends at Software Advice are running a quick survey about ERP implementation strategies to try and gauge what is the most popular and successful strategies out there. Click here to take the survey.

We encourage you to fill it out – it’s only four questions and will provide insight for all of out there with the same questions regarding ERP implementation. You can also read Houston Neals’ Guide to ERP Implementation Methodology from March 11.

Online services are one of the easier licensing models from Microsoft. Yet, even simpler are developer tools – one license is required for each user that accesses the software. Regardless of how many copies are installed on however many of devices, each user must be licensed individually and the software must be used only to “design, develop, test or demonstrate” programs.

In order to remain in compliance, be absolutely sure each user is licensed properly and you use the software as intended for development and development only!

Boy, oh, boy! That’s a mouthful. I thought it would be more useful to make a short video out of this topic.

Microsoft online services, which are growing in popularity, are a subscription-based model and are very specific in its use. Licensing is much simpler to decipher, especially due to the lack of hardware associated with the service. Just like any other web-based service, you can buy one or multiple licenses, or a company-wide unlimited usage plan. For certain products, such as Forefront Protection for Exchange, you can purchase it in either a per device or per user subscription, dependent on your Exchange licensing model.

Online services are great for companies that need a Microsoft product, but don’t want to commit to purchasing them or, for example, will only need to use the service for a limited time. The subscription-based model makes licensing simple and is great for companies on the go, because they can be accessed from anywhere.

Good basic info on Microsoft licensing models. Wish people would stop reading the scripts in monotone!

With Microsoft desktop operating systems (OS) are surprisingly simple when it comes to licensing. For each physical or virtual client that uses that operating system you can install one copy per license. This includes thin clients also. The only exception to this rule is if you have a volume licensing program – the desktop OS license is an upgrade. Typically, the licenses that come with your PCs when you purchase them are considered base licenses; therefore, you should only have to apply a volume licensed desktop OS license and you will be set.

Microsoft users with software assurance (SA) have the advantage of being allows to run up to four additional copies or instances of the OS without purchasing extra licenses. This will come in handy for virtualization.

For Desktop applications – a single license is required for each physical device running or accessing the software, therefore you may be required to purchase additional licenses if you have a virtual or thin client accessing that application.

This is one of the simpler licensing scenarios!