Organizations faced with Windows Server 2003 upgrade issues and considering Microsoft’s Custom Support Agreements (CSAs) to tide them over got some independent guidance this month.

Microsoft doesn’t explain its CSAs publicly in great detail, so it’s left to consultants to lend a helping hand. This month, licensing expert Paul DeGroot offered his analysis of Microsoft’s CSAs. DeGroot, a senior consultant with Software Licensing Advisors Inc. and owner of Pica Communications, offered some sobering numbers for those considering CSAs. Organizations could face CSA enrollments fees of $3.1 million in the first year just to get Custom Support for 100 servers, according to one of the charts he presented.

CSA costs are tallied up based on the number of devices under support. In the first year, the per-device cost will be approximately the same as the price of the original Windows Server 2003 license, or around $600 to $700 per license for the Standard edition. In the next year, that price will double. In the third year, Microsoft doubles the second-year price.

SOURCE: redmondmag.com