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Microsoft Adjusts Pricing for Client Access Licenses

With the recent revisions of some of its business software offerings, Microsoft announced new pricing for the so-called "client access licenses" (CAL) that users must have in order to access those products.

However, the changes in configuration and costs won't take effect until August.

The changes may not be difficult to spot, however, especially when it comes to price.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has two types of CALs -- a Core CAL and an Enterprise CAL (ECAL) Step Up edition. That is, a customer who needs more than the Core CAL provides antes up to upgrade to the ECAL option.


In the current version, the Core CAL provides licenses for basic server products such as Windows Server, Systems Center Configuration Manager, SharePoint Standard edition, and Exchange Standard edition, according to a Microsoft FAQ (as PDF) online.

By comparison, the ECAL Step Up option currently adds CALs for Active Directory Rights Management Service (RMS), Forefront Unified Access Gateway, and Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) Suite. It also includes CALs for Systems Center Client Management Suite, besides SharePoint and Exchange ECALs.

Right now, the ECAL Step Up bundle provides both Standard and Enterprise CALs for Microsoft Lync 2010.

Released in November, Lync is Microsoft's latest shot at a unified communications package, "unifying enterprise voice, instant messaging and Web, audio and video conferencing -- all within the same user experience and back-end infrastructure," the company said last fall. Lync replaces Microsoft's Office Communications Server.


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