SBS 2011 Standard Versus The Stack: Pricing Comparison

Let's take a 10 seat firm that is looking at their options today versus a month ago when SBS 2011 STD and the Premium Add-On (PAO) was still available on the Open Value Agreement pricelist with the Spread Payment Option.

Here we are talking about a _new_ agreement that was put together when the SBS SKUs were still available to us. The Spread Payment option was chosen so the indicated price would be paid on the agreement's anniversary at the beginning of year's 2 and 3. All Open Value Agreement SKUs are a composite of License + Software Assurance for the duration of the agreement.

Again, the following is for a 10 seat firm:

• Small Business Server Standard 2011 (Mid-July SKUs)
• $750 - SBS 2011 STD with 5 CALs
• $325 - SBS 2011 STD 5 CAL Pack
• $590 - Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
• Virtualization Rights: 1+1
• $800 - Remote Desktop Services CALs ($80/Each)
• TOTAL: $2,465/Year
• Windows Server Stack Solution (Mid-September SKUs)
• $1,500 - Windows Server Standard ($750/License x2)
• Virtualization Rights: 1+2
• VM1: Windows Server 2012 Essentials RTM (when it releases)
• VM2: Server + Exchange Standard
• VM3: Remote Desktop Services
• VM4: WSUS, SharePoint, LoBs
• $450 - Exchange Server Standard
• $250 - Windows Server CALs ($25/Each)
• $650 - Exchange Server STD CALs ($65/Each)
• $800 - Remote Desktop Services CALs ($80/Each)
• TOTAL: $3,650/Year

So, our difference in cost between the two solutions is $1,185.00/Year.

• Cost difference breakdown:
• $118.50/Year/User
• $9.88/Month/User

Most firms that are not facing a cash crunch or impact due to the uncertainty in the economy can afford an extra $10/Month for each user in the firm.

What does an on-premises solution based on the new stack give our clients?

• Remote Web Access Portal (Windows Server 2012 Essentials)
• Remote Desktop Gateway (Windows Server 2012 Essentials)
• IIS Application Request Routing (Windows Server 2012 Essentials)
• W2012E uses a single IP for _all_ inbound services requests including OWA, ActiveSync, and Outlook Anywhere.
• Exchange Standard Services
• Outlook Web Access, ActiveSync, and Outlook Anywhere
• DirectAccess
• Where the Remote Web Workplace/Access portal was the killer app for SBS 2003, then RD Gateway and RemoteApp for SBS 2008 and SBS 2011, DirectAccess will be the Killer App for W2012E deploys.
• Failover Cluster
• Windows Server 2012 Standard now has all of the great new and old failover clustering features built in. For the larger and/or more advanced clients this becomes a very lucrative option.

What do we have today?

We have _everything_ our clients have come to expect from their Small Business Server IT Solutions that we have been designing for them for the last eight to ten years. But, now they have a lot more!

• RemoteApp, Remote Desktop Services, full device access, and Internet based remote access features remain the same.
• DirectAccess gives full remote access _and_ management.
• Expansion opportunities in Lync, SharePoint Portal Server, and other Microsoft Core CAL Suite covered products.

As we have mentioned before the new solution set offers us so much more in the way of flexibility to tailor IT Solutions for our clients.

Custom IT Solutions is one area that Cloud cannot touch. We can pull together a broad base of technologies and customize them for our client's environments. Cloud is a one-size-fits-all kind of solution that is very difficult to tailor into a client's needs.

Thus, we see a huge opportunity for our clients and our own IT Business going forward!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer