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[Today's post comes to us courtesy David Fabritius from Windows Server Marketing]
Hi everyone,
I'm writing today about a significant milestone for Windows Small Business Server (Windows SBS). With the new Windows Server 2012 line up, Windows Small Business Server Essentials has been renamed Windows Server 2012 Essentials. By making Essentials a full-fledged member of the Windows Server family, we are reaffirming our commitment to delivering a flexible, cloud-enabled server platform that is designed and priced for small businesses and the partners that serve them. Formalizing Essentials as a core edition of Windows Server 2012 will more clearly communicate how it fits into the Windows Server family and give it more visibility as a product.
We believe Windows Server 2012 Essentials is the most affordable and easy-to-use server solution for small businesses to date, helping customers with up to 25 users and 50 devices reduce costs and be more productive. It is an ideal first server, and can also be used as the primary server in a multi-server environment for small businesses. It helps you to protect, centralize, organize, and access your applications and information from almost anywhere by using virtually any device. Additionally, Essentials can grow with the needs of your business over time; you can purchase and convert to Windows Server 2012 Standard, removing the maximum user and device limits while retaining all your data and configuration settings as well as the unique value-add features that Essentials provides.
Windows Server 2012 Essentials has been designed to give you the flexibility to choose which applications and services run on-premises and which run in the cloud. In contrast to Windows SBS Standard, Essentials offers lower up-front acquisition and deployment costs. It allows you to take advantage of cloud-based messaging offerings while enjoying an integrated management experience by subscribing to Office 365 or a hosted Exchange service. If you prefer a fully on-premises solution, you have the option of running Exchange Server on a second server (either as a physical or virtual machine) alongside Essentials with the same integrated management experience.
Windows Server 2012 Essentials can also be used as a platform to run line-of-business applications and other on-premises workloads, as well as to provide an integrated management experience when running cloud-based applications and services, such as email, collaboration, online backup, and more.
Windows SBS 2011 Standard, which includes Exchange Server and SharePoint Foundation, will be the final such Windows SBS offering. It will remain available through the OEM channel until December 31, 2013, and will remain available in all other current channels until June 30, 2013. For additional details, please see the Windows Server 2012 Essentials FAQ. I hope to see you at the 2012 Worldwide Partner Conference starting July 8 in Toronto, Canada, where we’ll be talking more about Windows Server 2012 Essentials, and we’ll also let you know when you can try it out.
I am some numbers.
For a 30 user small business, the increase in costs are staggering if you wanted to go with microsoft's cloud services.
these are open license costs...
SBS 2011 Standard w/ 30 CALs - $2377
Comparable on-premise solution (two Windows 2008 R2 standard servers, 30 windows CALs, Exchange 2010 standard, 30 exchange CALs) - $4702
SBS Essentials – not an option
Windows 2008 R2 Standard w/ 30 User CALS: $1511
Exchange online @ $4/month per mailbox: $1440/yr
10 year cost: $15,911
How are your partners supposed to be able to justify an over $11,000 cost increase of a solution to move to the cloud?
These numbers are even more staggering once you get closer to the 75 user limit of SBS.
You don't really own or have control over your data.
You are stuck waiting on microsoft to fix any problems with the service and "take a number" rather than calling your Microsoft Partner who cares about your business in to fix it for you as quickly as possible.
If your internet goes down, internal email also goes down.
@mnri
You pointed out the fallicy of this and the reason Microsoft is making this change. The continuing revenue stream from those monthly subscribers!
Wow! maybe MS is embarrised that they released SBS 2011 with so many errors in the event logs ;)
I'm stunned that they are putting so much emphasis on the cloud and trying to force change on your most loyal support group. With all the changes ahead, the backbone of small business connectivity should have been left alone, particularly as fast and reliable internet is NOT universal. I also see much potential data security breaches the more businesses join the cloud, just too risky to trust someone else with your data.
CHANGE YOUR MIND MICROSOFT
It is realy bad idea, that MS after so many years of good product, satisfied costumers and loyal Partners, decides to discontinue the SBS. What would the real reason be? Push to the cloud or get rid of the SBS Partner Comunity, or both? Why?!? There is no logical explanation with our sight of view, but MS views it on other way.
There are a lot of Costumers and Partners that depeneds on SBS Standard product and is not fair to just switch of the product and push us to the Cloud.
MS think again if this is realy right and fair decision.
I am pretty sure that most SMB consultants will be irritated enough to move their clients to the "Anyone but Microsoft" cloud. And maybe we won't feel as compelled to help MS by being the "software police" and making sure the client licensing is perfect. Most of us have invested a great deal of time and money in Microsoft, and today we are the bug, not the windshield.
Let's not forget Microsoft is dropping SBSC as well of which partners were paying just $329 to meet the Action Pack requirement and now required to pay $1,850 for the Silver Small Business Competency plus two exams. Microsoft hears the complaints so they offer us 46% off the fee for first time enrollment until the end of the year like that’s supposed to make us feel better when you compare it to $329. Hey Microsoft, we’re small businesses too on a budget.
I sincerely hope Microsoft will reconsider this decision.
There's an interesting discussion on the channel9 forum between classical SBS and cloud proponents.
It's quite heavy and offers insights into how the "modern" all-cloud people are thinking.
channel9.msdn.com/.../Microsoft-continues-to-please-their-existing-customers
Wow.... I can't believe that Microsoft is going to force all of us to leave and take "our" customers with us. Microsoft is completely missing the ball on this one and it is going to cost them in the long run. It's nice to know how everyone here jumped through all of Microsoft's hoops to get certified and push their product sending an untold amount of $$$ to Redmond only to get dumped on by this decision. All I can say is WOW! They really need to rethink this one......
If Microsoft drops Small Business Server, many companies that support small businesses will look elsewhere for solutions like Kerio. Cloud is not always the answer.
>>>It's quite heavy and offers insights into how the "modern" all-cloud people are thinking.
>>>channel9.msdn.com/.../Microsoft-continues-to-please-their-existing-customers
Essential reading. The cloud people are basically saying to those with poor internet connections: Your problem!
From where MS is sitting you can see their logic. The race to the could is on, so why not use your existing customers and dealers (us) to force the issue. However - I will not be part of that game. My customers mostly do not have the benefit of perfect internet connections both in speed and realibility and some have REAL confidentiality issues, too. I will not be part of making the whole world fit into the MS plan for domination.
Did anyone watch the WPC Keynote this morning? All the talk about how much "we're a team" and how Microsoft "loves it partners" ...it made me sick. They did announce an "open" version of Office 365 that can be sold to customers where "we" would still own the customer and could charge what we want. This was a very small gesture, but it may be a little too late. I received a coupon today for 10% off Windows Server products and see it works with SBS Standard 2011 so I may pick up the max 4 copies that the coupon will allow and just hold onto them for a few future upgrade projects. SBS 2011 is pretty good, pretty stable, and will be a nice upgrade to a few customers I have that are still on SBS 2003. From what hear Exchange 15 is just getting BIGGER, not smaller on resources. I'm sure it will have a lot of cool features but from what I've been told by a few people inside the company, get ready to have loads of RAM in your servers, 32GB +, even for a base install with just a few users.
Many of you probably know who Karl Palachuk is in the SMB / SBS space and he put a survey together regarding a few SBS related questions. I took a few minutes to fill it out and hopefully you will too. Maybe he can funnel it to the proper channel at Microsoft so they can get even more proof that this move to kill SBS is just a bad idea. www.smallbizthoughts.com/.../Survey201207.html
Yes Jon. Let's facebook, linkedin, email and tweet about the Small Business Survey. Lets get the feedback in one place. Don't forget to put your thoughts into the free form text box at the end. I know I did. I doubt Microsoft will react but we will have had a chance to vent and will have it on record, all our views. I know I am actively replying to Microsoft tweets debating their discision and am emailing all my contacts. Lets not dissapear into the distance without having made a stand.
Blog about it and make everyone aware.
all else fails ... Not my number one choices ....
http://www.zimbra.com/
Zimbra Collaboration Server is an enterprise-class open source email, calendar and collaboration server. With the most innovative web application available today, Zimbra boosts the productivity of users on any desktop and dramatically reduces TCO compared to legacy platform vendors.
http://www.zentyal.org/
Linux Small Business Server
Zentyal can act as a Gateway, Infrastructure Manager, Unified Threat Manager, Office Server, Unified Communication Server or a combination of them. One single, easy-to-use platform to manage all your network services.
www.clearfoundation.com (Susan Bradley is looking at this)
What is ClearOS?
ClearOS is a cloud-connected Server, Network, and Gateway operating system for small and distributed organizations. You can think of it as next generation small business server with a Marketplace full of easy to install apps.
http://www.zarafa.com/
The number one MS Exchange replacement
http://www.kerio.com/
Cross platform email, calendars and contacts for the mobile workforce
www.suse.com/.../evolution.html
Novell Evolution is the most widely used Linux collaboration software in the world
The Windows Server 2012 Essentials FAQ dicates "If you have Software Assurance on Small Business Server 2011 Standard edition, you will receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license and one Exchange Server Standard 2010 license."
Microsoft should at least include Windows Server 2010 Essentials as well. This leaves the customer having to pruchase it and then asking the partner "I thought I'm entitled to free upgrades because I pruchased Software Assurance?"