Paying too Much for SQL?

Are you still running SQL 2014?

What about SQL 2012?

Wow… 2008?

Don't lie, we know the answer.  From the past year of analyzing SPLA environments, over 50% of SQL deployments are still running on SQL 2008.  Hey 1975 called, they want their SQL back!

Last November, Microsoft announced a significant “feature upgrade” to non-Enterprise SQL editions with the release of SQL 2016 SP1.

Here’s the official announcement from Microsoft: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlreleaseservices/sql-server-2016-service-pack-1-sp1-released/

What does this mean?  This means that by upgrading to SQL 2016, some features that were only available in the Enterprise edition are now available in Standard and lower editions.

Are you taking advantage?  You can downgrade to Standard and save 74% on your SPLA SQL license costs.  If you only require Web or Express based on the new upgrade, then the savings really add up.  Web is 98% cheaper than Enterprise.  If you only need Express, then you won't need your scientific calculator anymore. No counting required, it's free to use in SPLA, and you don't have to report it.

Look at all of these features now available in non-Enterprise SQL Editions with the release of SQL 2016 SP1.

Please be advised, the scale and high availability limits remain the same as previous versions of SQL Server.   If you really want to nerd out, read through this Microsoft article for more information relating to the supported features and limits of different SQL Server 2016 editions.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/editions-and-components-of-sql-server-2016

In addition, if you downgrade to SQL Standard 2016, you now have the ability to license your SQL installs by user SAL (subscriber access license), which may provide additional savings. Remember with Enterprise you can only license per Core in the SPLA program.

Now if this is all too confusing, and you need help managing your SQL reporting, contact Altaris Cloud to discuss the many ways we can help you save and manage your SPLA licensing.

Be SPLAwesome!