Following up its announcement earlier this week on licensing for its server applications, Microsoft today released pricing for Exchange 2000.
The messaging and collaboration server is scheduled to ship this summer and is currently in beta. While Microsoft is changing its other server applications to a per-processor licensing model, the company will continue to price Exchange with both a client access and server license.
The Exchange 2000 line includes three servers: Exchange 2000 Enterprise, Exchange 2000 Server and Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server. Each server will have its own licensing structure, but Exchange 2000 client access licenses (CAL) are good for access to all three.
Microsoft officials claim there will be only a small pricing change for existing Exchange customers, since more than half of them purchased Exchange CALs via an Enterprise Agreement, which allows free upgrades to Exchange 2000 CALs. Customers that are part of the Exchange or BackOffice CAL Upgrade Advantage program also will get a free CAL upgrade.
Enterprise Agreement and Upgrade Advantage customers, however, will not get a discounted server upgrade; they will have to pay the standard upgrade price. Customers without either plan can qualify for upgrade pricing on servers and CALs, according to Microsoft.
To date, Microsoft has sold more than 45 million seats of Exchange.
The entry-level volume pricing is as follows: The Exchange 2000 CAL will run $34 for the upgrade and $67 new. Exchange Server 2000 server license is $349 for the upgrade, $699 new. Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server licensing is $1,999 for the upgrade and $3,999 new. Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server is $3,999; it does not have an upgrade price because it is a new product.
By comparison, Exchange 5.5, the current version of the server, is priced at $2,129 for the Standard Edition with 25 CALs. Exchange 5.5 Enterprise Edition with 25 CALs is priced at $3,549.
Microsoft plans to offer deals to customers migrating from Lotus Notes/Domino, cc:Mail and other messaging products. The company also announced that customers purchasing Exchange 5.5 between June 15 and Aug. 30 of this year will receive a free upgrade to Exchange 2000 servers and CALs.
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