Windows 7 hiding slick corporate features behind Software Assurance tollgate

Corporations that want to plug into the slickest enterprise features in Windows 7 will have to forgo any financial aversion to Microsoft's Software Assurance maintenance program and likely upgrade their back-end infrastructures, a scenario that some say might alter adoption patterns.

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Microsoft has been touting Windows 7 features such as Branch Cache and Direct Access to corporations, and the vendor has loaded those features into Enterprise, the version of the client OS for volume licensing customers.

But to get Enterprise, users will have to purchase Software Assurance (SA), which is included with Microsoft volume licensing's open value and enterprise agreements. And users will have to be running Windows Server 2008 R2, an upgrade that could be piecemeal and focused on just supporting Branch Cache and Direct Access.

"By hiding so many features behind SA, Microsoft could reduce the utility of the Windows 7 upgrade for many customers," says Paul DeGroot, an analyst for independent consulting firm Directions of Microsoft. "I think the state of the economy could play a factor here."

SA is a maintenance and tools package that's priced at 29% of the actual desktop OS license. SA contracts can include access to training, Web support and consulting. They also can include the wildly popular Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), which provides application virtualization and desktop management tools. MDOP also includes needed tools to more effectively deploy Windows XP mode in Windows 7.

MDOP 2009 R2 was made available on Monday in time for the Windows 7 launch.

DeGroot wonders if in a down economy, the extra expense of the SA requirement could influence adoption patterns. 

"Customers are less likely to buy SA on the OS than they are on Office or client access licenses," DeGroot says. "Part of the reason for Microsoft hiding these features behind SA is precisely to counter that. A lot of customers are not buying SA on the OS and we know the reason -- which was they bought it with Vista and never got an upgrade and it was a lot of money down the drain. So they don't want to do it again with Windows 7."

SA includes rights to upgrade to the next version of the product it covers, but it is not a guarantee new products will be available within the life of the contract. The upgrade rights, however, have become an expectation for many customers.

Microsoft said in an e-mail statement that all customers who have SA active as of Aug.7, 2009, have rights to Windows 7 Enterprise. In addition, the company said customers that bought the three-year SA agreements starting in September 2006 have had access rights to both Windows Vista and Windows 7.

"Branch Cache and Direct Access could be valuable to the global enterprise," DeGroot says. "But Microsoft's licensing policies could reduce the uptake of certain enterprise-friendly technologies that require additional licensing costs."

DirectAccess is a mobile access technology that is a VPN replacement. Branch Cache helps save network bandwidth and improve performance by putting data closer to users in branch offices.