SCOM 2007 Licensing and Prices

I was just about to write a post saying that Microsoft did not mention licensing and prices at the MMS and there was nothing on the web site then I saw Stefan’s post (congratulations to Stefan on becoming an MVP) and now Microsoft has put up the information at http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/opsmgr/howtobuy/default.mspx.

The two areas I was particulary interested in was
       Client prices – would they be reasonable?
       Virtualisation – would the same (generous) terms be used?

I am glad to say that there is a client license and it is only $32 which is before volume discounts are applied. This is for the agent to fully monitor the client using OM and/or ACS. If you are using Agentless Exception Monitoring (AEM) to monitor Dr Watson type errors there is no charge.

The web page does not specifically call out the virtualisation like the FAQ for MOM 2005 did but simply says that you need an Operations Management License (OML) for each managed device. In 2005 a device was the hardware. So if you were running Virtual Server OR VMWare (Microsoft did not specifically mention it but it was true) you would buy one OML for the box and that covered it for as many agents as there was Virtual Machines running Windows. It would be nice to get that clarified- especially as virtualisation is becoming more prevalent.

Stefan has interpreted the Client OML to mean that you have to pay $32 for each SNMP device. Well in MOM 2005 you only paid a license if you were actively managing the device. If the device sent SNMP traps to MOM then that was considered passive and no license was needed. It would be nice to get clarification on this one as well. Especially in the light of the EMC Smarts announcement made at MMS. And if each device does require an Client OML how will that affect JalaSoft and eXc Software?

All prices

Operations Manager Server 2007     $573 U.S.
(This is the licence for the management servers)

Operations Manager Server 2007 with SQL Server Technology    $1,307 U.S.
(This is the licence for the management servers but also a license for SQL 2005 Standard. There is no processor or CALs to worry about but you can only use this copy of SQL for OM. On the web site there is a deal to get 30% off buying SQL, Std or Ent, with OM)
Traditionally you only use this license for the management servers and not the servers running the OM databases if they are separate. You need an Enterprise OML for those servers. There is nothing on the we site that says that this version is different.

Enterprise OML       $426 U.S.
(This is the agent license needed for OM or ACS on servers where you are monitoring SQL, Exchange etc)
Standard OML          $155 U.S
(This license was introducing during MOM 2005 and covers an agent that does Windows, File and Print and Networking. It also covers ACS)
Client OML                $32 U.S.

There is a link here that explains the differences between the OMLs and specifically what qualifies for the cheaper Standard OML. http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/opsmgr/howtobuy/opsmgrstdoml.mspx

This reads, in my opinion, that if you only use ACS and not the OM functionality you would only need the Standard OML even if the server is running an application.

The prices are lower than MOM 2005 ($729 for the server and £539 for the OML) but with a lot more functionality so that is a good deal. And all these prices are before discounts.

There is no Workgroup Edition like 2005 as that is being replaced by System Center Essentials.

Additionally if you have a volume license agreement then you can get the Standard OML as part of the System Center Server Management License (“SML”) which also includes SMS and System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM). There will be an Enterprise edition of the SML but at the end of the year when System Center Configuration Manager is released and will include the Enterprise versions of the OML and Data Protection Manager Management License, as well as the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Server Management License, and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007.

A bit of a long post but that is Microsoft Licensing for you. But I do like the new client license which will be useful for monitoring ATM and POS machines and the fact that 2007 is cheaper than 2005 is a good deal.

• Posted in: System Center Operations Manager 2007