Update 2011: Q&A: SharePoint Licensing Complexities

Microsoft's SharePoint has been a runaway success with many companies: so much so, that it tests the mettle of infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals who are charged with building and running it. But there's one aspect that trips up everyone: planning for licensing requirements. It's not just SharePoint itself that can give you heartburn. It carries dependencies across other Microsoft products like Windows Server, SQL Server, and Office that can impact feature access as well as licensing compliance. The recent release of SharePoint 2010 adds many new features but also carries with it some new licensing twists. Broader virtualization and SQL consolidation efforts can play a role in SharePoint licensing decisions. To ensure the most economical approach for your organization, you should weigh not only who will be using SharePoint but how it will be deployed. This document explores the top seven questions and answers to help I&O execs quell SharePoint licensing heartburn. It's an update of the original document we published on this topic in November 2008.