#Skype for business pricing upgrade
#Skype for business pricing software

If you own licensing for Lync Sever 2013 and you don’t have them covered with SA, then you will need to purchase new licenses of Skype for Business Server 2015 before you can upgrade.įor more information about the benefits of buying software assurance, check out my post, Should I Buy Software Assurance with My Microsoft Licenses? That said, if you had your Lync licenses covered with Software Assurance (SA), then you’re good to go! The FAQ page on the Skype for Business website confirms: “Current Lync Server customers with Software Assurance will have rights to deploy Skype for Business.” I have argued on this blog before that SA is more than just version upgrades, but today the “free” version upgrades of SA get the limelight. So, this really is just a new version of an existing product. Instead of calling this “Lync Server 2015,” Microsoft opted to rebrand the product as “Skype for Business Server 2015.” (Our poor engineers are going to have to get all their Lync certifications updated to Skype4B certs. … Three and a half years ago, Microsoft acquired Skype, so the new version of Lync integrates Skype features and connects Lync users with the Skype community.

#Skype for business pricing upgrade

However, this version upgrade comes with a twist. Just as we went from SQL Server 2012 to SQL Server 2014 last year, we have now passed from Lync Server 2013 to Lync Server 2015. In this post, we will focus on the on-premises solution.Īlthough you may get the impression from the media hype that Microsoft has whipped up something completely new, all that has happened is that we have moved from one version of the product to the next. You can buy subscription licenses to Skype for Business Online for either $2.00 or $5.50 per user per month, or you can purchase permanent licenses to Skype for Business Server 2015. A glance at Microsoft’s version comparison chart will show you that there are two ways to purchase a license of Skype for Business. To begin, let’s draw a line between the online version and the on-premises version of the product. In this post we’ll focus on the Skype for Business licensing issues. Daryl covered the technical issues last week. It has evolved into Skype for Business 2015.

See here for more information.Īs my illustrious comrade Daryl pointed out last week, Skype for Business is here! Lync 2013 is old news. However, remember that the price of many User CALs (including Skype for Business) will be going up on August 1.

There was no price increase for the server license or the CALs when the new version was released. Update: Good news! The pricing for Skype for Business Server 2015 is the same as it was for Lync Server 2013.