Microsoft’s Small Business Server (SBS) has a new little brother. It’s called Windows Server Foundation, and it targets small businesses with up to 15 users. Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM have already vowed to support the operating system. Here’s why Microsoft launched Windows Server Foundation, and here’s where it may fit into a VAR’s business strategy.
Simply put, Windows Server Foundation is a smart, pro-active move by Microsoft to mitigate potential competitive threats from open source and Linux small business servers.
Does the product actually work? The VAR Guy will leave that to channel partners to decide. But Microsoft does have a good history with small business products.
SBS remains the dominant server brand and application platform in the small business IT channel. But over time, low-cost Linux server appliances — coupled with falling hardware prices — could undercut SBS in some markets.
As one Microsoft employee told blogger Mary Jo Foley: “If you have a $700 server, you can’t have the OS be $300 worth of that.” Well said.
New Product, Old Market
Enter Windows Server Foundation. It is:
“initially available in 40 countries and will provide small business customers with the ability to run business applications and databases, host Web sites, and provide basic server functionality such as file and print sharing and remote access.”
Sounds interesting. And Windows Server 2008 Foundation will be sold preinstalled on servers from such companies as Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.
The VAR Guy is hardly surprised. Say what you want about the growing open source movement. But in small business, Microsoft remains a safe bet for the IT channel and server makers alike.
Still, the biggest threat to Windows Server Foundation may not be Linux. Instead, it’s likely SaaS (software as a service) options for email, database, CRM and other applications.
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The VAR Guy traded email with the SBS Diva, one of the best known bloggers tracking Small Business Server. Her thoughts on Windows Server Foundation:
“Certainly the price tag of SBS 2008 and it’s requirements due to Exchange has raised the bar on the hardware price tag. There needed to be something between Home Server and SBS. And I also see it as a cheaper server SKU to give those wanting to have a cheap server a base to start with. There’s certainly a hole in the sku line up that is being filled here. In that sub 15, if the firm isn’t the paranoid type that need the server onsite, there is still the need for something local and then parts of the productivity stack are in the cloud.
Haven’t tested it and honestly pushing the MS folks to ensure that some partner/non journalist gets their hands on it for a real evaluation.”
Var Guy
This is an awesome product release for Microsoft in my opinion. They have definitely missed the boat in competing with the Open Source world and they have the home court advantage as far as I am concerned.
This is a great fit for a small business who wants a simple solution without the complexities that even SBS has to offer. We are seeing a major movement towards online services and Bulletproof even offers hosted services to our clients who fit this way of doing business.
Foundation Server will fill the gap of “what to do with all the business data and line of business applications”. It is impossible for a business to go totally online and Foundation Server now allows them local storage, remote desktop services like Terminal Server, security thru Active Directory plus other services missing in a peer to peer and 100% cloud based service.
Congrats to Microsoft for seeing the light on what was missing.
Cheers
Stuart Crawford
Your IT Success Mentor
Bulletproof InfoTech
http://www.bulletproofit.ca
Interesting product. WSF supports up to 15 users. Only pay for what you need. What if I grow my business just a bit want to have 16 or 17 users? The WSF solution and investment do not scale. You hit the dead end–fork out more $$, change products, migrate to SBS, new hardware upgrades etc… Then there is that end-of-life thing where you no longer get support and have no where to turn except your wallet again for the next Windows based solution ($$). Oh and what about those third party add-ons, such as firewall, scanners, and other what-not products that are required to make the WSF actually useful? That entry-level “cheap” WSF server solution can get expensive quickly.
Now consider an investment in a Linux solution. How many users do you want to support? Up to 15? No problem. How about 150 or more? …still no problem. You can leverage your original investment quite comfortably because it truly does scale to whatever the hardware can handle. There are no artificially imposed tiers with Linux. The GPL wins because it scales to meet business needs without resorting to draconian EULA restrictions. Infinitely scalable at zero license cost–now that is SMART for business. If you don’t believe me, just ask Google.
No thanks!
I’ll be sticking with up selling Debian / redhat installs for my Small business clients.
No doubt MS will be placing artificial restrictions on what this new server offering can do – I imagine only being able to run 3 programs at a time, crippled SQL database and no POP3 protocol in exchange or something similar.
Also iirc SBS4.5 was an absolute pig to setup correctly – and that’s about the time I lost interest in trying to provide a service based on SBS.
Now my clients are able to expand their IT structure with their business without the proprietary licensing restrictions, CAL juggling, Terminal server crippling, restrictive EULA’s, forced restarts of a server during the day because of a windows update. WGA snooping or random BSOD causing production downtime.
Small Business owners – Contract IT support agents that actually support your business – not that of MS.
I’ve Just telnetted into my first debian server that I setup for one of my Small Business Clients – Set up in 2002.
It has sat there doing its thing – day in day out, and has only been restarted 4 times in its life to do *planned* release upgrades.
It has a UPS (must check battery) and has NAS devices for the clients data that have been added as the company has grown in size.
I would never have to visit this client again, but I am on site at least one a month because I have to fix broken windows clients for one reason or another.
why bother with SBS, i use windows server 2003 SBS for this site http://www.christianassembly.com.au, so to convince me to use windows SBS again FORGET IT.
SBS includes so much services making the system runs slower and slower over time. windows SBS requires rebuilds over time, even the small company from time to time can’t afford this things to happen in their business
15 users i don’t know???? i might not even consider going over 10 users, server 2003 SBS said they can support, but it made the server hang so bad, so forget it. why would i spend money when i don’t have too.
so Linux is my option, i have windows for a long time since windows 3.1 to windows 2008
why bother with SBS, i use windows server 2003 SBS for this site http://www.christianassembly.com.au, so to convince me to use windows SBS again FORGET IT.
SBS includes so much services making the system runs slower and slower over time. windows SBS requires rebuilds over time, even the small company from time to time can’t afford this things to happen in their business
15 users i don’t know???? i might not even consider going over 10 users, server 2003 SBS said they can support, but it made the server hang so bad, so forget it. why would i spend money when i don’t have too.
so Linux is my option, i have windows for a long time since windows 3.1 to windows 2008
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
I think it’s comical how Microsoft puts stuff out to “combat” something like Linux, Open Source. They can’t even come close to the value or operational functionality.
What’s funnier still are the people that use Microsoft products anyway, regardless of the pain.
I have had some customers ask me about using server setups with Microsoft products. All I had to ask was: “Do you really want to go back to the Microsoft way of computing?”
And we have a good laugh and the moment of silly is over.
Folks .. wake up to what is really going on. This is Microsoft running scared of IBM’s new appliance caled “IBM Foundations.” http://www.ibm.com/lotus/foundations This is built on LINUX but it is a true appliance and the OS is actually on solid state. It does mail, calendar, web server, firewall, file server, includes Lotus Symphony (replace MS Office) and it is very inexpensive. I’m making more than double what I was making selling SBS as this thing is dirt cheap ($3400 list with all the hw and software) and it goes to 500 users! None of the switching over at 75 users and adding more hardware. The best part is that everything is remotely managed. There is not even a DVD or CD drive on it. And it will even run windows applications in a hypervisor. Here’s the real scoop.. if you pretend you are an IBM shareholder they’ll sell it to you at a 30% discount (They are running some type of a special)
Michael: The VAR Guy respectfully disagrees. Microsoft isn’t “running scared” in the small business server software market. They’re dominating that market but they do see/anticipate increased competition from Linux appliances.
Let’s all try to keep things in perspective. In the US, there are tens of thousands of VARs promoting/supporting Microsoft Small Business Server. The VAR Guy suspects there are a few hundred VARs promoting Linux servers to small business owners. And that market is highly fragmented because of all the different appliances and distributions.
Is there healthy competition in the market? Absolutely. Does Linux have growing momentum? Sure. But stating that Microsoft is “running scared” in a market they dominate is misleading.
Well, let’s say that Microsoft has good reasons to be concerned. Microsoft haven’t been giving their small business customers compelling reasons to upgrade in the past few years, and the recession is making businesses a lot more careful about how they spend their money.
I’m actually a big fan of SBS 2003 R2 (and a SBSC partner), but I don’t find SBS 2008 a compelling upgrade. Sure, I’ll sell it if a customer asks for it, but it’s not something I would recommend with the same enthusiasm as I did and do with SBS 2003 R2. The same thing is true for Vista and Office 2007 — I’ll sell them, but not recommend them over XP and Office 2003.
As for Linux? I’d definitely sell it if it was a good fit for the customer.
We are all going to have to get boned up on the new Windows SBS as most of our customers are running SBS 2003, but can you pass along a request VarGuy? The other day may daughter needed me to download a couple of girlie songs for her Zune. One was from Cobbie Collait (sp?) and Natasha Bedingfield (sp?). I paid $.79 each for the songs, no big deal. Today, I come home and I was humming Good Times, Bad Times from Led Zepplin. I went on youtube and all of the performances were of poor quality. So I went to Zune Marketplace to download the song and it was $.99. I wanted to also download Dazed and Confuzed, but I was tapped out. My daughter is taking the drums in grade school band and the intro to Good Times would be perfect for her to learn. Does Microsoft know there is a depression going on? Can you tell your contacts there to stop raising prices on the songs? Thanks.
I suggest you give Lotus Foundations another look. Most notably, I recommend reading http://www.bilal.ca/windows-server-foundation-is-less-than-i-expected-microsoft-watch/, even Computer World referenced it.
It’s just a Microsoft play to confuse the folks going for Linux based solutions, and mind you, after looking into it and trying out the free trial, I didn’t even need to type in one command.
I personally use redhat but for customers who don’t want to deal with IT headaches, I’ll look at Lotus Foundations before “Windows Server” Foundation.
Raymond: Thanks for the tip. The VAR Guy promises to give Lotus another look and report back later.