Possibly the single biggest change in the last 6 months is our Microsoft Licensing has been revoked.
I won't get too specific because I don't know how much I should be public about.
We had many donated licenses from Microsoft for windows, office, exchange, etc.
Donated = 100% free.
This year Microsoft asked us to roll out one of their key management servers and we said we simply couldn't do it.
As a result (again generalizing) they decided in our new contract, that all donated licenses were now expired.
Typically Microsoft grandfathers in existing systems that have been on donated licenses.
To me that is unheard of.
I mean you can say 'all future licenses are going to cost you X dollars'.
But to say 'everything we've donated to you in the past is now illegal' is in my opinion ridiculous.
It comes down to a discrepency in the original contract for the program. The catalyst was our refusal to use the key management server, and so suddenly the wording of the contract came into question.
As a result, since we can NOT move to opensource very quickly, (will take 3-5 years to totally migrate because of the remoteness of our user base), we are pretty much forced to comply.
This will cost us $70,000.
$70,000 to legalize what was legal 3 months ago. $70,000 to make legal what should be still legal.
I know that Microsoft tried this in some school districts and the schools took the issue to the press, and Microsoft relented.
I think that with a little pressure they would relent on this issue only it is not within our power or even within our style to cause such pressure.
I don't want to toss any fuel on the fire of these platform holy wars, but I thought it worth mentioning.
The good news is that we are still able to get discounts on Microsoft items, we simple aren't getting them for free any longer.
Personally, I have NEVER worked for an organization so conscious about being properly licensed and legal. In fact this entire debacle occurred because we approached Microsoft with our licensing donation program agreement over the wording of the contract because we felt it was the honest thing to do under their new licensing structure.
I have worked for multi-million dollar companies that were much further out of compliance in Microsoft licensing than we are. I've worked for big companies that have no license management program whatsoever... whereas we keep meticulous records and guard the giving out of licenses closely.
All this to say...
Today I was asked if I wanted to 'purchase a plastic bag'. I had done shopping and they would not give me a bag, they were going to make me buy it. So I refused, and walked off with the stuff in my hands.
What used to be free is no longer free.
I'm thinking in a few years, the freedom that comes in Christ will be the key message preached more than the Love of Christ.
It is a free gift. Those are becoming more and more rare these days.
