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Licensing Sharepoint Online – Migration Guide

Licensing, Open Licensing, SharePoint, Tips

What Are CAL’s for SharePoint?

SharePoint is a free add on to Windows Server 2003/2008/2011 OS which supports extranet, intranet, and Internet applications from any single, integrated platform. As such, accessing SharePoint is bound by Microsoft Server licensing for the server it’s installed on. If you’ve a server in the business then you’ll probably have all the required CALs (Client Access Licenses) for your staff to access the Windows server – and by definition, SharePoint CALs. You may, however, need to consider external, remote and or mobile staff who may not have a SharePoint CAL to the server but due to SharePoint’s simple remote access features will begin to connect and use the Windows server infrastructure.

Sharepoint online cloud

When purchasing a Microsoft SharePoint Portal server (or other Microsoft servers like SQL, Exchange, Windows, Windows Terminal or Systems Management), a license is needed for each copy of the installed server software. Besides, a SharePoint CAL (client access license) is needed, for the same Microsoft server version, for each device or user (or combination of both) which uses or accesses the server software. The only time you don’t need a SharePoint CAL is if:

  • Access is to a server that runs Windows Server 2003 Web Edition
  • Access is through the Internet and is unauthenticated
  • Use or access is by an external user and instead of CALs, External Connector licenses are acquired.

With the release of the Windows 2003 Servers, there’re now 2 types of SharePoint CALs available, a user-based and a device-based CAL. This means you can acquire a Microsoft CAL for every named-user accessing your Windows servers (from any device), or you can acquire a Microsoft CAL for every device (utilized by any user) accessing your Windows servers. Although both device CALs and user CALs are available under the Select agreement, only device CALs are available under the Microsoft Campus agreement. A Microsoft SharePoint Server Enterprise (MSSE) user CAL can be used only in conjunction with a Microsoft SharePoint Server Standard (MSSS) user CAL. It authorizes the user to access extra features in Microsoft SharePoint-Server from any device (for instance, when a staff accesses the server from a PC at work and another at home).

For specific questions around Sharepoint licensing, contact our experts here.