Windows Server 2012–A Win-Win Conversation

Kathleen Molosky 2013                                                                                                      

Kathleen Molosky  

  

During a recent partner call the question was raised as to how to justify the upcoming price increase for Server 2012 R2 Data Center edition? First and foremost we can point to the 2012 R2 release’s cloud first design fully tested in the cloud throughout the development process. Windows Server 2012 R2 will allow our customers to confidently take the next step in their IT evolution.

To address concerns your customers may raise related to the planned price increase review the following list of enhancements provided with Windows Server 2012 R2 Data Center. 

  • Storage tiering based on usage resulting in increased storage performance and ultimate cost savings.
  • Software defined networking via a new inbox gateway providing the ability to extend connectivity to physical and virtual networks via the internet.
  • Virtualization enhancements providing a no downtime method to migrate your existing Windows Server 2012 virtualized machines to Windows Server 2012 R2 as long as in the same processor family. In addition, the migration is much faster thanks to compression and NIC process offloading.
  • A consistent user experience when accessing applications and data across devices while maintaining control via policy based settings. 
  • The ability to utilize a single identity per user for access to applications across both on-premises and the cloud.

Keep in mind this is not intended to be a complete list, but will give you some key points to help kick off a good discussion that can result in a win-win conversation. For details see Brad Anderson’s Server and Cloud Blog.