Microsoft has decreed that starting Dec. 1, it will raise the price of user client-access licenses (CALs) for enterprise customers by 15% for those companies that allow it’s employees to bring your own device (BYOD). CALs are attached to Microsoft’s cash cow applications, most notably Exchange.
What this means for most companies who have embraced a BYOD strategy is that they will end up paying more money to Microsoft for the ‘privilege’ of being able to access these systems from multiple devices.
I’m sure Microsoft sees this as using it’s hammer (Exchange) to stop the rising tide of consumer devices like the iPad that are being brought in to enterprise environments. I have to wonder if this will their customers look elsewhere. After all, companies are embracing BYOD strategies in order to save money and increase productivity. If Microsoft thinks that they can increase the price of their products by 15% and customers won’t look for other options, they are mistaken.
This move strikes me as a rather desperate attempt to keep customers on the Microsoft plantation, and milk them for more money if they should dare to embrace non Microsoft devices in the enterprise. These are defensive moves that tend to hurt a company more than it helps. Time will tell if the genie is too far out of the bottle, or if Microsoft can use this tactic to slow the adoption of non-Microsoft tablets in the enterprise.