How can msdn licenses be used

To answer that question we need do some level setting. Microsoft Visual Studio is a world class software development tool which provides robust application lifecycle management ALM capabilities.

Yes, this is the toolset your developers will use to design and test your organizations custom software. Today, there are multiple versions of Visual Studio available, and yes, as you add features, it adds to the cost. To be fair, Ultimate offers significantly more capabilities over Professional. This article is not going to dive into the features of Visual Studio since that would be a book unto itself. The most important take-away here is Visual Studio is one of the most expensive user based products you will buy, and selecting the correct edition each developer requires is critical to cost management.

And we have now arrived at the core of this article. All of us are accustomed to purchasing software licenses for our Microsoft production systems.

We can license our non-production systems with the same licenses, but there is a more affordable option. And, you guessed it, that option is MSDN. Properly licensing your Microsoft non-production environment is easy once you understand the rules, and I am going to help get you started in the right direction. Before we go any further, you need to understand that MSDN is licensed by user only and not by any other means. These tools currently sit on a standard development server but we need to move them to a standalone server to stop them interfering with the real apps on there.

I don't believe they can but my boss disagrees. The only people who would have access to the actual servers would be licensed, however the web applications hosted on them would be used by all in the department so in my mind that makes them production machines.

I believe the use you're describing is ongoing access by people in the department who are not Licensed MSDN Subscribers, that type of usage would violate the licensing agreement.

MSDN is for active software development. One person can use the software to design, develop, test, or demonstrate his or her programs on any number of devices. Each person who uses the software this way needs a license. A production environment is defined as an environment that is accessed by end-users of an application such as an Internet Web site and that is used for purposes other than Acceptance Testing of that application.

Some other scenarios that constitute production environments include:. On-line professional development resources and forums where developers can interact with and provide mutual self-help for the wider Microsoft development community.

Image Credit Related articles:. What does it take to manage floating licenses? The Enterprise Strikes Back; Trading platform launched for buying and selling surplus licensing. ITAM industry news roundup - July Martin is also the founder of ITAM Forum, a not-for-profit trade body for the ITAM industry created to raise the profile of the profession and bring an organisational certification to market.

When not working, Martin likes to Ski, Hike, Motorbike and spend time with his young family. Connect with Martin on LinkedIn. I was thinking if I use a product key off MSDN, then that key is forever in use and no additional licenses can be installed.

My understanding is that you can use the software to support development work for your company, but not run production servers.

Using the software at home is probably a grey area. If it is on company owned equipment and supports your development goals then it sounds OK. If it is on your own equipment then it likely goes against the details of the EULA. You could always try calling Microsoft and asking. In short, no, you can't use any of the MSDN disks for production services at all. Dev and Test only. If you develop an app using them, then put it into production eg you develop a timesheet app for yourselves once it starts being used as a timesheet app, you need to buy full versions of everything it needs.

There's one more thing you need to consider. You need to buy a copy of the MSDN for each developer. Just because it says you can use up to 10 instances does not mean anyone else can otherwise I could use some of your licences, if you wouldn't mind :.

So if there's 3 devs in your team, you need to buy 3 MSDN licences. You also need to bear in mind that MSDN licences are recurring - we bought them on a 3 year select agreement, you might have different terms. We're being audited by MS at the moment.

Turns out developing for Windows can get very expensive :. Example: A developer with an MSDN subscription uses MSDN software at work during the day, but occasionally needs to develop at home as well, using a different computer.