Organizations considering whether to upgrade to the latest
software versions sometimes fail to take into account one important
component–license terms. It is not uncommon for
companies to invest several months in testing interfaces,
interoperability, and regression to ensure the new version will
work. They may even ensure they have the appropriate licensing for
installing and running the newer version, but an often ignored area
is the actual license terms.
A new version of the product may include a new set of terms and
conditions that could affect various aspects of use or cost.
For example, in a Microsoft Service Provider License
Agreement ("SPLA") environment, customers using SQL
Server 2008 were accustomed to licensing the product based on only
the number of physical processors (in a per-processor licensing
situation). When SQL 2012 was released, the licensing requirements
under the SPLA Service Provider Use Rights required that a licensee
license each "core"
