Team System Pricing & Licensing

The big news for Team System today is the announcement of the much-awaited pricing and licensing details. Adding the Express and Team Editions to the Visual Studio product line includes a restructuring of MSDN subscription options. One surprise is that the pricing for Visual Studio Professional Edition is actually going down.

Microsoft Details Pricing and Licensing for Visual Studio 2005 and Simplifies Microsoft Developer Network Subscriptions

“Microsoft Corp. today detailed pricing and licensing terms for Visual Studio® 2005, its comprehensive application development tool set, as well as simplification of its Microsoft® Developer Network (MSDN®) subscriptions, the primary vehicle through which most developers obtain Visual Studio. Microsoft will reduce the estimated retail price1 of Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition while offering special pricing to existing MSDN subscribers for Visual Studio 2005 Team System, the expansion of the Visual Studio product line to include integrated software life-cycle tools. In addition, current Visual Studio users will be eligible for promotional pricing to acquire MSDN subscriptions now, in preparation for Visual Studio 2005, expected in the second half of calendar year 2005. This will enable more developers to take advantage of the productivity, security enhancements and improved deployment capabilities of the .NET Framework.”

1 Pricing given is estimated retail pricing; reseller prices may vary. All prices given are in U.S. dollars.

“With the addition of Visual Studio Team System, Microsoft expands the definition and audience reach of the Visual Studio product line beyond developers to development teams, adding new tools for project managers, software testers, infrastructure and software architects, and IT business decision-makers. The Team System also offers new advanced features for software developers. With tightly integrated application design, development and quality tools, as well as a customizable software process methodology, Team System offers development teams the tools and processes that will help them increase the predictability of successful projects, gain greater organizational efficiency and lower overall development costs. Visual Studio Team System's role-based product line includes Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Architects, Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Developers and Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Testers. Also included in Visual Studio Team System is the Visual Studio Team Suite, which contains all three role-based products, and the new Visual Studio Team Foundation Server for more efficient team collaboration.”

Did you catch the new names?

  • Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite (includes all 3 role-based products below)
    • Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects
    • Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers
    • Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Testers
  • Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server
  • Visual Studio 2005 Team Test Load Agent (not mentioned, but FYI)

Are you an MSDN Universal Subscriber?

“Existing MSDN Universal subscribers can enjoy a seamless transition to Visual Studio 2005 Team System and automatically receive a no-cost upgrade to one of the role-based subscription products for each active subscription license they own at the time of product availability. Special upgrade pricing to the Team Suite also will be available. Active subscribers may elect to renew their subscription and preserve their existing pricing for future renewals, if they choose; customers without subscriptions, or customers whose subscriptions have lapsed at the time of product availability, will not receive these special pricing offers.”

S. "Soma" Somasegar, Developer Division VP, has a related Q&A:

Q&A: Early Look at Pricing, Licensing for Visual Studio 2005, Simplified MSDN Subscriptions

PressPass: How do you anticipate that Visual Studio Team System will help companies save money?

Somasegar: We think organizations that adopt Visual Studio Team System will see tremendous benefits not only in the ways in which their teams work together to deliver software, but also in their bottom line. Specifically, we see a number of areas where we expect this will be the case, including lower installation costs, lower operational and management costs, greater team efficiency ad productivity and more. Of course, we anticipate that our load-testing tools will also be much more cost effective than what's on the market today.

In addition, we will ship at least two comprehensive process methodologies with the product. By aligning your company around either one of the methodologies we will include in the product or on a methodology you create yourself, we believe you will see immediate and tangible results in overall team productivity and project predictability. This, in turn, should result in a bottom-line savings for most companies.

UPDATE 50321.1252

I forgot to include a link to this page: MSDN Subscriptions Road to Visual Studio 2005. If you’re an MSDN Subscriber, or you’re thinking of becoming one, this page will help you understand how to take advantage of a limited time offer to get Visual Studio 2005 at no additional cost.

UPDATE 50322.1126

Another important link – the FAQ.

UPDATE 50322.1347

If you’re interested in pricing, see this page: How to Buy Microsoft Developer Products. Team Foundation Server pricing was left off, but it should be fixed in just a bit.