This informal video explains Visual Studio and MSDN licensing.

1. Visual Studio-MSDN
Licensing Demystified

2. Disclaimer
This video is intended for informal use to help you understand the current
(Dec 2008) licensing options.
Please consult the official Visual Studio website at
www.microsoft.com/visualstudio for the latest and most accurate info, or
contact either a Microsoft reseller or Microsoft Sales Professional.

3. The 3 Basics
There are 3 things to understand when
considering Visual Studio licensing options:

4. The 3 Basics
There are 3 things to understand when
considering Visual Studio licensing options:
#1 = the server
(Team Foundation Server = TFS)

5. The 3 Basics
There are 3 things to understand when
considering Visual Studio licensing options:
#2 = Clients
(Visual Studio clients)
#1 = Server

6. The 3 Basics
There are 3 things to understand when
considering Visual Studio licensing options:
#3 = Software Assurance
(MSDN)
#1 = Server #2 = Clients

7. The 3 Basics
There are 3 things to understand when
considering Visual Studio licensing options:
#1 = Server #2 = Clients #3 = MSDN

8. Now let’s quickly understand licensing via a
practical example.
Fictitious company FooBar’s IT staff consists of:
Developers = 8
Architects = 4
Testers = 4
Business Analysts = 6
Managers = 2

9. # 1 = Server (TFS)
FooBar likes the features in TFS and decides to buy it.
They need 1 License of TFS.
They can buy this with or without software assurance based on
their licensing agreement.
Each client that will access this server needs a CAL (Client Access
License) if they will be reading/writing to the server.
Some Visual Studio client products include this CAL – some don’t.
So let’s explore the Visual Studio clients now.

10. # 2 = Clients
FooBar decides to get each of their 8 developers, 4 testers and
4 architects a copy of Visual Studio Team Suite.
To do this they need a License of Visual Studio Team Suite for
each of the above individuals since 1 license only covers 1
individual.
So they order 8 + 4 + 4 = 16 Licenses.
They may have opted for either of the following as well:
4x Visual Studio Team System Team Suite +
4x Visual Studio Team System Development Edition +
4x Visual Studio Team System Test Edition +
4x Visual Studio Team System Architecture Edition
Or
16x Licenses of Visual Studio Professional
Or
Any combination of the above based on their needs.

11. Ok, what next?
Now that FooBar has the server license (1) and the Visual Studio client
licenses (16), let’s revisit the Server-CAL issue
(remember, you need a CAL to access TFS).
The following products include a CAL for TFS:
Visual Studio Team System clients
{Team Suite, Architecture edition, Development edition, Test edition,
Database edition}
Visual Studio Professional does not include a CAL.
Since FooBar is buying 16x Team Suite licenses they don’t need to buy
CALs for any of these 16 individuals.

12. What about the analysts & managers?
For those individuals who do not write code but need
access to TFS in order to collaborate with the rest of
the team, they can use Excel, Project or even Internet
Explorer in addition to several third-party tools.
They need a CAL for TFS if they want read/write access.
FooBar needs 8 TFS User CALs to cover the 6 Business
Analysts and 2 managers. Also, they can buy these
CALs with SA (software assurance).

13. Done yet?
Yes, done with the server & client licenses.
So let’s move to #3 – software assurance or
MSDN for Visual Studio.

14. #3 = MSDN
Each Visual Studio client (not server) can be purchased with
MSDN.
MSDN provides 2 benefits (among others):
1. It is the Software Assurance for the Visual Studio product
with which it is purchased.
2. It gives you access to several other Microsoft products &
services for development and testing purposes.
The next screen shows you the 2 types of MSDN subscriptions.

15. MSDN
Microsoft Developer Network
Software Assurance for Visual Studio
MSDN MSDN
Available
Professional Premium Available
with: Operating Systems Operating Systems with:
Visual Studio 2008 Visual Studio 2008
Professional Windows Server System Professional
Edition Microsoft SQL Server Edition
Microsoft Office 2007* Visual Studio 2008
MSDN Library MSDN Library Team System products
Technical Phone Support = 2 Technical Phone Support = 4
Secure Download Area Secure Download Area
Managed Newsgroups Managed Newsgroups
MSDN Online Concierge MSDN Online Concierge
Early Access to Betas/CTPs Early Access to Betas/CTPs

16. Here’s another look
“License” “Software Assurance”
Visual Studio Team Suite MSDN Premium
Visual Studio Team System
Architecture Edition
Visual Studio Team System
Development Edition
MSDN Premium
Visual Studio Team System
Test Edition
Visual Studio Team System
Database Edition
MSDN Premium
Visual Studio Professional
MSDN Professional

17. Final Picture of Options
Team Suite (L) with MSDN Premium
CAL
Team Included
Foundation
Server Architecture (L) Development (L) Test (L) DB (L)
(License + SA)
(with MSDN Premium)
VS Professional (L)
(with MSDN
Premium or Pro)
CAL not included
Excel/Project/
Other clients
L = License

18. Closing Remarks
Licensing is complicated and this self-service video is
intended to simplify things. Certain products
(like Test Load Agent, TFS Workgroup edition, TFS
Device CALs etc) were deliberately not included to
keep the discussion simple.
Please visit www.microsoft.com/visualstudio or contact
a Microsoft/Reseller Rep for clarifications and
purchases.

19. FooBar’s IT staff
lived happily ever after.
16x Visual Studio Team System Team Suite
(with MSDN Premium)
1x TFS with SA
8x TFS User CALs with SA
www.iwantVisualStudio.com