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" rather than the physical processors.
This example is not to debate the technical advantages or disadvantages of that particular upgrade, but rather to point out a potential pitfall in failing to review the terms of any relevant agreements concerning any upgrade.
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