Microsoft BizTalk 2013 to switch to a per-core licensing model

Microsoft's BizTalk 2013 enterprise-integration server is moving from a per-processor to a per-core licensing model.

The coming version of BizTalk -- which Microsoft made available to beta testers back in November 2012 -- also will be available on the company's April price list, as Rich Gibbons, Software Manager at European VAR Bechtle, noted earlier this week.

Multishoring.info, an IT consultancy based in Poland, posted more information about the coming BizTalk licensing changes on its site.

Customers who are planning to deploy the latest version of BizTalk on machines with processors above four cores may end up paying more. However, BizTalk 2010 customers who have Software Assurance don't need to do anything (in the short term, at least), as they have perpetual rights for the per-processor pricing, Multishoring.info noted on its site.

Microsoft also moved from a per-processor to per-core licensing model with SQL Server 2012 last year.

BizTalk Server 2013 adds support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. It also features tighter integration between on-premises BizTalk apps and the Windows Azure Service Bus and support for more industry certifications and standards.

As of 2011, according to Microsoft, there were more than 10,000 BizTalk Server customers using the product to integrate Microsoft's business processes with those from vendors including IBM, Oracle, Siebel, and others. 

Microsoft officials have not said much about how the company plans to continue to update the BizTalk Server product line, moving forward.

Update (March 22): Microsoft released to manufacturing BizTalk Server 2013 on March 21. It is available for download on MSDN already, according to the post, which also confirms the per-core licensing model.

From the blog post by the team:

"BizTalk Server 2013 will be available for download on MSDN starting today. The English locale SKUs will be available for purchase starting April 2013. Other language SKUs will be available for purchase starting May 2013. Host Integration Server 2013 will ship at a later date, however, BizTalk Server 2013 is fully compatible with Host Integration Server 2010."