Microsoft Kills Windows Essential Business Server

Microsoft plans to discontinue its mid-market server line come mid-2010. The company announced that Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) would be the sole victim of its decision, and that, for this specific Windows Server flavor, all future development would be discontinued completely as of June 30th, 2010. The Redmond company explained that the decision to kill off the infrastructure solution designed specifically for midsize businesses was catalyzed by the evolution of mid-market customers. The Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) was kicked off four years ago, and the changes in the market landscape have made Microsoft decide to kill the offering. The Redmond company did not detail the actual success of EBS in terms of uptake, but it is believed that poor sales are responsible for sacking the project.

“Since the launch of EBS, several changes have occurred that drove our decision to streamline our server product portfolio. First, midsize businesses are rapidly turning to technologies such as management, virtualization and cloud computing as a means to cut costs, improve efficiency, and increase competitiveness. Those capabilities are already available through other offerings, including Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft System Center and the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS),” a member of the Windows Essential Business Server Team stated.

At the same time, the Redmond company attempted to assure mid-size customers that it was still committed to this market segment. First of all, the decision to discontinue Windows EBS will not have an impact on other Windows Server offerings including Windows Small Business Server, Windows Home Server and Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. In addition, the software giant has put together a special offer for customers that have already adopted Windows Essential Business Server.

“Microsoft remains fully committed to small and medium-sized businesses. We recognize that ending future editions of EBS could result in additional cost and complexity for our EBS customers. Therefore, we are going to provide a limited offer for all EBS 2008 customers. Beginning on June 30, 2010 through December 31, 2010, current EBS 2008 customers can get the individual component software from the EBS 2008 suite for free (local taxes, shipping and handling charges may apply),” the Windows Essential Business Server Team representative added.