UK IT chiefs have slammed Microsoft over the cost of signing up to the Software Assurance (SA) licensing model, and accused the Redmond giant of wanting to "have its cake and eat it and charge customers to watch".
In the biggest shake-up of the subscription-based SA in the four years it has been running, Microsoft has added technical support, training, desktop deployment planning services and other side benefits in an attempt to placate angry customers.
One IT director who did not wish to be named simply said open source "looks more and more tempting".
But UK CIOs and IT directors have rounded on Microsoft, saying the changes do not address root problems with the scheme.
