When it comes time for a small business to take the plunge into the world of dedicated servers, one of the key deciding factors is price — especially given the current economic climate. Budgetary concerns often dictate which platforms and resources can be incorporated into a project, despite a developer’s comfort zone or personal preference. If you come from a background of doing .Net programming on a Windows 2008 server with SQL Server databases, having a CentOS budget could make the starting part of your startup pretty difficult. But now, there’s a solution.
To cut the cost factor out of the initial decision-making process for new software development companies, Microsoft started a program called BizSpark. BizSpark lowers the barrier to entry for many of Microsoft’s enterprise platforms and solutions like Visual Studio, BizTalk, SharePoint and Systems Center by providing eligible companies with free access to the software for up to three years.
Eligibility requirements, as outlined by Microsoft, are simple and direct. A company must be actively engaged in the development of a software-based product or service; the company must be privately held and in business for less than three years; and it must generate less than U.S. $1 million in annual revenue.
As we announced yesterday, The Planet joined Microsoft in the BizSpark program as a Hosting Partner, so we want to get the word out to everyone about this great opportunity. If you’ve got a qualifying company looking to control your costs while taking advantage of the Microsoft family of products, visit http://www.theplanet.com/bizspark to get details on how we can help you obtain an enterprise-level development platform in no time at all.
For additional information about the BizSpark program, check out Microsoft’s startup program guide. If you have questions about how the program can benefit your company, leave a comment here or get in touch with The Planet sales team, and we’ll get you an answer.
-Mark
