SBS R2 is an insult to the Small Business Community
I am not an MVP but as an SBS consultant and community leader I am as upset with the SBS R2 as Susan is. I have twice stood in front of groups presenting on Server R2 and SBS R2 and I still do not have a good response to 'If SBS R2 is only a collection of service packs and free installs that we have already charged them to install, won't we lose credibility by trying to justify the sale to our clients?'
In addition I find it maddening to field the constant question of 'will this feature or that feature from Server R2 be available in SBS R2?' and having to consistently say 'No, that is exclusive to the full server package.'
Microsoft has taken giant leaps forward to help its small business community over the past twenty-four months. I see the R2 debacle as a big step backwards. I see absolutely no value to paying for or suggesting any new release of SBS that is nothing more than a collection of previously available service packs and patches, and I challenge the good folks at Redmond to answer my challenge and to prove me wrong.
(This comment is a re-print of a comment made on arstechnica.com in response to an article written by Matt Mondok. To view the original article and thread of replies please visit the site at http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2006/2/20/2931).
CORRECTION BY AUTHOR: It has been brought to my attention that indeed there is one addition to SBS R2, that being SQL Server 2005 Workgroup edition. As well (and as I have stated in my lectures) the licensing is expanded to support external SQL and Exchange Servers. You can read about the features at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/r2/default.mspx