BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5 Version Upgrade Fulfillment Plan

ID: Q216068

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server versions 4.0, 4.0a, 4.5

SUMMARY

All Small Business Server (SBS) 4.0 and 4.0a customers are eligible to upgrade to SBS 4.5, free of charge. This offer is available through fulfillment only. Proof of Purchase and Shipping and Handling are required. This SKU delivers the latest product and technology updates. For questions regarding Y2K compliance, please refer to the Year 2000 Resource Center at:

http://www.microsoft.com/y2k/

MORE INFORMATION

This SKU will not be stocked at distributors or at retail. The only means by which a customer can obtain this SKU is to send in Proof of Purchase plus Shipping and Handling to the fulfillment facility in his or her region.

Customers that want to obtain the Value Upgrade can call 1-888-296-6588. After validation of Proof of Purchase, the customer will receive the free version upgrade within *2-3 days in most areas.

*NOTE: Some Rest of World (ROW) customers will be directed to their subsidiaries for fulfillment. It may take 6-8 weeks in some countries for customers to receive the product. Countries that are unable to charge Shipping and Handling, or that do not have a fulfillment mechanism in place, will be identified and procedures will be established by regional owners on a one-off basis.

Customers are required to provide the following information and proof of purchase along with shipping and handling for each unit requested. Regional owners may choose to create a Web form including the following information that customers can print, fill out, and mail in with proofs of purchase.

Customer information includes:

Full name
Company name if applicable
Title (VAR, VAP, ISP, Business Owner, and so on)
Home or business mailing address (no P.O. Boxes)
Phone number
Number of Version Upgrade SKUs requested

Proof of Purchase required:

An original or photocopy of dated sales receipt. The number of units purchased should be clear for those requests of more than one version upgrade. And one of the following must be included:

SBS 4.0 manual cover
SBS 4.0 Retail box top with SKU number visible
SBS 4.0 Frontliner

Customer Incentives:

This is the only upgrade path from SBS 4.0 to SBS 4.5. It also allows customers to receive the latest server product updates and technology available today.

For questions regarding Y2K compliance, please refer to the Year 2000 Resource Center at:

http://www.microsoft.com/y2k/

Program Longevity:

This program is scheduled to continue for 6 months past the release of SBS 4.5 in each region. Some SBS 4.0 customers may not be aware that this Version Upgrade is the only upgrade path to SBS 4.5. If SBS 4.0 customers purchase an SBS 4.5 Version Upgrade, they will find that they must first install the 4.5 VUP. This is why the offer is being extending past the SBS 4.5 RTM and why communication of the customer incentives is very important. (It is possible that the offer will be prolonged based on demand.)

Qualifying Products:

SBS 4.0 5 cal FPP
SBS 4.0 25 cal FPP
SBS 4.0 5 cal C/PUP
SBS 4.0 5 cal AE
SBS 4.0 25 cal AE
SBE 4.0/Office Pro 97 5 cal FPP
SBE 4.0/Office Pro 97 5 cal C/PUP (NA only)

NOTE: There is no SBS/Office Pro Bundle VUP for 4.5. SBS 4.0 customer upgrades are for Server only. Upgrades to Office 2000 Pro should be done through OPEN licensing or a separate purchase of Office 2000 retail.

NOTE: This upgrade does not work if you are using the Not For Resale version of SBS or SBS on an Alpha computer.

Microsoft recommends that before you upgrade, you back up the existing SBS server, including the registry. Microsoft also recommends that you create an Emergency Repair Disk before you upgrade.

To install the SBS 4.5 Version Upgrade, you must have either SBS 4.0 or 4.0a installed on your computer.

Additional query words: smallbiz vup

Keywords : SBS
Version : winnt:4.0,4.0a,4.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo