So, the economy is bad and many companies now know all about it. Microsoft knows it as well, and they are launching a new program that is called BizSpark that offers recommended start-up companies the ability to use Microsoft server software free of charge.

You might notice that we used the word “recommended” and that is because beyond the fact that the start-up company has to have revenues less than $1 million dollars and have had to been in business less than three years, the start-up companies have to be recommended by a Microsoft for-profit, nonprofit, government, or academic partner to be considered for the program.

If your start-up company happens to be selected, the company will get access to a variety of products including Visual Studio, Windows Server, SQL Server, and Sharepoint, for starters. Companies that make the cut don’t necessarily have to be developing or using Microsoft products to qualify for the program. So, if selected you get to use the software for three years and then you have to bear the prevailing licensing cost thereafter.

All we can say is that it is an interesting idea that may or may not yield results for Microsoft. Software licensing costs are expensive for all companies, but especially start-up companies where money is normally pretty tight. It sounds like a good idea, but only time will tell.