Hi
We have an internal development environment with SQL Server 2014 - It is used to develop and test new data features and is not used or view able to any one outside the development/QA team. Once the data has been approved by the QA team it gets backed up and then the backup file is restored in to a totally separate production environment.
It seems we have to have full SQL Server licences for both environments - consequently we are not able to upgrade to the latest SQL server versions because of the costs of licensing the two environments.
Is this approach correct or is it an over zealous approach to the licencing requirements?
If this is the right licensing approach then it is very frustrating that we can not able to move forward and upgrade to the latest & greatest versions (because of the cost of licensing 2 separate environments) and regrettably we will almost certainly have to look to ditch SQL Server and use an alternative database.
Many thanks
Chris