Ever notice how cheap the Microsoft Small Business family of products are, compared to the full-blown licenses for the same software?  I often use the less-than-PC example of the Crack Cocaine Dealer who provides the first hit free to reel you in, then once you are hooked, you pay full price.  The CRM SBE is no exception - it's got a great price-point when compared to the Professional Edition, and has exactly the same features.

So why wouldn't everyone use the Small Business Plaform?  Well there are some restrictions in terms of when a Small Business Server can be used within an organization.  You can read the full article here, but the main two reasons are:

• a Small Business server cannot join an existing domain (this means that your SBS server basically has to be your first nwetwork-based server within your organization.  This is perfect for start-ups or companies that are building an infrastructure from scratch.
• 75-user maximum - again, great for start-ups, not going to fly in larger-scale organizations.

If you do determine that an SBS platform is a good fit with your infrastructure, then you can probably use the CRM SBE. Below is a quick summary about what is allowed regarding the installation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Small Business Edition on a Small Business Server 2003:

1.     Microsoft CRM 3.0 SBE can be installed on a SBS 2003 Premium server (all in one box)

2.     Microsoft CRM 3.0 SBE can be installed on a SBS 2003 Standard server + SQL Server (all in one box)

3.     Microsoft CRM 3.0 SBE can be installed on a SBS 2003 server, with a standalone SQL server that is not part of the SBS server (however, this requires separate regular SQL license to be purchased)

4.     Microsoft CRM 3.0 SBE CANNOT be installed on a server that is NOT a SBS 2003 server

Hope this information was helpful.  Just remember it's easy to get hooked!

Dave