Installing licence - is new server software required?

[lpartovi]

Hi,

A bit of background: I am a taking over administering a Zimbra NE server (Release 6.0.6_GA_2324.RHEL5_64_20100406133038 CentOS5_64 NETWORK edition.)

Our license is due to expire in 1 month so looking at all the problems other people have had with licensing at short notice I am trying to do this now to avoid any delays.

At the moment we have ZCS NE installed with standard license. The primary reason for having NE is to use the outlook connector - something now it looks like the new VMWare Service Provider Partnership (VSPP) licensing scheme means you have to have a Professional license for.

My primary objective: to upgrade to the new license for Professional version with as little downtime as possible.

What I don't understand is - the new licensing you just purchase points, e.g. VSPP-360 - 360 points to use however you like. The Zimbra Server Download for Network Edition does not stipulate Standard or Professonal, so I assume the server install is the same and the functionality depends on the license.

Questions:

Is the new VMware license type compatible with my current version of NE?

At what point is the Standard or Professional setting for NE specified when importing this new VSPP-360 license?

Is an upgrade to VMWare ZCS NE v7 required to accommodate the new type of licensing to choose between standard/professional in NE?

I'm sorry to ask questions that are bordering on sales, but I would really like an answer from a sysadmin who knows what works in practice.