M – P

M

M365: Microsoft 365.

MAC: Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

MACC: Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment.

Machine Learning Server: Tools for analyzing data at scale, retired by Microsoft on July 1, 2022.

MAM: Mobile Application Management.

Managed Meeting Rooms: The precursor to the Microsoft Teams Rooms Premium license.

Management Group:  See Azure Management Group.

Marketing: See Dynamics 365 Marketing.

Marketplace: See Azure Marketplace.

MBC: Microsoft Business Center.

MCA: Microsoft Customer Agreement.

MCA-E: See Microsoft Customer Agreement for enterprise.

MCAS: Microsoft Cloud App Security. 

MDATP: Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection.

MDM: Mobile Device Management.

MDOP: Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

Meeting Room: The previous name of the Microsoft Teams Rooms Standard license.

MEM: Microsoft Endpoint Manager. 

Microsoft 365: A collection of productivity tools such as the Microsoft 365 Apps and SharePoint Online and Exchange Online.

Microsoft 365 Admin Center: A portal (https://admin.microsoft.com/) used to carry out a variety of administrative tasks such as setting up users, and then purchasing and assigning licenses to them, as well as managing billing activities, and carrying out tasks historically performed in the now retired VLSC portal.

Microsoft 365 Apps: The Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher apps, available as Microsoft 365 Apps for business and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise plans. Find out more about licensing Microsoft 365 Apps for business and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

Microsoft 365 Copilot: An Add-on license giving eligible users the rights to Microsoft 365 Copilot in a wide range of Microsoft apps. The license also includes rights to customize Microsoft 365 Copilot via Copilot Agents. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft 365 Copilot here.

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance: An AI assistant for finance professionals that connects to Dynamics 365 Finance and offers AI- based productivity gains in Outlook and Excel. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance here.  

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales: An Add-on license providing an AI assistant for salespeople that connects to a sales solution in order to bring AI-generated insights into productivity applications such as Outlook, Teams, and Word. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales here. 

Microsoft 365 Copilot for Service: An Add-on license providing an AI assistant that integrates with Dynamics 365 Customer Service or Salesforce and uses AI to help customer service agents work more efficiently by bringing AI-generated insights into productivity applications such as Outlook and Teams. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft 365 Copilot for Service here. 

Microsoft 365 E3 – Unattended license: A special license allowing a bot to run repetitive tasks in a Windows client or Office app without user intervention. Learn about Microsoft 365 E3 – Unattended licensing here.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise: A single license for a collection of products: Windows 11 Enterprise, Office 365 and EMS. Find out more about licensing Microsoft 365 Enterprise here.

Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC): A contractual commitment that a customer makes directly with Microsoft to spend a certain amount on Azure services over a particular term. Learn about the MACC in the EA and MCA-E.

Microsoft Business Center (MBC): The portal used by MPSA customers to manage their licenses, download software, access Volume License Keys, and to manage Software Assurance benefits.

Microsoft Cloud Agreement: The CSP precursor to the Microsoft Customer Agreement.

Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS): The previous name of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.

Microsoft Configuration Manager: See Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. 

Microsoft Copilot Pro: A license giving eligible users the rights to Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Learn about licensing Microsoft Copilot Pro here.

Microsoft Cost Management: A set of tools to help customers to gain visibility into their costs and optimize their spend on Azure services and Online Services.

Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA): A single licensing agreement governing a customer’s purchases. Learn more about the Microsoft Customer Agreement here.

Microsoft Customer Agreement for enterprise (MCA-E): A larger, more strategic customer signs the Microsoft Customer Agreement and buys direct from Microsoft. Learn about the basics and how to buy Azure services through the MCA-E.

Microsoft Defender: The family name for Microsoft’s security solutions. Learn about licensing the Microsoft Defender products here.

Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (MDATP): The previous name for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

Microsoft Defender ATP: Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps: A security solution to discover and manage which cloud apps users are using. Learn about licensing Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps here. 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: A security solution to protect endpoints such as laptops, phones, tablets, routers and firewalls. Learn about licensing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint here. 

Microsoft Defender for Identity: A product that helps security professionals manage identity risk and spot identity-based cyberattacks. Learn about licensing Microsoft Defender for Identity here. 

Microsoft Defender for Office 365:  A security product to protect email and collaboration tools (Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive) by, for example, scanning file attachments and checking links. Learn about licensing Defender for Office 365 here. 

Microsoft Designer: A graphic design and image editing app powered by AI. Learn about licensing Microsoft Designer here.

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP): A suite of desktop management tools. Learn about MDOP licensing here.

Microsoft Dev Box: A cloud-based workstation optimized for developers. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft Dev Box here.

Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN): A set of Microsoft resources for developers, now integrated into other sites such as Microsoft Learn.

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager: An IT management solution to manage PCs and servers. Learn about licensing Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager here.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager: A term used until October 2022 as the family name for Microsoft’s endpoint management solutions. 

Microsoft Entra: The family name for Microsoft’s unified identity and network access solutions. Learn about licensing Microsoft Entra here. 

Microsoft Entra ID: Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service, previously known as Azure Active Directory. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft Entra ID here.

Microsoft Entra ID Governance: An identity governance solution to help organizations strengthen security and more easily meet compliance and regulatory requirements. Learn about licensing Microsoft Entra ID Governance here.

Microsoft Entra Suite: A suite of tools that bring together identity and network access so that you can secure employee access to any cloud or on-premises application or resource from any location, whilst all the time enforcing least privileged access. Learn about the licensing of the Microsoft Entra Suite here. 

Microsoft Fabric: A platform that allows users to get, create, share, and visualize data using various tools. Power BI is now a component of Microsoft Fabric. Learn about licensing Power BI here.

Microsoft Flow: The previous name of Power Automate.

Microsoft Forms Pro: The previous name of Dynamics 365 Customer Voice.

Microsoft Graph: A slightly mysterious thing (an API) that provides access to data stored across Microsoft 365 services so that developers can build custom apps for an organization. Microsoft Graph grounds Microsoft 365 Copilot with an organization’s productivity data to improve the relevancy and depth of responses.

Microsoft Intune: The family name for Microsoft’s endpoint management solution combining Intune and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft Intune here.

Microsoft Online Subscription Agreement (MOSA): The original agreement for customers to purchase Online Services such as Office 365.

Microsoft Online Subscription Program (MOSP): The original program for customers to purchase Online Services such as Office 365, under the terms of MOSA. 

Microsoft Places: Technology based on Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot to help users have a better experience when working from the office.

Microsoft Planner: Microsoft’s basic work-management/project management app. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft Planner here.

Microsoft Priva: The family name for Microsoft’s privacy solutions. Learn about licensing Microsoft Priva here.

Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA): A licensing agreement aimed at the larger customer who has more than 250 users or devices. Learn about the basics of the MPSA, and how to buy on-premises products and the Online Services.

Microsoft Purview: Microsoft’s unified data governance and compliance and risk management solution. Learn about licensing Microsoft Purview here.

Microsoft R Server: The previous name for Machine Learning Server.

Microsoft Relationship Sales: A single license for Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and LinkedIn Sales Navigator Advanced Plus. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft Relationship Sales here.

Microsoft Relationship Sales Solution Plus: The previous name for Microsoft Relationship Sales.

Microsoft Sentinel: Microsoft’s SecOps platform that provides a single solution for SIEM and SOAR capabilities. Learn about the licensing of Microsoft Sentinel here.

Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR): Shared workspaces with dedicated Microsoft certified devices for video, audio, and content sharing. Learn about Microsoft Teams Rooms licensing here.

Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic: A free license for basic Microsoft Teams Rooms scenarios. Learn about licensing Microsoft Teams Rooms here. 

Microsoft Teams Rooms Premium:  A legacy Microsoft Teams Rooms license. Learn about the legacy licensing or the current licensing of Microsoft Teams Rooms.

Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro: A license for full-featured Microsoft Teams Rooms scenarios with a central management capability. Learn about licensing Microsoft Teams Rooms here.

Microsoft Teams Rooms Standard: A legacy Microsoft Teams Rooms license. Learn about the legacy licensing or the current licensing of Microsoft Teams Rooms.

ML: Management License. See Server Management License and Client Management License.

Mobile Application Management (MAM): The process of securing, controlling and managing mobile applications to ensure compliance and data protection, delivered in the Microsoft world by Intune. Learn about licensing Intune here.

Mobile Device Management (MDM): The process of securing, monitoring, and managing mobile devices to protect corporate data and ensure compliance, delivered in the Microsoft world by Intune. Learn about licensing Intune here.

Monetary Commitment: The former name of Azure Prepayment.

Monthly Subscription Unit: A name given to the special type of subscription licenses that can meet the commitment required for a Server and Cloud Enrollment. Learn about licensing MSUs for the Application Platform and Core Infrastructure components.

MOSA: Microsoft Online Subscription Agreement.

MOSP: Microsoft Online Subscription Program.

MPSA: Microsoft Products and Services Agreement.

MRS: Microsoft Relationship Sales.

MSDN: Microsoft Developer Network.

MSDN Platforms: One of the Visual Studio 2022 Standard subscriptions. Learn about the licensing of MSDN Platforms here.

MSU: Monthly Subscription Unit.

MTR: Microsoft Teams Rooms.

Multiplexing: The use of hardware or software to pool connections, or reduce the number of devices or users that directly access or use SQL Server. Learn about licensing multiplexing scenarios with SQL Server.

Multi-threading: In licensing terms, when a physical core supports a number of virtual cores, or several physical cores support a single virtual core. Learn about licensing multi-threading scenarios with SQL Server.

N

NC: Normalized Core.

NCE: New Commerce Experience.

NCE – Customer Led: A term Microsoft sometimes use for a customer who is buying via the Microsoft website and who has accepted the terms of the Microsoft Customer Agreement.

NCE – Partner Led: A term Microsoft sometimes use for a customer who is buying via a CSP partner and who has accepted the terms of the Microsoft Customer Agreement.

NCL: Normalized Core License. See Normalized Core. 

New Commerce Experience: Microsoft’s updated commerce system for purchasing licenses, governed by the Microsoft Customer Agreement.

New Version rights: Rights to use a newer version of a product released during the term of an agreement. Learn more about New Version rights here.

Normalized Core (NC)/Normalized Core License (NCL): A way of counting SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Core licenses so that you know how many vCores you can cover when running SQL Server in Azure. Learn about licensing using Normalized Cores in PaaS solutions here and with the Centrally Managed Azure Hybrid Benefit here.

O

O365: Office 365.

O365 ATP: Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection.

OCS: Office Communications Server.

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Office 365: A set of plans for the Online Services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and the Microsoft 365 Apps. Learn about licensing the Office 365 plans here.

Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection: The previous name of Microsoft Defender for Office 365. 

Office 365 ATP: Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection.

Office 365 Business: The former name of Microsoft 365 Apps for business. Learn about licensing Microsoft 365 Apps for business here.

Office 365 E1 Plus: A flavor of Office 365 E1 which adds additional security and management features to Office 365 E1. Learn about licensing Office 365 E1 Plus here.

Office 365 ProPlus: The former name of Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. Learn about licensing Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise here.

Office Communications Server (OCS): The previous name of Lync Server.

Office LTSC 2024: The Microsoft suite of desktop productivity tools and a cost-effective way for organizations to license all of these products. Learn about licensing Office LTSC 2024 here.

OLP: Open License Program.

OLS: Online Services.

OneLake: A single, organizational data lake used with Fabric capacities. Learn about licensing Power BI, one of the Fabric components, here. 

Online Services: In the Microsoft world, hosted services running on Microsoft’s servers, such as Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365.

On-premises use rights: A right included in an Online Services license that allows a user to access a licensed on-premises server. Find out more about on-premises use rights for Office 365, Microsoft 365, and EMS.

Open License program (OLP): A Volume Licensing agreement aimed at smaller customers which was retired in December 2021. Learn how customers transition their licenses for on-premises products, Online Services and Azure to other agreements.

Open Value non Organization-Wide agreement: A Volume Licensing agreement aimed at smaller customers which does not require a customer to commit to any product organization-wide. Learn about the basics of the Open Value non Organization-Wide agreement, and how on-premises products, Online Services and Azure are purchased through this agreement.

Open Value Organization-Wide agreement: A Volume Licensing agreement aimed at smaller customers which requires a customer to commit to certain products across their organization. Learn about the basics of the Open Value Organization-Wide agreement, and how on-premises products, Online Services and Azure are purchased through this agreement.

Open Value Subscription (OVS) agreement: A Volume Licensing agreement aimed at smaller customers based on subscription licenses and a requirement to commit to certain products organization-wide. Learn about the basics of the Open Value Subscription agreement, and how on-premises products, Online Services and Azure are purchased through this agreement.

Operating system (OS): The main software that manages all the hardware and other software on a computer. Examples include Windows Server and Windows 11. Learn about licensing Windows Server 2025 here, Windows 11 (Device) here and Windows 11 (User) here.

OS: Operating system.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): In the Microsoft world, a company that manufactures PCs with products such as the Windows operating system preinstalled. Learn about licensing Windows 11 Pro acquired through the OEM channel here.

OVS: Open Value Subscription agreement.

P

Partner Center: The portal used by transacting CSP partners.

PBI: Power BI.

PBIE: Power BI Embedded.

Perpetual license: A license a customer owns forever.

Phone System: The previous name of the Teams Phone Standard license.

Physical Operating System Environment (POSE): When an operating system, such as Windows Server 2025 or Windows 11, runs directly on a computer’s hardware. Learn about licensing Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11.

Planner: See Microsoft Planner.

Planning Services: A Software Assurance benefit retired by Microsoft in 2021.

POSE: Physical Operating System Environment.

Power Apps: A product that enables users of all technical abilities to create apps for an organization so that they can improve efficiency by perhaps taking time out of a process or creating an app to replace a paper-based process. Learn about licensing Power Apps here.

Power Apps Basic: Not a product, the name for the use rights for Power Apps included in certain Office 365 and Microsoft 365 licenses. Learn more about this here. 

Power Apps Portals: The precursor to Power Pages.

Power Automate: A business process and workflow automation tool which enables users to automate repetitive tasks without coding. Learn about licensing Power Automate here.

Power Automate Basic: Not a product, the name for the use rights for Power Automate included in certain Office 365 and Microsoft 365 licenses. Learn more about this here. 

Power Automate Desktop: The product used to create desktop flows in Power Automate. Learn about licensing desktop flows in Power Automate here. 

Power BI: A business analytics service that enables users to create data visualizations and gain insights. It converts data from different sources to build interactive dashboards and business intelligence reports. Learn about licensing Power BI here.

Power BI Desktop: A free tool for users to connect to data sources and transform that data into visualizations. Learn about licensing Power BI Desktop as part of the Power BI solution here.

Power BI Embedded: A flavor of Power BI aimed at developers or ISVs who are building apps and want to embed visuals into those apps without having to build an analytics solution from scratch. Learn about licensing Power BI Embedded apps here.

Power BI Embedded Analytics: Embedded publishing solutions delivered by Power BI Embedded and Power BI Premium. Learn about licensing Power BI Embedded Analytics here.

Power BI (free): The previous name of the Fabric (free) license.

Power BI Mobile: Apps to view Power BI content on mobile devices. Learn about licensing Power BI Mobile here.

Power BI Premium: An advanced flavor of Power BI offering advanced features and dedicated capacity. Learn about licensing Power BI Premium capacity here.

Power BI Pro: A license for the Power BI service which allows users to create and share content. Learn about licensing Power BI Pro here.

Power BI Report Builder: A tool for creating paginated reports to share in the Power BI service. Learn about licensing Power BI here.

Power BI Report Server: An on-premises server product that enables licensed Power BI Pro users to publish Power BI reports and distribute them across the organization. Learn about licensing Power BI Report Server here.

Power BI service: A SaaS offering, now a component of Microsoft Fabric, that enables users to create data visualizations and gain insights. It converts data from different sources to build interactive dashboards and business intelligence reports. Learn about licensing Power BI here.

Power Pages: A low-code web development solution that allows users to rapidly design, configure, and publish websites that work across web browsers and devices. Learn about licensing Power Pages here.

Power Platform: A collection of Microsoft tools that make it easy for users to create business solutions with little or no code. Power Platform includes: Power BI, Power Apps, Power Pages, Power Automate, and Copilot Studio.

Power Virtual Agents (PVA): The precursor to Copilot Studio.

PPU: A term used by the Power BI team to refer to the Power BI Premium Per User license. Learn about licensing Power BI here.

Primary User: A term Microsoft use to refer to a user who uses a licensed device more than 50% of the time in any 90-day period.

Priva: See Microsoft Priva.

Product Terms: Until February 2021 Microsoft released monthly Product Terms and Online Services Terms documents which, together, gave detail on the licensing of its products. From March 2021, however, these documents are replaced by the Product Terms website.

Project Service Automation: See Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation.

Product Use Rights: The precursor to the Product Terms.

Professional Desktop: In an Enterprise/Enterprise Subscription enrollment, this is the name for the enterprise-wide commitment a customer has made to Windows, Office and the Core CAL Suite. Learn about licensing the Professional Desktop here.

Project 2024: The desktop product aimed at project managers either working on their own using Standard edition, or as part of a Project Server project management solution. Learn about the licensing of Project 2024 here.

Project Server: A project management server solution that allows project managers, key stakeholders, and other team members to collaborate on a project. Learn about the licensing of Project Server SE and Project Server 2019.

PSA: Project Service Automation.

PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network.

PSTN Calling Plan: The former name of the Calling Plan license. 

PSTN Conferencing: The former name of Audio Conferencing.

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN): The world’s telephone networks that carry calls from a landline or a mobile/cell phone. Learn about licensing Teams Calling here.

PUR: Product Use Rights

Purchasing Accounts: Specific to the MPSA, allowing an organization to structure themselves as they want when purchasing their licenses. Learn about Purchasing Accounts with on-premises products and Online Services.

Purview: See Microsoft Purview.

PVA: Power Virtual Agents.

Python in Excel: Enables users to access the power of Python analytics directly from Excel: you type Python code into a cell, the Python calculations run in the Microsoft cloud, and the results are returned to the worksheet. Learn about licensing Python in Excel here.