Microsoft add extra security and management functionality into their Intune and EMS E3 offerings and will increase prices from 1 July, 2021. Licences for Intune will increase from $6 to $8 per user per month, and EMS E3 from $9 to $11, although the price for Microsoft 365 E3 will not change.
Find details of the increased functionality, and price changes here: http://bit.ly/3smPpRw.
There’s an updated (March 2021) Power Apps Licensing Guide.
The main change is the inclusion of rights to Power Automate within Windows licences via the Power Automate Desktop product, and there’s a useful table added on page 16 which gives a summary of the Power Automate use rights included in different licences.
Find out more about the Power Automate Desktop product on our blog here: http://bit.ly/30uS0Nc, and download the latest Licensing Guide here: https://bit.ly/3ekVWbE.
There’s an updated (February 2021) Microsoft Open programs overview document.
Just four pages long, it’s a summary of all of the key points of the Open License, Open Value and Open Value Subscription programs, and is updated for the discontinuation of the Open License program in December 2021, and the availability of Open Value offers for education and nonprofit customers in July 2021.
Find this document here: https://bit.ly/3kWBheV
Microsoft announce the general availability of the Private Azure Marketplace.
This tenant level feature is built on top of the Azure Marketplace and enables an administrator to add apps from the Azure Marketplace into the Private Azure Marketplace that comply with their organisation’s policies and standards, thus making it easy for users to deploy these pre-approved apps within the organisation. Note that Microsoft apps are automatically added to the Private Azure Marketplace.
Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/30sADwz, and instructions on setting up the Private Azure Marketplace here: https://bit.ly/2J4wUjb.
Microsoft announce that a commercial preview of Office LTSC, the next perpetual release of Office, will be available in April 2021.
This release of Office will align with Windows 10 LTSC for use in specific, limited scenarios, and will be supported for five years. It will be released in the second half of 2021 and there will be a 10% price increase. Microsoft confirm that there will be another release in the future too.
There are also plans to release Office 2021 for personal and small business users later in the year, and there are no plans for a price increase for these products.
Find the announcement article here: http://bit.ly/3aKyTEC.
Microsoft announce that Power Automate Desktop is now available to Windows 10 users at no additional cost.
It’s a free download and enables users to automate tasks by recording actions such as mouse and keyboard clicks across multiple applications, and then replaying them when needed. Users who then want to share flows across an organisation and to take advantage of additional capabilities will need to be licensed with a Power Automate with Attended RPA user licence.
This currently costs $40 per user per month, but there’s a promotion beginning on 1 April, 2021 where the licence (as long as a minimum of 5,000 are purchased) will only cost $15 per user per month until 30 September, 2021.
Find the announcement with links to download Power Automate Desktop and to access further information, here: http://bit.ly/2PLXLE7.
Microsoft announce that Universal Print is generally available.
This is a software-as-a-service printing solution that runs entirely on Microsoft Azure and eliminates the need to maintain traditional on-premises print servers or install printer drivers.
Customers with Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5, or Microsoft 365 F3, E3, E5 or Business Premium licences are already licensed for Universal Print, or there are standalone Universal Print licences available.
Each licence includes 5 print jobs per month which are pooled at the tenant level, and if additional capacity is needed there are Add-ons available providing a further 500 print jobs per month.
Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/30hyRy6, and a useful page on the licensing here: http://bit.ly/38kUiD0.
Microsoft announce that Power BI Premium per User will become generally available on 2 April, 2021.
There will be a standalone licence costing $20 per user per month, or an Add-on for users already licensed with a Power BI Pro or Office 365/Microsoft 365 E5 licence costing $10 per user per month.
Find the announcement article, which also details Power BI Premium features and capabilities, here: http://bit.ly/3rm1B4E, and a useful FAQ on the Power BI Premium per User licence here: https://bit.ly/3j1YNWc.
There’s an updated (March 2021) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. There aren’t major changes – just some minor edits and clarifications which you can find detailed in the Change Log on page 56.
Find this updated guide here: https://bit.ly/3caIlRt.
There’s an updated (March 2021) Microsoft 365 plan comparison document, which is great for seeing which components are included in the different Microsoft 365 offerings.
The document also includes the new pricing for Microsoft 365 F1 (now $2.25 from a previous price of $4 per user per month) and Microsoft F3 (now $8 rather than $10).
Find this updated document here: https://bit.ly/2LG4gqi.