Product and SA Changes in the April 2014 Product List

There are some interesting product changes to the April 2014 Product List; it’s not often we see changes to the SA benefits – this month there are two – and the importance of the cloud is confirmed with two new Online Services and just one new on-premises product.

Product Changes

  • Firstly, there’s a like for like replacement for SQL 2012 products for their new, shinier SQL 2014 equivalents, representing minimal changes to the licensing between versions. You need to go to the April 2014 PUR to find documentation of the two notable changes in SQL 2014 licensing: BI CALs are waived for batch processing, and the licensing of a passive server is now an SA benefit
  • Microsoft Social Listening SKUs are added – both the standalone Social Listening Professional USL and the Add-on USL for organisations that are already licensed with an on-premises Dynamics CRM Professional CAL – with active SA of course. And if you’re wondering precisely what “social listening” may be, then, in a nutshell, it’s a service to monitor social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. If you want more information on the product, then this datasheet is worth a scan: http://bit.ly/RiG5fZ
  • The USL for OneDrive for Business is also added and gives licensed users access to Office Online too
  • The Windows Industry SKUs follow in the footsteps of their close relative, Windows 8.1, with the Enterprise edition being available as a standalone SKU and SA just allowed to be added to the Enterprise edition. Naturally, there’s a “with MDOP” edition too. There are two flavours of each SKU dependent on which devices the licences are being assigned to, and there’s a table which helps you to decide which one is required as long as you know what operating system the device is currently licensed for

Software Assurance Changes

  • Previously, Office licences purchased through a Volume Licensing program gave access to “Office Web Apps”. This is now changed so that rights to an on-premises deployment through Office Web Apps Server 2013 are included with the licence, and rights to Office Online are only available as an SA benefit. There’s also a note that users must be licensed for SharePoint Online to access the Office Online service
  • Given the ever closer licensing between Windows 8.1 and its first cousin, Windows Industry, the “Enhanced Edition Benefits” is a new benefit for both these products which allows the deployment of either edition under active SA