Microsoft’s May 2015 Volume Licensing Newsletter is out with links to a live session on the MPSA on 20 May 2015 (http://bit.ly/1QE7PG2) and on-demand sessions for ECS and the SCE.
Read the newsletter and/or subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1IiziJC.
There were changes to Visual Studio licensing effective from January 2015 and the Visual Studio 2013 and MSDN Licensing Whitepaper is updated to reflect this. And what were the changes?
Simply that target servers receiving automated deployment from Release Management Server no longer require a Visual Studio Deployment licence.
The only other change to the document is that the recently added requirement for a “Declaration of MSDN Licenses” is removed. Get the guide here: http://bit.ly/1JQmpGU.
There’s a new (2015) updated FAQ document for the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider program – a relatively new program that enables partners to directly provision, manage and support customer subscriptions for Office 365, Intune and EMS.
If you’re a partner and want an overview of the program, as well as information about the tools, pricing and contract terms, then this document is a good reference: http://bit.ly/1OyG7fb.
There’s a new (April 2015) Volume Licensing Brief to give assistance in determining baseline licences in the Server and Cloud Enrolment.
The main part of the brief gives a recap of the rules but it’s the FAQ section that’s probably most interesting where it covers SQL Embedded, licences for old development tools with or without MSDN, and OEM and ISV licences.
If the SCE is your thing then this brief is worth a read and you can find it here: http://bit.ly/1yPCEl2.
If you want to learn a bit more about the way that Bing Maps is licensed, and the different options that exist for applications used by consumers or business users, then grab a cup of coffee and take a wander through this site: http://bit.ly/1CG8wDY.
Microsoft announce that Azure Marketplace is now available to more EA customers.
Azure Marketplace is a set of over 3,000 offerings (from both Microsoft and partners) that are ready to deploy in Azure, and previously it was only customers who had a direct EA with Microsoft or purchased their Azure services through the web portal that were able to buy these solutions. Now, however, indirect EA customers are included.
Note that these services are billed quarterly in arrears for all customers and cannot be paid for out of a Monetary Commitment.
Get the full story and a useful FAQ here: http://bit.ly/1Eq58D1.
It’s a bizarre month these days when a Forefront product has the most interesting licensing changes in the Product List but that’s exactly what we find this April!
Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) 2010 R2 exited the Product List last month but sneaks back in this month with some changes to the licensing. Essentially, the right to install FIM is moved to Windows Server 2012 R2 (see page 39) and those customers who had active SA on FIM 2010 R2 at 1 April 2015 are deemed to have 1 Windows Server Datacenter licence. There aren’t, however, changes to the licensing of users accessing FIM functionality – see this article for which licences can be used: http://wp.me/p3K5IZ-et.
The other main changes are to do with some name changes – Microsoft Social Listening is rebranded as Microsoft Social Engagement – again more details are here: http://wp.me/p3K5IZ-ep and Lync Online changes to Skype for Business Online, all ready for its launch in the middle of April.
Finally, the information on the upgrade rights for customers who had SA coverage for SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse on 1 March 1 2013 is removed, and there’s a reference back to the March 2014 Product List.
Microsoft announce Exchange Online Advanced Threat Protection – a new email filtering service that adds on to the protection provided by Exchange Online Protection to protect against specific types of advanced threats.
It will be available in the summer and be licensed with a User SL priced at $2 per month. This very readable Microsoft announcement article is worth a look for some detail on the precise services it will offer and an FAQ: http://bit.ly/1FkYkb6.
MSDN Operating Systems is being retired – see the Q&A on this page: http://bit.ly/1G6vSdl.
Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) 2010 R2 is removed as a product from the April 2015 Product Use Rights document (see page 5) and the right to install FIM is moved to Windows Server 2012 R2. New text on page 39 of the April 2015 Product List states that customers are allowed to run an instance of FIM for each licensed instance of Windows Server that they have.
Licences for users to access FIM functionality are still required and pages 25/26 of the PUR tell us that a FIM 2010 R2 User CAL is eligible, as is an Enterprise Mobility Suite User SL or a Microsoft Azure Active Directory Premium User SL or, for external users, a FIM 2010 R2 External Connector licence. Pages 26/27 state, however, that if a user is only using the FIM synchronisation service then a CAL is not required.
And what about customers who have active SA on FIM 2010 R2? Well, as long as it was active on 1 April 2015 then they’re deemed to have 1 Windows Server Datacenter licence, and you’ll find confirmation of that on page 39 of the Product List.