Office Online Server

The usage rights for customers to use Office Online Server are extended: the August 2016 Product Terms document states that as long as customers purchase Office Standard 2016 or Office Professional Plus 2016 licences before 1 August 2016 then they may use Office Online Server until 1 August 2019 (page 23). Previously, it was stated that the licences needed to be purchased between 1 May 2016 and 1 August 2016.

Azure RemoteApp to be Retired

Microsoft announce that Azure RemoteApp is to be retired: new purchases will end as of 1 October, 2016 and the service will finally be wound down on 31 August, 2017. The recommended alternative is the Citrix XenApp “express” solution, or perhaps using Remote Desktop Services deployed on Azure virtual machines.

Read the full Microsoft announcement here: http://bit.ly/2aUsXNg.

Windows 10 Enterprise Changes

From 1 August 2016 there are changes to the Windows 10 edition line-up: you can still buy Windows 10 Enterprise but there are now also E3 and E5 editions. So, what’s the story here? Well, Windows 10 Enterprise E3 is the new name for Windows 10 Enterprise + SA, and Windows 10 Enterprise E5 adds Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection on top of E3. Both editions are available on per user or a per device basis – check out this page for the details: http://bit.ly/2bgmb2L.

Then take a look at page 37 of the August 2016 Product Terms document to see the new SKUs that are available. Of particular note are the Add-ons which allow you to move between editions and licensing models. This means that you can go from E3 per device to E5 per device, or from E3 per device to E3 per user, or from E3 per user to E5 per user, and you’ll find the rules for these Add-on licences detailed on page 41. In addition, if organisations have fully paid licences for Windows with active SA then they can purchase E3/E5 From SA User SLs instead of SA to move to a user licensing model for Windows (page 42).

It’s also worth mentioning at this point that there are some changes with MDOP with two of the components (Application Virtualization (App-V) and User Environment Virtualization (UE-V)) now part of Windows 10 Enterprise. This Microsoft site is useful for the detail on this: http://bit.ly/2aYEcAi.

All Change for Project Online

There are three new plans for Project Online which replace the previous Project Lite, Project Pro for Office 365, Project Online, and Project Online with Project Pro for Office 365. It wasn’t particularly easy choosing the right plan for the right person with these names, and the new plans are much more straightforward: Essentials, Professional and Premium.

Who are they aimed at? Well, Essentials is for project team members, Professional for Project Managers and Premium is for Portfolio Managers. All of them are User Subscription Licences, as you’d expect, and all allow access to an on-premises Project Server if required. This site (http://bit.ly/2aOM0HA) shows the difference in rights between the plans and confirms that Project Professional can be installed on up to 5 PCs with the Professional and Premium plans.

The August 2016 Product Terms document is updated with these new plans (page 61) where you’ll see that there are From SA USLs available for customers who have fully paid licences with active SA and want to move to a user licensing model. What’s new though, is a range of Add-on USLs for organisations that have Project Standard, Project Professional or Project Server licences with active SA and want to add on cloud services. Turn to page 62 for a list of the Add-ons that are available.

August 2016 MPSA Licensing Manual

The MPSA Licensing Manual is updated for August 2016 with the main change being that all of the rules governing SA benefits have been moved to the Product Terms document – see our blog post for details: http://bit.ly/2aUDKBq.

Other amendments include references to the new Microsoft Business Center portal (updated from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center), confirmation that Azure services are billed quarterly in arrears (page 5), and that Step Ups and other licences for transitions are available through the MPSA (page 5).

Find the MPSA Licensing Manual here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

Software Assurance: August 2016 Product Terms

The Software Assurance section in the August 2016 Product Terms document is updated.

The main change is that the rules governing SA benefits for the MPSA have been moved into the Product Terms from the MPSA Licensing Manual.

Previously, Training Vouchers could not be converted to Planning Services Days within the MPSA but that restriction is now lifted (page 74), although it’s still not possible to convert 24×7 Problem Resolution Support Incidents to Premier Problem Resolution Support hours in this agreement (page 78).