The Microsoft February 2015 Volume Licensing newsletter is out and leads with the MPSA and its availability for Public Sector customers.
However, there’s also a useful recap of the important dates for the retirement of Select Plus:
Read the newsletter and/or subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/1D183SU.
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CRM Server 2015 arrived in December 2014 and this Volume Licensing Guide gives a comprehensive overview of the licensing of this product with 27 pages of licensing detail. Essentially, CRM Server is licensed with the Server/CAL model and there are enhancements to the licensing rather than major changes from the 2013 version of the product. Read on for details and get the document here: http://bit.ly/1F28awR.
Firstly, there are Dual Use Rights for the CRM products now. This means that users licensed with CRM Online USLs have use rights equivalent to a CAL to access an on-premises deployment of CRM Server, and there’s a table on page 7 showing which USLs are equivalent to which CALs. Be aware though that these Dual Use Rights are only available for customers who are licensed with a server licence for the 2015 version of CRM Server rather than any earlier versions. They are allowed, however, to deploy an earlier version of CRM Server under that licence and the Dual Use Rights will still apply.
Customers licensed with CRM Server and CAL licences may add on access to CRM Online via USLs for Software Assurance. The available options are detailed in a table on page 16 and it’s updated for the new USLs that were added in 2014 – the Enterprise USL and the Social Listening Add-on. Alternatively, customers with CRM CALs may transition those licences to equivalent CRM Online USLs if they want to move to a fully user-based subscription licensing position, and the “License Transition Eligibility” table on page 18 shows the available options and again is updated for the Enterprise USL.
There’s a new section added for Unified Service Desk on page 10 explaining that the rights to install and use this functionality are included with the CRM Online Professional and Enterprise USLs as well as the CRM 2015 Professional CAL with Software Assurance. Note that this is the only way to license USD – it’s not available as a standalone licence.
Trials are available for CRM Server 2015 and there’s a change to the notification process: previously there was no notification that the 90 day trial was about to expire, now admin users will be warned of impending trial expiration.
And finally, as you would expect, the actual functionality in CRM Server 2015 is enhanced from CRM Server 2013, so the tables on pages 9 and 25-27 are updated to reflect what use rights each of the CALs now has. Equally CRM Server 2015 is now available through the MPSA so the Volume Licensing Programs information is updated on page 14.
Office 365 Education is now available free to students and teachers at schools that have licensed Office institution-wide for their faculty and staff.
The plan allows the installation of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access on up to 5 PCs or Macs, and the Office apps on other mobile devices.
It also includes 1TB of OneDrive storage and rights to Office Online.
See the Microsoft announcement confirming availability from 23 Feb 2015 here: http://bit.ly/1wQvxmg, and details on eligibility here: http://bit.ly/1M4JLJ5.
There’s a new exception added to the March 2015 Product List for customers who have more users than devices and want to transition from device licences to Online Services via From SA USLs.
Typically they can only purchase From SA USLs up to the number of qualifying underlying licences, but this new one-time exception allows the customer to purchase more From SA USLs – as long as they purchase a From SA USL for all users of all licensed Qualified Devices. See pages 34, 45, 47 and 58.
The MPSA Licensing Manual is updated for the availability of Government and Academic Purchasing Accounts from 1 March 2015. The changes confirm that a single MPSA can now have both Commercial and the new Government and Academic Purchasing Accounts (page 3), and that either of these new Public Sector Purchasing Accounts can have an end-date specified in case an organisation is not able to commit to evergreen terms and conditions (page 3).
There’s a new Agreement Structure section added on page 4 which shows how the terms and conditions of an MPSA are built dependent on the type of Purchasing Account, and there’s a reminder as to the eligibility requirements for Government and Academic Purchasing Accounts – these remain the same as for the other Volume Licensing agreements.
Finally, there’s a note on Price Levels on page 5 which confirms that, in common with Select Plus, there’s a single price level for a Government Purchasing Account which is equivalent to Commercial Level D pricing. There’s also a single price level for Academic Purchasing Accounts although the actual pricing is, as usual, different to a Government Purchasing Account.
Get this updated document here: http://bit.ly/18ERejZ.
Microsoft announce that the Enterprise Mobility Suite will be available through Open and Open Value licensing programs from 1 March 2015. From early March it will also be available to partners as part of the Internal Use Rights licences they receive through the Action Pack or Silver and Gold competencies. Read the announcement here: http://bit.ly/1LQ86lU.
There’s an updated (Dec 2014) Volume Licensing Brief for licensing Windows for use with virtual machines. The main changes, as you would expect, are for Windows per User licensing and all of the scenarios are updated which means, of course, that the Companion Subscription Licence is banished to obscurity. Get the document here: http://bit.ly/IKPKXE.
There’s a new FAQ document for partners selling Dynamics CRM Online through Open and Open Value programs. It covers minimums, existing tenants, how expiry dates work, mixing licence types, as well as partner-revenue related questions.
Find it here: http://bit.ly/1vq4se7.