Microsoft announce that SQL Server 2014 will be generally available on 1st April 2014.
The blog post’s main theme is the deployment flexibility that spans on-premises and cloud solutions, and as well as being available for download, SQL Server 2014 will also be available in a Windows Azure virtual machine image on 1st April.
The full post is here: http://bit.ly/1ehWLMn.
Note that the March 2014 Product List has been re-issued, so if you were super keen and downloaded it on March 1st, make sure you re-download it.
This new version corrects the end date that customers may purchase OEM/FPP Windows Pro licences and then add SA to them (within 90 days) to 1 July 2014.
Microsoft announce Office 365 Personal which is expected in the “Spring”. The key facts:
Office 365 Home Premium will continue to be available but will be renamed to Office 365 Home. Read the full announcement here: http://bit.ly/1d9wmwt.
If you want an introduction to buying Windows Azure Services through the EA, then this article from the UK TechNet team is a good start. It covers the three ways Azure can be acquired:
Read the article here: http://bit.ly/1qBXZqZ.
Changes announced to CRM Online licensing for the second quarter of 2014. Key takeaways: CRM Online Professional gains Microsoft Social Listening at no extra cost; and CRM Online Enterprise is announced which will include Dynamics Marketing (formerly MarketingPilot), Unified Service Desk (an application for call centres) and, for a limited time in the US and Canada, free Parature seats (a recent acquisition which will enable more customer self-service capabilities). See the full blog post here: http://bit.ly/1crqmUP
When are CALs required? There’s a jolly useful article on the Microsoft Volume Licensing blog covering some of the most tricky scenarios. The top 7 questions are considered (clearly the writers don’t suffer from any form of OCD) and include CAL requirements for: multifunction printers, servers themselves, external users, RDS in VDI scenarios, web workloads, accessing another organisation’s servers, and administrators. It’s worth a read at: http://bit.ly/1i7zPkc.
Licensing Windows Intune
Self-Hosted Applications
Downgrade Rights
Introduction to Per Core Licensing and Basic Definitions
Microsoft Licensing for the Consumerisation of IT
Microsoft Licensing for the Consumerisation of IT – Academic Licensing Scenarios
Reimaging Rights
Licensing Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013
Licensing Windows and Microsoft Office to use with the Apple Mac
Licensing Windows Client and Server Operating Systems in Multiuser Scenarios
Operating System Licence Requirements: Initial Operating System and Transfer of Licence
Licensing Windows Desktop Operating Systems for Use with Virtual Machines
Microsoft give an update on their new Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA). As a reminder, this is the new agreement that allows customers to license both on-premises and Online Services through a single agreement. The update gives details of new countries that the agreement will shortly be available in (France, Poland, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland) as well as some screenshots of the all new Volume Licensing Center. Check out the full post here: http://bit.ly/MKqQt7
So, 1 March 2014 heralds a new dawn for Windows client licensing. OK, that might be overstating it, but the licensing that we’re familiar with has undergone a change. Here’s a summary of the differences, compiled from the March 2014 Product List.
What are the changes?
What doesn’t change?
What are the offerings?
What’s the availability?
What happens to existing customers?
A useful guide for education customers who want to get to grips with the Student Advantage option (that’s free Office 365 ProPlus for students when 100% of Faculty/Staff are licensed for Office). It goes through ordering, activation, deployment and provisioning: http://bit.ly/1hiNWB4