Author Archives: Louise Ulrick

Work IQ FAQs

Microsoft launch a new set of Work IQ FAQs.

Work IQ acts as the intelligence layer connecting Microsoft Copilot and AI Agents to an organisation’s internal data, such as emails, chats, and documents. The new FAQs provide further details, including how Work IQ powers AI Agents, how developers can build with its APIs, and how administrators manage its billing and governance.

Struggling to keep up with all the licensing guidance and FAQ websites? Save yourself a bunch of bookmarks by using our Licensing Guides Gallery instead! It consolidates all the links in one place, complete with an instant-search interface, filter buttons, and PDF captures to help you track website changes. Exclusively for subscribers – jump in today: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. Otherwise, grab your copy of these FAQs here: https://bit.ly/4ftSVUm.

Annual local currency price updates

Microsoft announce that local currency price updates will now occur once a year, rather than twice.

These exchange rate fluctuations against the US dollar affect all Microsoft Online Services apart from Azure, and will now take place every January, starting in 2027. Microsoft will provide advance notice of these changes each November.

Have you seen our Exchange Rate Price Plotter? Our subscriber-exclusive tool helps you track future and historical exchange rate changes, all in one place: https://bit.ly/ExchangeRatePlotter. Read the details of the announcement here: https://bit.ly/4gxoDlB.

Azure FAQs

Microsoft have updated their Azure FAQs.

The latest version introduces 12 new questions focused on the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). These cover how Azure Marketplace purchases, refunds, and agreement migrations count towards your MACC spending commitment. Microsoft update the FAQs on their website, but we capture every version as a PDF so you can track changes over time. Subscribers can view these snapshots alongside easy website access in our Licensing Guides Gallery: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. Alternatively, grab a copy of the latest guide here: https://bit.ly/4gaypbn

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

The Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide for August 2026 features mostly minor changes this month.

The main update outlines two new Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Agents now in Paid Public Preview: the Journey Creation Agent and the Outreach Optimization Agent. The new default capacities for the Commerce Scale Unit licences are added to the table on page 63, now aligning the Database and File accrued capacity with the Operations-Device licence when considering the included device limits. Read more about the September capacity (and price!) changes to the Commerce Scale Unit licence here: https://bit.ly/4cfs8u0.

Get the full lowdown on the Licensing Guide changes using the one-click “Dynamics 365” filter in our subscriber-exclusive Licensing Guides Gallery: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. You’ll also find details of all the changes to be aware (and wary) of through our “What’s New” and “Cautionary Notes” features. If you’re not yet a subscriber, grab a copy of the Licensing Guide here: https://bit.ly/4heNk6H.

Copilot Studio Licensing Guide

Microsoft have updated the Copilot Studio Licensing Guide (twice!) for August 2026.

“Harness” is a newly introduced term taking the spotlight this month. Think of a harness as the bridge between your instructions and an AI model, feeding it context, providing its tools, and guiding it through tasks. You can choose from three harness options in Copilot Studio depending on your requirements, with each option affecting Copilot Credits consumption differently. The Overview section now breaks down what a harness is, the available types, and how they consume Copilot Credits. The mid-month update promoted the (paid-for!) GitHub Copilot harness to the top of the list of options to match the default option that’s chosen when you’re creating a new Agent.

Other changes include added clarity and details on the Copilot Studio Author role requirements and Azure Prepayment eligibility. Rounding off this month’s changes, as part of recent rebranding, “Microsoft 365 Copilot” has been renamed throughout to simply “Microsoft Copilot”.

Quickly discover what’s new (and what’s wrong!) across the Microsoft licensing resources that we collect by exploring our subscriber-exclusive Licensing Guides Gallery. Use the one-click “Copilot” filter to view this guide and the full breakdown: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. You can also grab the latest guide directly here: https://bit.ly/4gi1y4t.

Modern Work Plan Comparison documents

The Modern Work Plan Comparison documents are updated for August 2026.

This month’s changes are mostly just housekeeping updates. The Priva Subject Rights Requests feature has been removed across the documents, following its retirement as a standalone license earlier in the year. The additional 50 GB mailbox storage in Exchange Online is now presented more clearly in the SMB document, and Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 now shows as included in Office 365 E3 as a result of the July 2026 licensing changes.

If you’re a subscriber, don’t forget that we help you navigate the (increasingly frequent) errors in these documents every month with our Cautionary Notes. You’ll find these using the one-click “Microsoft 365” filter in our subscriber-exclusive Licensing Guides Gallery, along with quick access to the documents and full change details: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you’ll find the latest versions of the documents for Enterprise, SMB, Education, and US Government customers here: https://bit.ly/4hn2hS2. If you’re a partner and prefer the Excel version, contact us from your work email address and we’ll send it right over: info@licensingschool.co.uk.

Copilot Credits Guide

The Copilot Credits Guide first appeared in June, and since then there’s been a version (or two) of it every month to complement the Copilot Studio Licensing Guide.

The updates for August include details of harnesses and the three harness options available for Copilot Studio, and a rebranding of “Microsoft 365 Copilot” to “Microsoft Copilot”.

You can grab the latest (mid-month updated) guide here: https://bit.ly/3SEnnDG. Alternatively, if you’re a subscriber, use our Licensing Guides Gallery to peruse all versions of it. This splendid tool also helps you quickly get the full rundown of everything that’s new as well as any “Cautionary Notes”, along with filters to view both the Licensing Guide and Licensing Guidance website versions of this document.

Power Platform licensing resources

The Power Platform licensing resources are updated for August 2026.

The Licensing Guide features only minor changes this month, with the removal of a lone reference to Project for the web. The Licensing Deck has a rather more dramatic update, with complete sections on Copilot Studio removed in favour of a link pointing to the Microsoft Copilot Studio Licensing Guide for the relevant information.

The one-click “Power Platform” filter in our subscriber-exclusive Licensing Guides Gallery gives you quick access to every version of the licensing resources: https://bit.ly/GuidesGallery. You’ll also find details of all the changes to be aware (and wary) of with our “What’s New” and “Cautionary Notes” labels. If you’re not yet a subscriber, grab a copy of the Licensing Guide here: https://bit.ly/4hgoAeu, and the Licensing Deck here: https://bit.ly/4wdWLY3.

End grace period for Windows 365 Business

When you unassign a Windows 365 Business license from a user their Cloud PC is moved into a 7-day grace period, after which time it’s deprovisioned. There’s now an option for administrators to end the grace period straight away which means that the Cloud PC is deleted immediately and the license can be reassigned to another user.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/4pZdvke.

Copilot Pitch Decks

There are a couple of useful Pitch Decks released by Microsoft aimed at helping partners position Copilot solutions.

The main Copilot Pitch Deck includes details of Work IQ, Agents, Copilot Chat, and, of course, the latest innovations: Agent 365, Cowork, and Scout. The content contains handy comparison tables and some nice diagrams and explanations.

There’s also a Copilot Cost Management Pitch Deck which has details of spending policies and Copilot Credits purchasing options, as well as reporting and cost management tips.

If you’re a partner, grab a copy of the Copilot Pitch Deck here: https://bit.ly/4yqz2pF, and the Copilot Cost Management Pitch Deck here: https://bit.ly/4w7N0LE.