Microsoft launched Azure Reserved Instances in November 2017 giving customers a more cost-effective way of buying Azure base instance virtual machines. The Azure Calculator has been updated to show relative pricing between the regular pay-as-you-go option for virtual machines and 1-year or 3-year Reserved Instances.
Find the Azure Calculator here: http://bit.ly/AzurePricingCalculator.
There’s an updated (September 2017) Dynamics 365 On-Premises Licensing Guide with just a small correction made on page 14 – details are in Appendix B. Find this guide with all its LGFs (Licensing Guide Friends) here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
The Azure Hybrid Benefit allows customers with Windows Server licences with SA to use those licences in Azure to license a base virtual machine for Windows Server. If you’re interested in knowing the potential savings this benefit can offer, then there’s an Azure Hybrid Benefit Savings Calculator here: http://bit.ly/2CJWpOf.
Note that it still works on Processor-based licences so if you’ve got Core licences then divide the number of licences by 16 when you input the number of existing licences with SA.
Microsoft 365 Enterprise was renamed from Secure Productive Enterprise in August 2017. There are some helpful licensing resources: an at-a-glance document and overview/FAQ document, but most usefully a Licensing Brief where you’ll find an overview of the products in Microsoft 365 Enterprise, the types of User SL available, as well as licensing scenarios and FAQs.
Find all of these documents here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
If you need a BizTalk 2016 Licensing Datasheet then we’ve just added one to our Licensing Guides emporium. Get an overview of the editions, the licensing models, License Mobility through SA, and licensing for virtualisation and non-production use.
Find this datasheet here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
There are changes to the Enrollment for Education Solutions from 1st October 2017. If you want to get to know how it all works then the October 2017 EES Licensing Guide is a useful resource.
Find it here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
Some of the Skype for Business Online services are renamed: PSTN Calling is now Calling Plan, PSTN Conferencing is Audio Conferencing, Cloud PBX is Phone System, and PSTN Consumption is now Communication Credits.
This is a useful page to find out more about these services and their licensing: http://bit.ly/2y71dyv, and page 6 of the October 2017 Product Terms summarises the changes.
Microsoft 365 is all about making it easy to license users for Windows 10, Office 365 and EMS with a single user subscription licence. There’s now a new member of the family – Microsoft 365 F1 which is aimed at “firstline” workers, the two billion people in roles that make them the first point of contact between a company and the world it serves. If these type of workers are new to you then this infographic might be interesting: http://bit.ly/2gaF77o.
Microsoft 365 F1 gives access to Office 365 F1, Windows 10 Enterprise E3 and relevant security and management components of EMS. Find a comparison chart of Office 365 F1 and Microsoft 365 F1 at the bottom of the announcement page here: http://bit.ly/2g05wkH.
There’s also an FAQ here: https://aka.ms/fwpartnerfaq which has some useful licensing questions starting at question 17.
The new names for the Office 365 ProPlus update channels are live – with another slight change. From September 2017 these are the final names:
There’s a useful blog post here: http://bit.ly/2qYqGD6 where you’ll also find recommended next steps and exact dates for the upcoming schedule of Office ProPlus releases.
Microsoft announce Azure Reserved VM Instances (RIs). There’s no word on launch date, but customers will be able to make big savings on Azure virtual machines by committing to 1 or 3 year terms for a particular VM type in a particular Azure region.
There will be flexibility for customers too with the ability to cancel the RI, or exchange it for another VM type in another data centre. Scott Guthrie’s blog post is here (see second to last paragraph): http://bit.ly/2ybA0dZ, and there’s useful information on azure.com too: http://bit.ly/2fV95bC.