Category Archives: Uncategorized

SQL Server Developer Edition now a free download

Good news! From 1 April 2016, SQL Server 2014 Developer Edition is a free download if you’re a Visual Studio Dev Essentials member.

As a reminder, the Developer Edition includes the full feature set of the Enterprise Edition and is for development and testing only, and not for production environments or even for use with production data.

Here’s the Microsoft announcement (http://bit.ly/1NxiU83) where you’ll also find confirmation that SQL Server 2016 Developer Edition will also be free when it’s released in the next few months.

Microsoft Hosting and CSP Newsletter

The March 2016 Hosting and Cloud Service Provider newsletter is out.

There are a couple of topics of licensing interest: firstly, E5 is now a qualifying CAL for the Skype for Business Server Enterprise and Plus SALs for SA.

Then there’s a reminder to report only the products shown on the published SPUR – for example, a Service Provider who uses SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard should report SQL Server 2014 Standard Core licences.

Sign up for this free newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.

MVLC becomes MBC

When the MPSA was launched, a new portal replaced VLSC – the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center, or MVLC. This portal will be undergoing an upgrade very soon and will be known as the Microsoft Business Center. Don’t worry – it’s not a new portal so much as a layer over the existing portal surfacing summary information more easily.

If you’re in the US, Canada or Japan you’re probably already using this portal, and the rest of the world will soon have access.

If you want to get an overview of the new look and feel then this video is worth a look: http://bit.ly/1WqXK2w.

SharePoint Server 2016 Licensing

We’re expecting SharePoint Server 2016 to be generally available in VLSC in early May (http://bit.ly/1USnfKe) and this page confirms that there will be no changes to the licensing – hurrah! http://bit.ly/1S5H7Ed

Microsoft retires the Volume Licensing and SAM Competencies

Well, this has given us all something to talk about here at Licensing Towers!

Microsoft have announced a series of changes to their partner program and, as part of this, they are retiring a number of competencies – including those for Volume Licensing and Software Asset Management (SAM).

If you’re a current partner, wondering what this means for you and your business, Microsoft have produced an FAQ document which has some very relevant questions and can be downloaded here (http://bit.ly/1NnZi67).

Although the competencies are being retired, there are two things that Microsoft make clear:

1)      Continued Volume Licensing certification will still be a requirement for Distributor and LSP partners

2)      SAM is still very much a focus for Microsoft and they will continue to work with partners on this

A question you will most likely hear around the business over the next few days will be:

“Are the competencies still worthwhile?”

and here at Licensing School, we feel there is still definite value to renewing/attaining these competencies, for a number of reasons.

Many customers understand the effort that goes into attaining a Microsoft competency and having MCP accredited staff members will still show them your dedication, focus and expertise. Additionally, the last date a partner can be active in one of these competencies is 30 January, 2018 so there are still almost two years until they are removed from the Partner Membership Center.

There are some deadlines to be aware of:

  • Current VL and SAM partners are able to renew these competencies by their next anniversary or 30 October, 2016 whichever comes first.
  • If you are currently working towards attaining one or both of these competencies, you need to sign up by 30 July, 2016.

If you’re now slightly concerned about how you, your team and/or your colleagues can learn the material and pass the exams in the next in the next couple of months – don’t worry, our range of exam prep materials will give you the best possible chance of attaining these certifications in the timeframe Microsoft have set!

For Volume Licensing, we have a range of resources and courses including our popular exam preparation guide “Lessons in Licensing – Microsoft 74-678: Exam Preparation Guide”, which can be found here (http://bit.ly/1NnZp1x).

For SAM, we are running a Licensing School Online 70-673 Exam Prep Course on 4 May, 2016. Register here http://bit.ly/1RzX7S9T using voucher code 70-673-35B and get the promo price of £65 + VAT.

To read more, and to see other impacted competencies, head over to the Microsoft MPN Evolution page here (http://bit.ly/1S6fLy1).

Office 365 Concurrent Licensing

April Fools post 2016 🙂

Microsoft announce a new type of licence which will finally allow concurrent licensing on Office 365 E1, E3, or E5.

The Fixed Unnamed User Licence (FUUL) is available for purchase in fixed amounts of 50 users but then allows ANY 50 users to use the relevant service under the licence. Thus if you’ve got 274 users who need to use the service at the same time then you would need to acquire 6 FUULs.

There are some restrictions on using the service but since the pricing equates to about 1/4 the price of a regular Office 365 USL it could be worth a look for certain types of businesses.

It’s available for a limited period from April 1st and you can read the full announcement and see the list of available features here: http://LS2016AprilFool.

Licensing SQL Server on Linux

Microsoft announced in early March that SQL Server is to be available on Linux (http://bit.ly/1Y1LSlS) but how will it be licensed?

The answer’s easier than you might expect – if you buy a SQL Server licence then you’ll be able to use SQL Server on Windows Server or Linux.

Find this and some other useful SQL 2016 questions here: http://bit.ly/1RLZG2j.

SharePoint and Project Server 2016

Microsoft announce RTM of SharePoint Server 2016 and Project Server 2016, and expect availability in VLSC in early May.

Interestingly, Project Server will now be part of the SharePoint Server installation – but will still require its own licence of course.

Read the announcement here (http://bit.ly/1USnfKe) and find a link to the Project Server 2016 release notes too.

Dynamics AX

Dynamics AX Public Cloud is available – in normal English that’s Dynamics AX built on and for Microsoft Azure as a cloud ERP service. This site (http://bit.ly/1Rfz2fL) gives you an overview of the licensing options – it’s USLs (as you’d expect) and DSLs (as you might not) and for the USLs there are different levels available dependent on what the user needs to do.

For those who love an overview there’s a useful Quick Reference Guide available on this site, and for those made of sterner stuff there’s a full 28-page Licensing, Pricing and Support Guide.

Dynamics CRM 2016 Spring Wave

Microsoft announce that the spring wave of Dynamics CRM 2016 will be available to online customers in the second quarter of this year.

The release is focused on the integration of FieldOne and Adxstudio, but no word yet on how the licensing might change.

Read the announcement here: http://bit.ly/22b3OBa.