Category Archives: Uncategorized

Overview of the Changes to the June 2015 Volume Licensing Product List

If you look at page 10 of the June 2015 Product List you’ll find that there are no changes listed for this month. So, we had to dig a bit deeper to find the (admittedly extraordinarily minor!) changes:

  • First of all, the Planning Services which used to include Lync Server and now include Skype for Business Server are indeed updated to be “Skype for Business and Exchange Deployment Planning Services (S&EDPS)” on page 68
  • Then there are some changes to the Microsoft Azure Services section on pages 41/42 with a slight amendment to the definition of “Consumption Rates” and the inclusion of MPSA as a qualifying agreement to set pricing for the Server pool and thus the Azure services in an EA
  • And finally, there’s wording added on page 58 for the purchase eligibility of the Office 365 From SA User SLs. This clarifies that EA customers who licensed Office 365 before 1 August 2014 may indeed also purchase From SA USLs at renewal for any additional Office 365 users that they added during their Enrolment term

Windows 10 Upgrades

Microsoft announced last week that Windows 10 will be available on 29 July 2015.

This FAQ gives lots of information on the upgrade process, but here are the key licensing facts:

  • The free upgrades will be available for Windows 7 SP1 and 8.1 devices for a year;
  • Home editions will upgrade to Windows 10 Home, while Professional and Ultimate editions will go to Windows 10 Pro;
  • Customers with Windows Enterprise licences will need Software Assurance to upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise.

Read the whole FAQ here: http://bit.ly/1KPXWR8.

MSDN Benefits

This is a nice article on 10 of the MSDN benefits including rights to deploy to Azure, perpetual use rights, Azure credit, Visual Studio Online, and Store and Office 365 Developer Accounts. Find it here: http://bit.ly/1LQ1Av2.

Coffee Break Video: Select Plus Retirement

Select Plus Retirement 5

There’s a bit of confusion over the dates associated with the retirement of Select Plus… Be confused no longer – invest a mere four minutes and watch our latest Coffee Break video on this very topic: http://bit.ly/LSyoutube.

Microsoft Azure – Licensing Tips

Don’t be overlicensed in Azure! This Microsoft blog post gives some good tips about Azure licensing and it’s worth a read to make sure you’re not overlicensed: http://bit.ly/1HxOFtD.

FAQ: Using Microsoft Software on AWS

A useful FAQ from Amazon Web Services covering the usage of Microsoft software on AWS, including sections on Windows Server 2012 R2, SharePoint Server, and MSDN.

It’s worth a look through and you’ll find it here: http://amzn.to/1cXmwUH.

VLSC Downloads: SQL and System Center

Microsoft confirm that SQL 2014 SP1 will be available for download from VLSC from 21 May 2015 (http://bit.ly/1cG2vC1) and SC Configuration Manager 2012 R2 SP1 and 2012 SP2 from 28 May 2015 (http://bit.ly/1FhzgiQ).

FAQ: Retirement of Select Plus

Commercial Select Plus agreements are being retired – this FAQ is a useful reminder of the key dates. It also covers what happens if the MPSA isn’t available in a country by the retirement date; in this case Select Plus will be available for another 90 days after the launch of the MPSA in that country.

Find the FAQ here: http://bit.ly/1JJHWj4.

Overview of the Changes to the May 2015 Volume Licensing Product List

There aren’t many changes to the Product List this month with the main amendments falling into two key areas. The first is the renaming of Lync Server 2013 to Skype for Business Server 2015 and that’s happened throughout the document. The components of the CAL Suites are updated to included Skype for Business Server CALs (page 19) and all the information on upgrades and licence grants for customers with Lync SA are removed and a reference is added to the April 2014 Product List (page 28).

Then there are some changes for government customers and these include the introduction of government-specific SKUs for the Enterprise Cloud Suite, Project Online, Project Lite, Project Pro for Office 365, Visio Pro for Office 365, and Office 365 Extra File Storage (pages 47, 55, 61). In addition, the Product List is updated to show more clearly which services are available under the US Government Community Cloud program – look out for a “UC” cell identifier – and, in particular, ECS is now available under GCC (page 47).

Finally, there are a couple of Education-specific SKUs added for Dynamics Marketing and Social Engagement (page 52).

Windows 10 Editions

Microsoft announce the editions that will be available for Windows 10. Here’s the summary:

  • Windows 10 Home (consumer desktops)
  • Windows 10 Mobile (smartphones and tablets)
  • Windows 10 Pro (small business desktops) – and these three editions will be available as the free upgrades for qualifying Windows 7 and 8.1 phones and devices
  • Windows 10 Enterprise (medium and large business desktops, available through Volume Licensing)
  • Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise (business smartphones and tablets, available through VL)
  • Windows 10 Education (education desktops, available through Academic VL)
  • There will also be Industry versions of Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise (ATMs, POS devices etc) and Windows 10 IoT Core (small footprint, low cost devices like gateways).

For the full story with some idea of the functionality included, read the Microsoft announcement here: http://bit.ly/1E8skk3.