Microsoft announce a preview for group-based licence management to simplify the assignment of user licences for Azure AD Premium and the Enterprise Mobility Suite.
IT administrators can now assign a security group and Azure AD will automatically assign licences to all the members of the group. If a user is subsequently added to, or removed from the group, a licence will be automatically assigned or removed as appropriate.
Read the full blog post here: http://bit.ly/ZcSwOg.
Microsoft announce that Dynamics CRM 2015, as well as updates to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Microsoft Dynamics Marketing services, will be generally available in the fourth quarter of 2014.
CRM Online is now also available in 17 Latin America markets, bringing the total to 65 markets worldwide.
Read the full press release here: http://bit.ly/ZF554Y.
There’s a new handout available on the Server and Cloud Enrolment which you can find attached to the SCE module in the Get Licensing Ready exams. If you want access to all of these very useful one-pagers on Microsoft licensing then this is the place to check out: http://bit.ly/GLRhandouts.
There’s a new (September 2014) MPSA Licensing Manual which has been updated for SA.
Customers buying SA through the MPSA are governed by this document rather than the Product List (page 7) and there are pages of the rules you’d expect on how the benefits are calculated.
Most noteworthy, Planning Services, Training Vouchers, and 24×7 Problem Resolution Support are now ALL calculated on a points-based system and you can find the detail on page 8.
Get this updated guide here: http://bit.ly/1s4V5yE.
The GLR Elves have been busy… Get Licensing Ready is a popular licensing exam site from Microsoft and it’s just been updated with amendments to exams in both the SMB and LORG tracks.
The “Online Services and SPLA” exam has been retired and there’s no longer a requirement to take SMB exams in the LORG track and vice versa.
Most notable though is the inclusion of an MPSA track which consists of three modules, the first of which has also been added to the MLSS LORG level. If you need a new certificate to hang on your office wall then head over to http://getlicensingready.com as quick as you can.
There’s a change to the pages where you download the PUR, the Product List and other key licensing documents. You’ll now find them all on a single page here: http://bit.ly/1B53SRQ.
September 2014 sees Microsoft introduce a new Volume Licensing exam for the first time in over 5 years. Exam 74-678 is aimed at licensing professionals who sell licensing solutions to large organisations, and replaces exam 70-672. The sister exam (70-671 – for SMB organisations) doesn’t look like it’s being refreshed at this point.
The official exam page is here: http://bit.ly/1vWByya but what can you expect from this brand new exam? As before, you need knowledge in four key areas so let’s take a look at those.
The first area is the products and their licensing which, we’re told, will account for between 30 and 35% of the questions in the exam. One of the discussion points in the past was actually what versions of the products you needed to know about. Here we see quite a comprehensive list of products with their specific versions. Hurrah! It seems bang up to date including, for example, Windows 8.1, and has all the products you’d expect (Windows Server and System Center 2012 R2, SQL Server 2014, Lync, Exchange and SharePoint 2013, Office 2013) – except perhaps Dynamics CRM 2013 which is tagged on the end of the list. There’s also a much higher emphasis on the Online Services products and you’re going to have to know about Office 365, Intune, CRM Online, as well as Microsoft Azure. There’s also a list of the documentation you need to know about – the PUR and the Product List for example.
Then there’s a section on the licensing programs – again 30 to 35% of questions – where you’ll need to recommend the right licensing program for a customer based on some criteria which are given. Select Plus and EAs are listed, as is the new Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA). Interesting! It doesn’t specifically call out the Server and Cloud Enrolment but given that the wording before the lists throughout is “include but not limited to” I think we can assume it’s in, given its importance to Microsoft. As usual, you’re also going to need to know the specific benefits of Volume Licensing over OEM or FPP licences.
Next up is a section on Software Assurance benefits where we can expect 15 to 20% of questions to be focussed. There are some benefits called out – Licence Mobility for example – but again, I think you should assume that you need a knowledge of what each benefit is, and how it meets customer needs, as you did before.
Finally, a section that’s always included the things that I personally find least interesting like licence activation, and SA benefit activation, and you can expect 10 to 15% of questions to cover these areas.
Our website will soon go live with the resources that we’re producing to help you study for, and pass, this exam. Exciting times!
Native RDS support for Office 365 ProPlus has arrived and that means a slight change to the licensing.
Previously, Office 365 ProPlus couldn’t be deployed to users’ devices using RDS and there was a note in the Product List which allowed customers to use Office Professional Plus 2013 software to enable this scenario, which counted as 1 of the 5 allowed installations.
From 1 September 2014 there’s something called Shared Computer Activation – now, Office 365 ProPlus CAN be installed in an RDS environment, and this no longer counts against the 5 installations.
See page 51 of the September 2014 Product List, this Microsoft blog: http://bit.ly/ZfxoXr and TechNet article: http://bit.ly/1s9EOX4
The MPSA FAQ page has been updated to include the availability of Software Assurance from 1 September 2014. It’s quite a useful page if you’re getting up to speed with this new agreement and you can find it here: http://bit.ly/1pHzpH6.
If you need to know how SQL Processor licences are renewed into Core licences at SA renewal, then this is the guide for you.
Snazzily entitled “Determining SQL Server 2014 Core Licensing Requirements at SA Renewal” it’s a comprehensive guide to the whole process including a section on using the MAP Toolkit. Get it here: http://bit.ly/1zG13E8.