Category Archives: Uncategorized

General Availability of PAYG option for Power Apps

Microsoft announce the General Availability of the Pay-As-You-Go option for Power Apps. Historically, Power Apps has been licensed Per User (allows a user to access any number of apps) or Per App (allows a user to access a particular app), and both of these options are paid in advance. If PAYG is enabled for an environment, then app usage is charged on a consumption basis against an Azure Subscription, with a cost of $10 per app per user per month.

So, if one month 5 users use 2 apps each, then the organization is charged 5 x 2 x $10 = $100, but if the next month, only 1 user uses the 2 apps, then the charges are only 2 x $10 = $20.

There’s a good explanation of how this new licensing option works in the announcement article here: https://bit.ly/36TfWjK, and there’s an on-demand video that’s worth a watch here: https://bit.ly/3tLrRsX.

SQL Server 2012 End-of-Support options

SQL Server 2012 comes to the end of support on 12 July, 2022 when no more security patches will be issued. Customers might upgrade to a newer version of SQL Server at this time, or perhaps purchase Extended Security Updates, or move to Azure where security patches are free.

You can find a useful article comparing the options, including moving to AWS, here: https://bit.ly/3NsSkmJ.

Managing Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment

Customers buying direct from Microsoft via an EA or the Microsoft Customer Agreement can make a commitment to the amount of Azure services they intend to purchase over a given period – this is called a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC).

There are some new/updated resources for customers to help them manage MACC: the first (https://bit.ly/3Jje1DB) gives instructions on tracking MACC, and the second (https://bit.ly/3KRs8jH) is helpful in ascertaining whether purchasing certain Marketplace offers will contribute to this commitment.

Microsoft Priva

Privacy Management for Microsoft 365 was made available in November 2021 with a Privacy Management – Risk User SL and a Privacy Management – Subject Rights Request licence. Note that Microsoft Priva has become the new branding for these solutions with the licences now called the Priva Privacy Risk Management User SL and the Priva Subject Rights Request licence.

See our blog for the original availability details here: https://bit.ly/3tExPKK, and/or learn more about Microsoft Priva here: https://bit.ly/3CoShDq.

Retirement of SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters

Microsoft announce the retirement of SQL Server 2019 Big Data Clusters. Existing users will be fully supported on the platform through February 2025 with the software maintained through SQL Server cumulative updates until that time.

There’s advice for replacement and migration options for customers here: https://bit.ly/35Xiblt, and you can find the retirement announcement here: https://bit.ly/3sMVUjl.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (February 2022) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide.

The Finance section is updated to include the default capacity of 20,000 AI Builder credits per tenant per month (see page 18), and there’s more detail added on pages 35 and 37 for the capabilities included in Guides and Remote Assist Device licences – see our blog (https://bit.ly/3C0vRIy) if these licences are new to you.

Find the February 2022 Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide here: https://bit.ly/3uEes6G.

Azure Cost Management and the EA

If you’ve got an EA and you use Azure then you’ve managed Enrolments, Accounts, Departments and Subscriptions in the EA Enterprise Portal (ea.azure.com). There are better facilities for Azure Cost Management in the Azure Management Portal (portal.azure.com) and there’s a new set of videos to explain how you’d manage these elements as you move over to this portal.

Find them here: Managing Enrolments (https://bit.ly/3HVCi1I), Managing Accounts (https://bit.ly/3oPazIj), Managing Departments (https://bit.ly/3rUCQz6), and Managing Subscriptions (https://bit.ly/353SKyt).