Category Archives: Uncategorized

Using SQL Server on Azure

There’s text added to page 30 of the January 2020 Product Terms document stating that customers must indicate their use of SQL Server on Azure when making use of the Azure Hybrid Benefit or Disaster Recover Rights. For details on how to do this see our blog post: http://bit.ly/2ZB6nwI.

Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (January 2020) Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality Licensing Guide. There’s information added on page 5 to clarify which Remote Assist users need to be licensed with Teams: the Expert giving assistance DOES need a licence, but the user being assisted DOES NOT. There’s also a new section and Appendix added detailing Dynamics 365 Support Plans and policies, and you’ll find these on pages 8/9 and 10. Grab this guide here (http://bit.ly/MixRealLGJan2020) to keep your Licensing Guide collection up-to-date.

New Phone System From SA User SL

Microsoft add a new Phone System From SA User SL to the January 2020 Product Terms. Available only in the EA, the usual From SA rules apply with the qualifying licences being Skype for Business Server Plus CALs or a Skype for Business Plus CAL User SL. You’ll find the new licence added to the table on page 69 and the qualifying licences detailed on page 100. Download the Product Terms document here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.

Power Apps Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (January 2020) Power Apps Licensing Guide. There’s some useful information added on page 3 detailing the licensing requirements for external users, and confirmation included on page 4 that if the same Power Apps app exists in two environments, a user would require two Per App SLs to access both. As usual there’s a detailed Change Log on page 25, and you can find the updated guide here: http://bit.ly/PowAppsLGJan2020.

Self-service purchase capability

14 January, 2020 is the day that Microsoft’s new self-service capability goes live for commercial customers in the US.

This functionality allows end-users to buy Power BI licences on their organisation’s tenant without going through the IT department. They pay with a credit card and get limited access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center so that they can assign licences to other users as required. IT administrators can see any licences that have been purchased in this way through their view of the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, and can turn off users’ ability to self-serve using PowerShell if required. End users will be able to purchase licences for Power Apps and Power Automate soon, and the functionality will be available in other geographies through 2020. Find an FAQ here: http://bit.ly/2uNNQU3.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (January 2020) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. The main change is an update for the recently announced Dynamics 365 Virtual Agent for Customer Service on page 18 – see our blog for more details: http://bit.ly/LSBlogD365VACS.

There’s also confirmation added on page 21 that Asset Management for up to 100 assets is included in the base Supply Chain Management capability. Find this guide here: http://bit.ly/D365LGJan2020.

Announcements for Dynamics 365 retail solutions

Microsoft make three announcements concerning their Dynamics 365 retail solutions:

  • Dynamics 365 Commerce (an evolution of Dynamics 365 Retail unifying back-office, e-commerce, in-store and call centre experiences) will be generally available on 3rd February, 2020
  • There will be two new capabilities for Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection (loss prevention and account protection) available for preview on 2nd March, 2020
  • Dynamics 365 Connected Store (which uses smart devices in-store to give customers real-time and predictive insights on, for example, the length of queues at the tills or traffic around product displays so that appropriate actions can be taken) will be in preview later in 2020

Find the announcement with links to further resources including case studies here: http://bit.ly/2QJLAFP.

Dynamics 365 Virtual Agent for Customer Service

Microsoft announce Dynamics 365 Virtual Agent for Customer Service. This offering combines Power Virtual Agents and Dynamics 365 Customer Service Insights enabling organisations to create no-code chatbots having identified the most common support issues facing their customers. The announcement is here: http://bit.ly/2FFBDTp, and pricing at $1,100 per tenant per month is confirmed on the product page here: http://bit.ly/2RdCArs.