There’s a slightly updated SQL Server 2019 Licensing Guide with some minor corrections and the inclusion of CSP as a purchasing channel. Find the guide here: http://bit.ly/SQL2019LGNov-2.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Azure Dedicated Host Generally Available
Microsoft announce that Azure Dedicated Host is generally available. Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/352d920 and a reminder of the licensing on our blog: http://bit.ly/2OJ5Nwx.
Microsoft 365 Business Voice
Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Business Voice in November 2019 for the UK and Canada, with plans for global availability in 2020. This is a single Add-on licence which includes access to Phone System, Audio Conferencing, and a Domestic Calling Plan, and can be added to an Office 365 plan (Business Essentials, Business Premium, A1, E1, A3, E3) or a Microsoft 365 plan (Business, A3, E3). It’s limited to up to 300 users in an organisation, and the price per month is £12.00 per user.
Find the original announcement here: http://bit.ly/2Yt80gU and a useful overview page here: http://bit.ly/2Yw4LoR.
PowerApps and Power Automate Licensing FAQs
If you’re interested in the licensing of PowerApps and Power Automate then you may find this page of licensing FAQs useful. It covers a diverse range of topics including trial licences, the Common Data Service, Add-ons, Portals, and AI Builder. Find it here: http://bit.ly/32U9ocP.
PowerApps and Flow Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (November 2019) PowerApps and Flow Licensing Guide. There are only small changes to this guide since the main changes to PowerApps and Flow licensing happened in October 2019. Find the changes detailed in the Change Log on page 21, and note that this guide isn’t yet updated for the renaming of Flow to Power Automate. Get this latest guide here: http://bit.ly/PowAppLGNov2019.
Power Platform Updates
Microsoft announce some changes to the Power Platform of which the most notable enhancements are: Microsoft Flow is renamed to Microsoft Power Automate, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is added for delivering an end-to-end automation solution, and Microsoft Power Virtual Agents are added to allow intelligent AI-powered virtual agents to be created and deployed. Find the full announcement here: http://bit.ly/2NWKFQT.
SQL Server 2019 Generally Available
Microsoft announce that SQL Server 2019 is generally available. There are the usual product enhancements you’d expect with, from a licensing perspective, the most significant being support for deploying Big Data Clusters. A new SA benefit gives customers an allowance for licensing Big Data Cluster nodes, with additional licences available in the (inevitable) 2-core pack. There are also SA benefits added for licensing Disaster Recovery solutions.
Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/2pGwlD5, with a 42-page Licensing Guide here: http://bit.ly/SQL2019LGNov2019.
Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (November 2019) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. There are a number of changes which, as usual, you can find detailed in the Change Log on page 68. The most interesting ones include the addition of Digital Messaging – a new messaging Add-on for Customer Service Enterprise, licensed by user (page 19), and Chatbot Sessions for use with Azure Bot Framework bots, where each Chat and Digital Messaging licence receives an entitlement of 50 chatbot sessions pooled at the tenant level, with additional chatbot sessions available as an Add-on (page 31). There’s also some wording added on page 6 to clarify when logins are shared and individual with Device SLs.
Find this guide here: http://bit.ly/D365LGNov2019.
Project for the web
Microsoft announce the availability of “the new Project” or “Project for the web”, the most recent offering for cloud-based work and project management. A brand new Project Plan 1 will be available at $10 per user per month to manage projects through a browser, with Project Plan 3 ($30 per user per month) and Project Plan 5 ($55 per user per month) available with access to additional functionality and the choice of managing projects with the desktop client. Note that these plans are renamed from Project Online Professional and Project Online Premium respectively, and continue to give access to Project Online, as well as Project for the web.
If this all sounds a trifle confusing, then check out this introductory article “What is Project for the web” (http://bit.ly/2WFtMNG), this comparison article “Project for the web and Project Online” (http://bit.ly/2pBDWmc) and the Microsoft Project Service Description (http://bit.ly/328gGcF).
The announcement article (http://bit.ly/34pMtHG) confirms that Project Plan 1 is available for purchase online starting 29 October, 2019 in the US and select international markets, with availability in other international markets from mid-November with the exception of France and South Korea.
PowerApps and Flow Licensing Guide
There are significant changes to PowerApps and Flow licensing from 1 October, 2019 so the Licensing Guide is updated accordingly. Find the summary of changes to the licensing on page 1, and find the guide itself here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.