Category Archives: Uncategorized

Azure Dedicated Host

Microsoft announce the preview of Azure Dedicated Host, a new Azure service that enables customers to run Linux and Windows virtual machines on single-tenant physical servers.

So, how’s this all licensed? Well, first of all you choose the type of Azure Dedicated Host that you want. Currently there are three types, each based on a particular VM series: Dsv3, Esv3 or Fsv2, and you can run any virtual machines from the chosen family on a particular Azure Dedicated Host. Each Azure Dedicated Host has a specific number of vCPUs available and that dictates how many virtual machines you can run.

So, for example, the Dsv3 series Azure Dedicated Host has 64 vCPUs, so you could run 32 x D2s v3 VMs since they have 2 vCPUs each, or mix and match with 2 x D8s v3 (8 vCPUs each) + 2 x D16s v3 (16 vCPUs each) + 8 x D2s v3 (2 vCPUs each). You then pay an hourly charge for the Azure Dedicated Host, regardless of how many virtual machines are running, and that’s $3.38 per hour for the Dsv3 Series.

This hourly charge is for the compute power of the virtual machines, so then you need to pay for the software you want to run in those virtual machines. This can either be done on a metered, hourly basis, or you can bring your own Windows Server and SQL Server licences if you’re eligible for the Azure Hybrid Benefit – either through Software Assurance or if you have a Server Subscription bought through CSP.

How many licences do you bring? Well, you can follow the usual rules for licensing virtual machines in Azure, or you can license all the physical cores on the Azure Dedicated Host with Windows Server Datacenter or SQL Server Enterprise licences to be eligible for running an unlimited number of virtual machines. In terms of useful resources, find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/2M1TKIB, find the Azure Dedicated Host pricing page here: http://bit.ly/2KkxB6m, and an updated FAQ on the Azure Hybrid Benefit here: http://bit.ly/2g1HEwS.

Changes to Office 365 Client Licensing and Activation

Microsoft announce that there will be some changes to the licensing and activation of the subscription-based Office clients such as Office 365 ProPlus.

Users will be able to install Office on a new device without being prompted to deactivate Office on another device when they reach the five-device limit, and will simply be signed out of Office on the device where Office has been least recently used.

These changes will start rolling out to customers from August, with exact timings dependent on which release channel a customer is using.

Find the full announcement here: http://bit.ly/2JZZctp.

Microsoft Partner Agreement Preview in CSP

If you’re a partner selling through CSP then you may know that there will be a new Partner Agreement coming from 1 September, 2019.

If you want to preview this agreement then it’s available on Partner Center here: http://bit.ly/3104kTH, and if you want to revisit Microsoft’s original blog post announcing this agreement then you can find that here: http://bit.ly/2Ilm4l1.

Home Use Program Update

Microsoft’s Home Use Program enters its next phase as Office Professional Plus HUP licences are removed from the July 2019 Product Terms.

You can still buy HUP licences for Project and Visio, but licences for the Office products to use at home are now covered by Office 365 Home or Personal subscriptions.

If you want a reminder of the new Home Use Program then our previous blog articles are useful – Office 365 Home Use Program Benefit (http://bit.ly/2yj0Qj1) and Home Use Program FAQ: http://bit.ly/2SLj2LJ.

Changes to PowerApps and Flow Licensing

Microsoft announce new licensing options for PowerApps and Flow which will take effect in October 2019. Customers will be able to license internal users for an individual PowerApps app at $10 per user per app per month, or for unlimited apps at $40 per user per month.

PowerApps Portals will be the way to create and license apps for external users and this service is now in public preview from 18 July, 2019: http://bit.ly/2Oq92cf. Authenticated users will be charged at $200 for 100 logins per month and anonymous users will be $100 for 100,000 web page views per month.

From a Flow perspective, customers will now be able to choose to license an individual user to create unlimited workflows and business processes at a cost of $15 per user per month. Alternatively, they can choose to license individual business processes for an unlimited number of users at a cost of $500 per business process per month for up to 5 active workflows.

The announcement article is here: http://bit.ly/2JZo3gY, and if you want to watch a session from the Inspire partner conference explaining all this, then you’ll find that here: http://bit.ly/2Y2Cp8L.

Changes to Dynamics 365 Licensing

There will be some changes to Dynamics 365 licensing from October 2019, which Microsoft covered in a couple of sessions at the Inspire partner conference. Let’s look at the most significant of these changes.

Firstly, the Finance and Operations module will be split into two modules: Finance, and Supply Chain Management. Secondly, all the current Plans (Unified Operations, Customer Engagement, and Dynamics 365) will be removed. This means that customers will buy licences for just the apps that they need. If a user does need to be licensed for multiple apps then they will buy a Base licence for the first app and an Attach licence for the second one. There’s no difference in the functionality but the Attach licences will be significantly cheaper.

If you want to dive deeper into these changes, then watch these Inspire sessions: Unified Operations Licensing (http://bit.ly/2y9oOgo) and Customer Engagement Licensing (http://bit.ly/2YnlRHZ).

Enhanced CSP track in GLR

CSP CSP track on GLR Enhanced CSP track in GLR

The Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) track in Get Licensing Ready has been enhanced and extended to contain the following modules:

  • Introduction to CSP
  • Licensing Online Services in CSP
  • Licensing Azure Services in CSP
  • Licensing Virtual Machines in CSP
  • Comparing CSP to other Programs: Azure

Each module has the usual video, handout and test so it’s an ideal way to learn the essentials of licensing in CSP, with a certificate awarded at the end.

Find the track in the English portal here: http://bit.ly/2Oib269.

Azure Lighthouse

Microsoft announce the General Availability of Azure Lighthouse (http://bit.ly/2XXR45e) on 11 July, 2019. This tool is primarily aimed at Service Providers who manage Azure resources across a number of customer tenants, but it’s also useful for customers who need to manage their own resources across multiple tenants. Typically, in order to manage Azure resources for a customer, a Service Provider has to sign in to the Azure Management portal using an account associated with that customer’s tenant, and if there are tasks to be done across multiple customer tenants, it’s a time-consuming process accessing each customer’s tenant separately.

Azure Lighthouse makes use of the Azure delegated resource management capability which, through a logical projection of customer resources onto a Service Provider’s tenant context, gives that partner a single control plane to view and manage Azure resources across all of their customers. Even better, it works across the different ways that a customer may have purchased Azure such as through an EA, CSP or directly from Azure.com. The service is free to use, and customers can be onboarded to Azure delegated resource management either by using Azure Resource Manager templates or by publishing a private or public Managed Services offer to the Azure Marketplace.

To find out more, tackle these resources in order:

  • Introducing managed services offers in Azure Marketplace – 20-minute session from Inspire: http://bit.ly/2M6BGMI
  • Azure Lighthouse: Shifting the managed services paradigm towards greater efficiency and security – 1-hour session from Inspire: http://bit.ly/2YmBXl9
  • Azure Lighthouse documentation: http://bit.ly/2Y04Zrf

Microsoft Teams Trial in CSP.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft announce at Inspire that they’re launching a trial of Teams in CSP from 1st August, 2019. It’s aimed at customers who have yet to see the value of the cloud, or who are perhaps using a standalone service such as Exchange Online.

Watch the 20-minute session that covers this new offer here: http://bit.ly/2Z9s0o6, with this particular slide at 13:13.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (July 2019) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide with two main changes. Firstly, the addition of the Customer Service Chat Add-on – a User SL which is added on to the Customer Service Enterprise User SL to help agents engage in real-time with customers to resolve issues faster. And secondly, the addition of Forms Pro – a product that enables organisations to collect feedback from customers and employees and to gain actionable insights from the results. It’s licensed per tenant and many Dynamics 365 licences include 2,000 survey responses per month. Check out our blog post for the full Forms Pro licensing story: http://bit.ly/2Sgaqwb.

Find this Licensing Guide here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.