Category Archives: Uncategorized

New Regions and Pricing for Dynamics 365 for Marketing

Microsoft announce that Dynamics 365 for Marketing is now available in an additional 33 languages and is also geographically available in all current Dynamics 365 markets.

In addition, the pricing has changed so that organizations no longer have to count ALL the contact records in their Dynamics 365 database from a licensing perspective. Now, it’s sufficient to count just the contacts that will be engaged with via a marketing activity such as emails, events and surveys. For most organizations, this will reduce the licensing costs.

Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/2O4FSPj.

Office 2019 Available

Microsoft announce that Office 2019 for Windows and Mac is available from 24 September, 2018.

The announcement page (http://bit.ly/2DRaPSo) has some useful links to FAQs on both the new features and the new technology to deploy it – Click-to-Run.

There’s also confirmation that Exchange Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Project Server 2019 will be released in the coming weeks.

Windows Server 2019 Available

Microsoft announce that Windows Server 2019 is available for download from VLSC: http://bit.ly/2IzPATQ.

There’s also a Licensing Datasheet available where you’ll see that the basic licensing model is unchanged: servers are licensed per core with packs of 2 or 16 Core licences available, and a minimum of 8 Core licences assigned to a processor, and 16 to a server. CALs are required for users or devices accessing the services of the server.

The datasheet also confirms that there’s a 10% price increase for Windows Server 2019 Standard Core licences, and gives a nice overview of the Servicing Channels.

Find the datasheet here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s a new (October 2018) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide which reflects the changes introduced with the Fall Update. There are changes to Team Members rights, Marketing contacts, and the minimum number of licences required for the included Dynamics 365 portal, and some new SKUs: Customer Service Professional, Microsoft Relationship Sales Solution/Solution Plus, Unified Order Operations – Order Lines, and Talent Comprehensive Hiring.

Find the guide here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides, and refer to page 1 for a summary table of changes.

New Applications for Dynamics 365

Microsoft announce new AI and mixed reality business applications for Dynamics 365. The next major release to the Dynamics products will be available on 1 October, 2018 and will include a new class of AI applications to help customers with decision making and to enable them to take informed actions. The new AI apps will be available for Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service and Market Insights. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Dynamics 365 Layout, mixed reality applications that use Microsoft HoloLens, will also be available in the same timeframe. Find the announcement and watch some videos of these new products in action here: http://bit.ly/2O0KRzC.

SQL Server in Azure: IaaS or PaaS?

The Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server allows you to choose where you use a SQL Server licence: either on-premises or in Azure. Not only that, you’re allowed to choose between an Azure virtual machine (IaaS) or the Azure SQL Database service (PaaS). This article is useful if you’re interested in an overview of the business motivations for choosing one Azure option over another: http://bit.ly/SQLOptions. Customers are eligible for the Azure Hybrid Benefit by having active Software Assurance on their licences or buying a Server Subscription.

Microsoft Stream Licensing

Microsoft Stream – a cloud-based enterprise video service – is available as a Plan 1 User SL ($3 per month) or Plan 2 ($5 per month). This page (http://bit.ly/2phNAqx) is useful for comparing the features of the two plans, but many Office 365 plans already include rights to Stream, the exact details of which are shown here: http://bit.ly/2ox1TXB. This page also explains how Stream storage works: each tenant receives 500 GB of storage and an additional 0.5 GB per licensed user, with the exception of Office 365 F1 users. Further Stream storage is available as an Add-on licence.

Changes to Azure Meter Names

Microsoft announce changes to the Azure meter names to make them more consistent and easier to understand. This page (http://bit.ly/2x9ShH9) gives some examples of old and new naming conventions for virtual machines, and you can also download a detailed spreadsheet that contains all meters and their before/after attribute values. This list will be refreshed each month until all changes are implemented by the first week of October 2018.