There’s an updated Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide for May 2018. There aren’t major changes – just some clarifications of language which you can find in Appendix H on page 50. Get the Guide from our Licensing Guides emporium here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
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Microsoft Calling Plans
Microsoft Calling Plans let users make and receive phone calls. From a licensing perspective there are Domestic and Domestic and International Plans available as User Subscription Licences and all users need to be licensed with a Phone System User SL too. The most recent availability of Calling Plans is in Canada (http://bit.ly/2IJ2MZM) from 1st May 2018, where calls to the US (and vice versa) are considered to be domestic .If you’re interested in a spreadsheet which shows availability throughout the world and how many minutes are included in the different regions, then this is download-must: http://bit.ly/2JbycHs.
VLSC Training and Resources
If you need to use VLSC to carry out tasks such as managing licences, downloading software, and activating and managing SA benefits, then this site with its collection of How-to videos and User Guides may be just what you’ve been looking for: http://bit.ly/2rCqwmZ.
Mobile Apps included in Office 365 Plans
Microsoft announce that the Office Mobile Apps will now be available with full editing capability for users with Office 365 Business Essentials, E1 and F1 subscriptions.
Find the full details here: http://bit.ly/2IEjt7N.
Azure Monetary Commitment Overage Payments
Microsoft make changes to when customers are invoiced for overage on their Azure Monetary Commitment. Historically, this has been quarterly or annually, dependent on agreement type, which was changed to quarterly for all customer and agreement types in December 2017. Now all overage will be charged at the end of each month.
See page 50 of the May 2018 Product Terms for the official wording.
Azure Reserved Instance Options
Microsoft add wording to the May 2018 Product Terms document to explain some of the key terms associated with Azure Reserved Instances: Exchange, Cancel, and Reassignment. Find the detail on page 50.
Azure Reserved Instances and Server Subscriptions
Microsoft announce that Reserved Instances are immediately available through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and that Server Subscriptions will be available in the near future. These two offerings will be perfect partners since they will allow customers to enjoy the very best prices for virtual machines running in Azure.
Reserved Instances are a way for customers to pay for the compute part of a virtual machine and Server Subscriptions for Windows Server and SQL Server will enable customers to acquire a subscription for the software to run in their virtual machines. Both offerings are paid for upfront for a 1 or 3-year term, and used together may enable customers to save up to 80% compared to the price of an equivalent virtual machine paid for on a consumption basis.
There are plenty of resources available if you want to find out more and this page (http://bit.ly/2jYx23P) includes links to an FAQ, an overview presentation, a webinar and a sales sheet. It’s definitely worth a look!
Understanding Reserved Instance Pre-Payment
If you’re running full-time virtual machines in Azure then pre-paying for the compute power via an Azure Reserved Instance is a good way of saving money. The pre-paid amount is automatically applied to your running virtual machines and if you want to find out more about how this (apparently magic) process works, then this article is worth a read: http://bit.ly/2HKvLsA.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing Guide
There’s a brand new (March 2018) Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing Guide covering the licensing of this new ERP solution for small and medium-sized businesses. Use it to find out about the different licence types (Essential, Premium and Team Members), licensing external users (included in the internal users’ licence rights), and whether users are allowed access to on-premises servers (they’re not). Find the guide at the bottom of the Dynamics 365 section in our Licensing Guides emporium: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
Azure Roadmap
The Azure Roadmap is a useful resource if you need to know what’s new and coming next in Azure. Find it here: http://bit.ly/2IDdxbB.