Microsoft announce that SQL Server 2016 will be generally available on 1 June, 2016.
There’s not much detail on any licensing changes – so far we just know that the editions are confirmed as Express, Standard, Enterprise, and Developer and so we say farewell to the Business Intelligence edition.
The announcement is here: http://bit.ly/24iTI29 and you can download a datasheet about the editions here: http://bit.ly/21qiTdT.
Microsoft announce a free Azure Support upgrade for EA customers.
It’s available for new or existing customers who have Azure Services on their EA and gives them an upgrade to an Azure Support Plan between 1 May 2016 and 30 June 2017 for 12 months.
The details from Microsoft are split across these two pages: http://bit.ly/1XZCUpL and http://bit.ly/1TBVG5k but we’ve consolidated it into the table below:
Take a customer who has not purchased any Azure Support (the first row) – if he’s made a Monetary Commitment of less than $100,000 then he’s upgraded to an Azure Standard Support Plan, but if he spends more than $10,000 a month on Azure Services for 3 consecutive months or he does make a Monetary Commitment of at least $100,000 then he’s upgraded to Professional Direct Support.
You can see the options for the existing Standard Support customer – he’s automatically upgraded to Professional Direct Support but with the higher spend will also get 6 App Consulting Services sessions. And the existing Professional Direct Support customer receives either 6 or 12 App Consulting Services sessions dependent on his spend on Azure Services.
List prices are $300/month for Standard and $1,000/month for Professional Direct Support (http://bit.ly/1rHFmY4) and Microsoft say that the upgraded support will be enabled automatically by September 2016.
You can find the fine print on this offer and a description of App Consulting Services here: http://bit.ly/1TBVG5k.
There’s an updated (February 2016) CRM Online Licensing Guide.
There are some additions for working with Dynamics AX: users licensed with a Dynamics AX Enterprise USL have the right to read CRM Online application data (page 6), and users licensed with a CRM Online Professional or Enterprise USL may read AX application data (page 8).
There’s also a new Voice of the Customer section (page 13) explaining what this functionality provides, as well as the CRM Online USLs required to use different parts of it.
Finally, there’s clarity added to the Add-ons section stating which USLs are eligible to have Add-ons added on.
Get this guide from the Dynamics section of our Licensing Guides emporium: http://bit.ly/MSlicensingguides.
There’s a new offer for MSDN subscribers who want to run dev and test workloads in Azure.
Essentially you set up an MSDN Dev/Test Subscription in your EA or MPSA and then you get special rates on certain services (such as virtual machines) and the usual EA/MPSA rates on other ones. Even better, it’s all managed through the usual Azure Enterprise Portal.
Note that this is completely unrelated to the Azure credit that MSDN subscribers also get, and if a customer doesn’t have an EA/MPSA then there is a similar MSDN Dev/Test offer on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Find full details here: http://bit.ly/1VDYthQ.
There are a couple of additions to the April 2016 Product Terms document: some add-ons for Dynamics AX and some USLs for Cloud App Security. Read on for the detail!
Dynamics AX – that’s Dynamics built on and for Azure – was made available in March 2016 and now we’ve got some extra licensing options. If you’re a Dynamics AX 2012 R3 on-premises customer and you have existing licences with active Software Assurance then you can now purchase For SA USLs to add on access to the cloud service. There’s a table on page 55 which lists the qualifying licences and the eligible For SA USLs you can purchase.
Cloud App Security, based on Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Adallom, helps IT and security teams gain deeper visibility and enhanced protection for cloud applications. How’s it licensed? Page 53 confirms it’s with a User Subscription Licence, and if you want more information and an intro to how it works, then head over to the Microsoft Cyber Trust Blog: http://bit.ly/23H7Fqq.
Good news! From 1 April 2016, SQL Server 2014 Developer Edition is a free download if you’re a Visual Studio Dev Essentials member.
As a reminder, the Developer Edition includes the full feature set of the Enterprise Edition and is for development and testing only, and not for production environments or even for use with production data.
Here’s the Microsoft announcement (http://bit.ly/1NxiU83) where you’ll also find confirmation that SQL Server 2016 Developer Edition will also be free when it’s released in the next few months.
The March 2016 Hosting and Cloud Service Provider newsletter is out.
There are a couple of topics of licensing interest: firstly, E5 is now a qualifying CAL for the Skype for Business Server Enterprise and Plus SALs for SA.
Then there’s a reminder to report only the products shown on the published SPUR – for example, a Service Provider who uses SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard should report SQL Server 2014 Standard Core licences.
Sign up for this free newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.
When the MPSA was launched, a new portal replaced VLSC – the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center, or MVLC. This portal will be undergoing an upgrade very soon and will be known as the Microsoft Business Center. Don’t worry – it’s not a new portal so much as a layer over the existing portal surfacing summary information more easily.
If you’re in the US, Canada or Japan you’re probably already using this portal, and the rest of the world will soon have access.
If you want to get an overview of the new look and feel then this video is worth a look: http://bit.ly/1WqXK2w.
We’re expecting SharePoint Server 2016 to be generally available in VLSC in early May (http://bit.ly/1USnfKe) and this page confirms that there will be no changes to the licensing – hurrah! http://bit.ly/1S5H7Ed
Well, this has given us all something to talk about here at Licensing Towers!
Microsoft have announced a series of changes to their partner program and, as part of this, they are retiring a number of competencies – including those for Volume Licensing and Software Asset Management (SAM).
If you’re a current partner, wondering what this means for you and your business, Microsoft have produced an FAQ document which has some very relevant questions and can be downloaded here (http://bit.ly/1NnZi67).
Although the competencies are being retired, there are two things that Microsoft make clear:
1) Continued Volume Licensing certification will still be a requirement for Distributor and LSP partners
2) SAM is still very much a focus for Microsoft and they will continue to work with partners on this
A question you will most likely hear around the business over the next few days will be:
“Are the competencies still worthwhile?”
and here at Licensing School, we feel there is still definite value to renewing/attaining these competencies, for a number of reasons.
Many customers understand the effort that goes into attaining a Microsoft competency and having MCP accredited staff members will still show them your dedication, focus and expertise. Additionally, the last date a partner can be active in one of these competencies is 30 January, 2018 so there are still almost two years until they are removed from the Partner Membership Center.
There are some deadlines to be aware of:
If you’re now slightly concerned about how you, your team and/or your colleagues can learn the material and pass the exams in the next in the next couple of months – don’t worry, our range of exam prep materials will give you the best possible chance of attaining these certifications in the timeframe Microsoft have set!
For Volume Licensing, we have a range of resources and courses including our popular exam preparation guide “Lessons in Licensing – Microsoft 74-678: Exam Preparation Guide”, which can be found here (http://bit.ly/1NnZp1x).
For SAM, we are running a Licensing School Online 70-673 Exam Prep Course on 4 May, 2016. Register here http://bit.ly/1RzX7S9T using voucher code 70-673-35B and get the promo price of £65 + VAT.
To read more, and to see other impacted competencies, head over to the Microsoft MPN Evolution page here (http://bit.ly/1S6fLy1).