Microsoft announce the reduction in pricing of many of their most popular Azure virtual machines by between 10 and 50%. Find out which VM types are affected and get the details here: http://bit.ly/2dEUYEb.
Intune device limit increased.
Page 22 of the October 2016 Online Services Terms document confirms that the Intune device limit has been increased; licensed users may now access and use the Intune Online Service and System Center software to manage up to 15 devices.
Skype for Business Add-on Licensing
Think Skype for Business, think Cloud PBX, PSTN Calling, PSTN Conferencing, PSTN Consumption… But how do they all fit together?
Do you need all of them or just some of them? And what licences do you buy? Roll your sleeves up – this Microsoft article is a good place to get started to find out more: http://bit.ly/2d2rfIz.
Secure Productive Enterprise
The Enterprise Cloud Suite will automagically change into Secure Productive Enterprise on 1st October 2016.
SPE will be available in two flavours – E3 and E5 – and ECS becomes SPE E3. However, it also gets some new rights including the ability to install the server software for Exchange, Skype for Business and SharePoint on on-premises servers for SPE users (useful if you need to deploy further servers on your way to the cloud) and the From SA USLs also include the rights to install Office Professional Plus on one device.
The official Microsoft page is here: http://bit.ly/2cIWgkh.
Skype for Business Cloud PBX
Skype for Business Cloud PBX gives businesses PBX capabilities but without the complicated (and expensive) equipment. What do you actually get with Cloud PBX? This is a useful Microsoft page with an FAQ at the bottom which covers the licensing requirements too: http://bit.ly/2dl8ded.
Yammer Enterprise standalone plan retirement
Microsoft announce that the Yammer Enterprise standalone plan will retire in Volume Licensing programs on 1 January 2017 and in partner channels on 1 July 2017.
The reason? Most people use Yammer as part of a wider Office 365 plan and that’s how it will be available going forward.
There’s a useful page from Microsoft which explains how this change affects the different VL programs, and what you need to do, when.
Find this page here: http://bit.ly/2cBFncJ.
Microsoft MyAnalytics
Name change alert! Delve Analytics is now known as Microsoft MyAnalytics.
According to Microsoft it’s everything you loved in Delve Analytics with additional capabilities that will allow you to stay up-to-date with important contacts, share key metrics with a coach, and help you prioritise the time you spend with different groups.
Read all about it, watch a few videos, and find an FAQ here: http://bit.ly/2d7giFy.
Windows Server 2016 Launch
Microsoft launch Windows Server 2016 at the Ignite conference and confirm that it will be on the October 2016 price list and available to download for Volume Licensing customers from mid-October.
Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/2cyFeBK.
Office 365 Update Channels
Updates for Office 365 ProPlus and Office 365 Business are made available on one of two main channels – the Current Channel and the Deferred Channel. If you want some detail on how the releases through these channels are made available and for how long they’re supported, as well as how you choose which channel to be on, then this is a useful article: http://bit.ly/1Ov0l8Q.
PSTN Consumption Billing
Heard about PSTN Consumption billing but you’re not quite sure what it is? This useful article from Microsoft will shed some light on the topic for you, showing you when it’s needed and how you set it up: http://bit.ly/2cwyeug.