Tip 4 for a successful 74-678 Christmas. Get 15% off your exam fee if you schedule and take your exam before 31 December 2014. You just need to use the voucher code 15OFF. See the full terms and conditions here: http://bit.ly/1CI9tSs.
Updates to Get Licensing Ready
The Virtualisation module has been removed from the Get Licensing Ready tracks. Are those GLR Elves mad?! No, there’s method in their madness – all of the virtualisation content is now incorporated into the various product modules where it should be – and thus there’s no need for this separate module any more.
Don’t forget to keep your GLR certification up to date at: https://GetLicensingReady.com.
Day 3 – 74-678 Top Tips
Tip 3 for a successful 74-678 Christmas. WOW!
These are the products that need to be activated when acquired through a Volume Licensing agreement – Windows 8.1, Office 2013, Windows Server 2012 R2. Don’t forget to learn them for the exam!
Day 2 – 74-678 Top Tips
Tip 2 for a successful 74-678 Christmas. Learn your SA benefits! The Get Licensing Ready SA handout is a great resource – download it (and all its useful friends) here: http://bit.ly/GLRhandouts.
Updates to SA Planning Services
A new SA benefit – Microsoft Dynamics Deployment Planning Services (DYDPS) – will be available from 8 December 2014.
Read the announcement here (http://bit.ly/1vawjNz) and get some resources if you’re a partner, or check out pages 68/69 of the December 2014 Product List for details of what’s included in this new category.
The Product List also lists many new engagements in existing categories – planning for migration to Hyper-V from VMware, or planning for an Enterprise Mobility implementation, for example.
Our Advent Calendar of 74-678 Tips!
Starting today – 24 tips for a successful 74-678 Christmas!
Better for you than a chocolate Advent calendar, our top tips will be jolly useful if you’re intending to take your Volume Licensing exam in the near future. So, without further ado, let’s open the door to our first tip…
An important part of your preparation is getting a feel for the types of questions you can expect in the exam, and our free, 20 question Taster Test will enable you to do just that. Experience it here: http://bit.ly/74-678.
Overview of the Changes to the November 2014 Volume Licensing Product List
This month the major changes are with Azure Services and Software Assurance but there are a couple of smaller changes regarding Online Services too.
Microsoft Azure Services
- There are two main ways of purchasing Azure Services – either by paying for consumption of a service which is generally paid upfront by a Monetary Commitment, or by purchasing a USL for a service. It’s been hard to work out which type of service is which in the Product List but there’s a new indicator which makes things much easier. If something is denoted as a “Plan” then it’s a separate licence rather than being paid for via the Monetary Commitment, and an example of this is the Enterprise Mobility Suite USL (page 45)
- In addition, there are some services where you can’t use the Monetary Commitment for the initial order but you can use it if there is any overage of that service. Services that are eligible for this include the “MC Overage: Yes” tag and you’ll find it next to Microsoft Azure Backup for example (page 45)
Software Assurance
- CustomerSource is confirmed as an SA benefit for Dynamics customers with either active SA or an Online Subscription. It gives rights to a secure site that allows customers to access productivity tools including unlimited training courses and self-support resources like the knowledge base (page 76)
- There’s a slight change to the Home Use Program rights too: previously the wording stipulated that the software could be installed on one home computer and one portable device, now it’s on up to two devices which can be either 2 PCs or 2 Macs, depending on what’s been purchased (page 69)
- There are some changes to the terms associated with System Center Global Service Monitor. Most interesting, perhaps, is confirmation that test result data is stored in the online service until a customer’s deployment of System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager collects the test results, and if they are not collected within seven days, they are deleted from the online service (page 75)
- There are updates for MPSA generally through the SA section with frequent reminders that you should refer to the MPSA Licensing Manual for specific details on SA through MPSA. There’s also text added confirming that Step Up licences are not available through MPSA (page 76) and that MPSA customers should download E-Learning files from MVLC (page 69)
Online Services
- There’s a note added on page 58 that SharePoint Online Plan 1 or 2 with Yammer subscriptions licensed through Open, Open Value, or Open Value Subscription agreements may be redeemed until 31 October, 2015 after which unredeemed subscriptions may be used for a product inclusive of those services
- And finally, the change of name from “Windows Intune” to “Microsoft Intune” is effected throughout the Product List
Changes to the Office 365 Subscriptions
There have been a number of changes announced in recent weeks as to what’s included in various Office 365 subscriptions, so here’s the summary:
Office for the iPad
- Back in March, Office for the iPad was announced and the free apps allowed viewing and presenting of documents whereas an Office 365 subscription was required for document creation and editing. In early November, the rules changed and the free apps now allow users to create and edit Office content while an Office 365 Subscription gives advanced editing and collaboration capabilities, and unlimited OneDrive storage. Check out the announcement here: http://bit.ly/1xxmi9Y
Office for the iPhone
- Office for the iPhone was also announced in November with the same rules as for the iPad apps – so no Office 365 subscription required for creating and editing documents. Check this link for details (and pretty pictures of the new apps!): http://bit.ly/1vIcWwv
Outlook for the Mac
- A brand new Outlook for the Mac was announced at the end of October with all of the enhancements you’d expect. What was perhaps less expected is that this new version is only available to Office 365 subscribers including commercial customers and those with Office 365 Home, Office 365 Personal and Office 365 University subscriptions. The announcement is here: http://bit.ly/1tqUVMv
OneDrive for Business
- At the end of October it was announced that all Office 365 subscribers across consumer, commercial and education plans would receive unlimited storage: http://bit.ly/1FmJFqZ
- Office 365 ProPlus customers now also have access to OneDrive for Business with an initial allocation of 1 TB of storage per user which will be updated to unlimited storage in the near future. This announcement (http://bit.ly/1r8572b) explains how the rollout will work with existing Office 365 ProPlus customers getting access to OneDrive for Business before the end of January 2015, and new customers who subscribe after 1 December 2014 being automatically provisioned for OneDrive
SA Benefits: CustomerSource
CustomerSource is confirmed as an SA benefit for Dynamics customers with either active SA or an Online Subscription. And what is CustomerSource? In the words of the UK Dynamics site: “CustomerSource is a secure site that allows you to access job-tailored productivity tools including unlimited training courses and self-support resources like the knowledge base.”
That’ll be useful stuff to do with Dynamics products then. See page 76 of the November 2014 Product List.
Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM)
MIM replaces FIM! Microsoft Identity Manager is the next major release of Forefront Identity Manager and will be available in the first half of 2015.
It’s an on-premises Identity and Access Management solution and will be part of the Azure Active Directory Premium offering.
Get an overview of the capabilities of MIM here: http://bit.ly/1vomSLj.