RIP OLSUR! From 1 July 2014 the Online Services Use Rights (OLSUR) will be replaced by the Online Services Terms (OST).
Download the July 2014 edition of the OST (http://bit.ly/msost) or wait for our summary of the changes for this quarter.
BizTalk Server 2013 R2 Licensing Datasheet and FAQ
There’s a new (May 2014) BizTalk Server 2013 R2 Licensing Datasheet and FAQ. There are no changes to the licensing, but the updated datasheet adds in the Developer edition, has a (quite useful) table to compare editions, and includes a new FAQ right at the end which details the licensing limitations of BizTalk Branch edition.
Get it here: http://bit.ly/UR1LBt.
Overview of the Changes to the June 2014 Volume Licensing Product List
There’s really not much new in the June 2014 Product List which, although disappointing in terms of excitement levels, is a bit of a relief in our ever-changing licensing world.
Products added
- The only major product added is BizTalk Server 2013 R2 and it’s a straight-forward update of the 2013 editions; see page 10
- SQL Server 2012Parallel Data Warehouse is now available through EES and Academic Select Plus; see page 25
Extra clarification
- There’s a new section detailing the “Open Value Subscription migration period” on page 47. This confirms that if an OVS customer has Office Standard or Professional Plus licensed under the OVS then they can continue to use those products for 180 days after the expiration of the agreement if they have certain Office 365 USLs
- There’s confirmation added on page 36 that with the Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Update, Sideloading no longer requires a VL Sideloading key. Sideloading is thus enabled by default on Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro and Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Enterprise
OVS Migration Period
Wording added to the June 2014 Product List confirms that organisations with certain Office 365 subscriptions under an OVS agreement may continue to use copies of Office Standard/Professional Plus which were licensed through their OVS for up to 180 days after the agreement has expired.
See the new “Open Value Subscription migration period” section on page 47.
Test your knowledge: Azure
There are several different ways you can buy Azure as a customer. Want to see if your knowledge is up to scratch? We’ve got some more tests – the short one (http://bit.ly/Tly7mp) or the proper roll-up-your-sleeves-and-have-a-go one (http://bit.ly/LS-Azure-Test).
Presentation: Licensing Options for Partner Hosted Cloud
This is a useful presentation detailing the licensing of lots of different hosting scenarios. Partner Hosting is the main focus and there are slides on dedicated hosting, hybrid hosting, and shared hosting.
Everything is scenario-based and you’ll find examples with Licence Mobility through SA, the RDS User CAL Extended Rights, and the more mind-bending multiple-partner SPLA situations.
There’s also a section on some options for Volume Licensing customers who want to license external users for web workloads or self-hosted ISV applications. http://bit.ly/1lrQUYV.
Licence Mobility Verification Guide for Customers
If you’re a customer with Software Assurance and you want to assign licences to a Service Provider’s shared hardware then it’s not just a matter of making a note in your SAM database – there’s a whole process to go through. This is centred around completing the “License Verification Form” and there’s a guide for customers that explains all. This guide is recently updated – while there are no significant changes to the content you’ll know you’ve got the updated one if it’s got a (new) purple cover. http://bit.ly/1o9hNAQ.
Microsoft VL Blog: SQL Server 2014 Licensing Changes
Microsoft Volume Licensing blog post on the two key changes in licensing SQL Server 2014: licensing a passive failover server is now an SA benefit, and the multiplexing rules are relaxed for batch processing with the BI edition. This is a good overview and includes some useful FAQs: http://bit.ly/1pc19PY.
Microsoft Licensing Guides
We all love a good Microsoft licensing guide but finding them when you want them can be a challenge. No more – we’ve put them all in one place for you, with an easy to remember link: http://bit.ly/MSlicensingguides.
Licensing Microsoft Visio
I know – Visio isn’t the trickiest product in the Microsoft stable to license. However, it IS nice to have the licensing for all the different flavours in one place: this Microsoft page includes Visio Standard and Professional, as well as Visio Pro for Office 365, and Visio Services. http://bit.ly/1gIjsgi.