Microsoft Volume License Newsletter

The September 2016 Microsoft Volume License Newsletter is out and it focusses on some of the recent changes to Windows 10 Enterprise licensing. How many do you know?

Well, Windows 10 Enterprise with SA has been renamed to Windows 10 Enterprise E3, and there’s a new E5 edition available which includes Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. All licences are available as user or device licences and there are Add-ons if you need to move between the models.

Read it and subscribe to it here: http://bit.ly/2bQQzit.

CRM Online Licensing and Pricing Guide (July 2016)

There’s an updated (July 2016) CRM Online Licensing and Pricing Guide. The main addition is the CRM Online Project Service Automation Add-On USL (page 12) which provides users with capabilities for setting up a project organisation, engaging with customers, and managing and closing projects. Naturally, as an Add-On, this licence requires users to first be licensed with a CRM Online Basic USL or higher.

As usual, find this Licensing Guide with all its friends here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

September 2016 Hosting and Cloud Newsletter

This useful newsletter has three items of licensing interest this month – let’s take a look.

First of all there’s confirmation that Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016 will be available in October 2016, with Service Providers being able to download the products from 17 October. The licensing model changes to Core licences and there’s a requirement for a minimum of 8 Core licences per processor. The virtualisation rules are pretty much the same as for 2012 R2: license all the cores with Datacenter edition for unlimited virtualisation, and license all cores with Standard edition for the rights to run a single VM.

Then there’s confirmation that Windows 10 Enterprise E3 is available in the CSP program from 1 September 2016. Licensed users may install the software on up to 5 devices but they will not have access to any virtualisation rights or Software Assurance benefits. Note that qualifying licences of Windows 10 Pro and above are required.

And finally, you’ll want to put 29 September in your diary for the quarterly licensing briefing from the Microsoft SPLA team. The agenda is set to cover the detail of licensing Windows 10 Enterprise E3 through CSP, and Windows Server and System Center 2016 through SPLA. Register for the Cloud Channel Network to attend: http://bit.ly/2c3U8nd or, if you’re already a member, add the event to your calendar here: http://bit.ly/2bPvwOt.

Sign up for this free monthly newsletter here: http://bit.ly/1iVEvxV.

Office Online Server

The usage rights for customers to use Office Online Server are extended: the August 2016 Product Terms document states that as long as customers purchase Office Standard 2016 or Office Professional Plus 2016 licences before 1 August 2016 then they may use Office Online Server until 1 August 2019 (page 23). Previously, it was stated that the licences needed to be purchased between 1 May 2016 and 1 August 2016.

Azure RemoteApp to be Retired

Microsoft announce that Azure RemoteApp is to be retired: new purchases will end as of 1 October, 2016 and the service will finally be wound down on 31 August, 2017. The recommended alternative is the Citrix XenApp “express” solution, or perhaps using Remote Desktop Services deployed on Azure virtual machines.

Read the full Microsoft announcement here: http://bit.ly/2aUsXNg.

Windows 10 Enterprise Changes

From 1 August 2016 there are changes to the Windows 10 edition line-up: you can still buy Windows 10 Enterprise but there are now also E3 and E5 editions. So, what’s the story here? Well, Windows 10 Enterprise E3 is the new name for Windows 10 Enterprise + SA, and Windows 10 Enterprise E5 adds Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection on top of E3. Both editions are available on per user or a per device basis – check out this page for the details: http://bit.ly/2bgmb2L.

Then take a look at page 37 of the August 2016 Product Terms document to see the new SKUs that are available. Of particular note are the Add-ons which allow you to move between editions and licensing models. This means that you can go from E3 per device to E5 per device, or from E3 per device to E3 per user, or from E3 per user to E5 per user, and you’ll find the rules for these Add-on licences detailed on page 41. In addition, if organisations have fully paid licences for Windows with active SA then they can purchase E3/E5 From SA User SLs instead of SA to move to a user licensing model for Windows (page 42).

It’s also worth mentioning at this point that there are some changes with MDOP with two of the components (Application Virtualization (App-V) and User Environment Virtualization (UE-V)) now part of Windows 10 Enterprise. This Microsoft site is useful for the detail on this: http://bit.ly/2aYEcAi.

All Change for Project Online

There are three new plans for Project Online which replace the previous Project Lite, Project Pro for Office 365, Project Online, and Project Online with Project Pro for Office 365. It wasn’t particularly easy choosing the right plan for the right person with these names, and the new plans are much more straightforward: Essentials, Professional and Premium.

Who are they aimed at? Well, Essentials is for project team members, Professional for Project Managers and Premium is for Portfolio Managers. All of them are User Subscription Licences, as you’d expect, and all allow access to an on-premises Project Server if required. This site (http://bit.ly/2aOM0HA) shows the difference in rights between the plans and confirms that Project Professional can be installed on up to 5 PCs with the Professional and Premium plans.

The August 2016 Product Terms document is updated with these new plans (page 61) where you’ll see that there are From SA USLs available for customers who have fully paid licences with active SA and want to move to a user licensing model. What’s new though, is a range of Add-on USLs for organisations that have Project Standard, Project Professional or Project Server licences with active SA and want to add on cloud services. Turn to page 62 for a list of the Add-ons that are available.