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.
The retirement of Windows Roaming Rights was announced back in February 2016 and if you’re not sure how this applies to you and your agreement, then there’s some useful information on dates here: http://bit.ly/2aUua7y – scroll down and click on “Roaming Use Rights for Windows”.
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.
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.
The MPSA Licensing Manual is updated for August 2016 with the main change being that all of the rules governing SA benefits have been moved to the Product Terms document – see our blog post for details: http://bit.ly/2aUDKBq.
Other amendments include references to the new Microsoft Business Center portal (updated from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center), confirmation that Azure services are billed quarterly in arrears (page 5), and that Step Ups and other licences for transitions are available through the MPSA (page 5).
Find the MPSA Licensing Manual here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
The Software Assurance section in the August 2016 Product Terms document is updated.
The main change is that the rules governing SA benefits for the MPSA have been moved into the Product Terms from the MPSA Licensing Manual.
Previously, Training Vouchers could not be converted to Planning Services Days within the MPSA but that restriction is now lifted (page 74), although it’s still not possible to convert 24×7 Problem Resolution Support Incidents to Premier Problem Resolution Support hours in this agreement (page 78).
There’s an updated (June 2016) Volume Licensing Brief for Windows Intune. There aren’t major changes to the document – just an update to the EA minimums moving from 250 to 500 users/devices, but if you want an overview of Intune licensing it’s worth a read through.
Find it, as usual, with all of the other Microsoft Licensing Guides here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.
Microsoft announce that Power BI Embedded is generally available. Be aware that this is a cousin rather than a brother of the Power BI service licensed with Power BI User Subscription Licences.
Power BI Embedded is an Azure consumption service (charged as users interact with reports) and intended for ISVs who embed dashboards in applications for third party use.
The Microsoft announcement is here: http://bit.ly/29QIRXi and this Azure pricing page has some useful FAQs: http://bit.ly/2ahlAyP.
Microsoft give some more detail on the Secure Productive Enterprise plans which will replace the Enterprise Cloud Suite.
Firstly, there’s news that licensed users will be allowed one on-premises install of Office Professional Plus, and then there’s confirmation that SPE E3 and E5 will be available through the EA and MPSA at launch in the fourth quarter of 2016, and then later through CSP too.
Read the full announcement here: http://bit.ly/2aaKDR7.
There’s an updated (May 2016) Licensing FAQ for Windows Server and System Center 2016. The last version published by Microsoft was in December 2015 and there are some interesting new things documented that are worth a look.
First of all, there’s some further information about how the transition from Processor-based to Core licences will work: essentially it won’t affect SA customers until renewal, at which point there will be grants of a minimum of 16 Core licences for each Processor-based licence. If customers need more Core licences to cover their existing hardware, then they need to inventory their environment and the additional licences will be granted. See page 3 for details.
There’s also an example on pages 3 and 4 of how an existing Enterprise Agreement customer would proceed with trueing up more Datacenter licences after the launch of Windows Server 2016. You’ll need to read the detail, but essentially it’s all dependent on the renewal date of the agreement. Along similar lines, there’s a new question on page 6 which details that early commitment for a renewal is an option if a customer wants to lock in Processor-based licences for a further agreement term.
And finally, page 6 gives us some more detail on the editions that we can expect. First of all, we learn that Windows Server Foundation and Essential editions will be merged into a single product – Windows Server 2016 Essentials, and that its licensing will continue to be processor-based. Then there will just be a single product for MultiPoint Server – Windows Server 2016 MultiPoint Premium Server, which will be available through Academic Licensing Programs only and not through Open, OEM or retail channels. Interestingly, if required, corporate customers can use the MultiPoint Premium Server role that will be available in Standard and Datacenter editions as long as they also acquire non-Academic Windows Server and RDS CALs.
As usual, find this guide along with all of its Licensing Guide friends here: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.