Universal Print is generally available

Microsoft announce that Universal Print is generally available.

This is a software-as-a-service printing solution that runs entirely on Microsoft Azure and eliminates the need to maintain traditional on-premises print servers or install printer drivers.

Customers with Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5, or Microsoft 365 F3, E3, E5 or Business Premium licences are already licensed for Universal Print, or there are standalone Universal Print licences available.

Each licence includes 5 print jobs per month which are pooled at the tenant level, and if additional capacity is needed there are Add-ons available providing a further 500 print jobs per month.

Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/30hyRy6, and a useful page on the licensing here: http://bit.ly/38kUiD0.

SharePoint Syntex

Microsoft announce that SharePoint Syntex is available from 1 October 2020. This is the first product from Project Cortex, an initiative designed to use AI to automatically organise content.

Users can train Syntex to read content the way they do, and advanced AI in the product captures and tags both structured and unstructured content, with the objective of meeting the product’s tagline – to transform content into knowledge.

Every user using the services of SharePoint Syntex needs to be licensed, which is via a $5 per user per month Add-on to Microsoft 365 F1/F3/E3/A3/E5/A5 or Office 365 F3/E1/A1/E3/A3/E5/A5.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3e0z3aV, the SharePoint Syntex page here: https://bit.ly/3jtgKws, and information on Project Cortex here: https://bit.ly/3jvPCwK.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice

Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Business Voice in November 2019 for the UK and Canada, and from 1 April 2020 it’s also available in the US. This is a single Add-on licence which includes access to Phone System, Audio Conferencing, and a Domestic Calling Plan, and can be added to an Office 365 plan (Business Essentials, Business Premium, A1, E1, F3, A3, E3) or a Microsoft 365 plan (Business, F3, A3, E3). It’s limited to up to 300 users in an organisation, and the price per month is $20 per user. There’s also an International Calling Plan available for $12 per user per month. Business Voice without a calling plan also launches on 1 April, 2020 in around 70 additional countries.

Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/2RlnP6K and confirmation of US pricing here: https://bit.ly/3aVc12Z.

VDA Add-on for Microsoft 365 E3/E5

A VDA Add-on for Microsoft 365 E3/E5 is added to page 57 of the March 2020 Product Terms

This Subscription Licence allows Microsoft 365 E3/E5 users to access a Windows Enterprise Virtual Desktop Infrastructure on dedicated servers when the users don’t have a primary device with a Qualifying Operating System – for example, users whose primary device is a thin client or a Mac. Note that these licences are only available to customers buying through an Enterprise Agreement.

Find the current Product Terms document here: http://bit.ly/MSproductterms.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice

Microsoft introduced Microsoft 365 Business Voice in November 2019 for the UK and Canada, with plans for global availability in 2020. This is a single Add-on licence which includes access to Phone System, Audio Conferencing, and a Domestic Calling Plan, and can be added to an Office 365 plan (Business Essentials, Business Premium, A1, E1, A3, E3) or a Microsoft 365 plan (Business, A3, E3). It’s limited to up to 300 users in an organisation, and the price per month is £12.00 per user.

Find the original announcement here: http://bit.ly/2Yt80gU and a useful overview page here: http://bit.ly/2Yw4LoR.

PowerApps and Power Automate Licensing FAQs

If you’re interested in the licensing of PowerApps and Power Automate then you may find this page of licensing FAQs useful. It covers a diverse range of topics including trial licences, the Common Data Service, Add-ons, Portals, and AI Builder. Find it here: http://bit.ly/32U9ocP.

EA Transitions are Removed

With the introduction of Online Services in the EA, customers were able to transition to Online Services from their on-premises licenses.

The term “transition” was a reserved word for situations where a customer, in effect, converted their SA licenses into Online Services USLs.

Customers were initially allowed to use special transition licences mid-way through a year which led to some extraordinarily tricky licensing scenarios, and then From SA USLs were introduced which could only be used at Anniversary, with Add-ons being used mid-way through a year – much simpler!

Transitions are now officially at the end of the line; the term was removed from the EA agreement last year, and now it’s gone from the February 2016 Product Terms too.

Power BI Licensing

It’s all change for Power BI and its licensing. Changes are announced for a new Power BI which has a new user experience and new features. It’s currently in preview with no confirmation of General Availability yet, and you can read all about what’s new here: http://bit.ly/168mYfa.

Licensing wise, today there’s a Power BI Add-on for E3/E4 and a standalone Power BI licence, and a new Power BI Pro licence will replace both of these options. Pricing will be $9.99 per user/month and there will be a free version too (Power BI) which will, of course, have a lighter set of features. This link has a table of the features: http://bit.ly/1tPRiGA.

In the interim, pricing is reduced for the two existing plans from 9th February 2015 with the Add-on down from $20 to $9.99 and the standalone plan down from $40 to $17.99, all detailed on this page: http://bit.ly/1yZGotv.

And what about existing customers? From a features perspective, all customers will transition to the new user experience as soon as it’s available. In terms of the licensing, customers who licensed Power BI through MOSP will apparently receive a message through their admin console explaining how their account will be impacted with the lower price. For EA customers, they will transition to the new SKU and new price at anniversary. These details are all at this page: http://bit.ly/16fXTQh.