Tag Archives: April 2023

Power Apps licence assignment

Microsoft have made a number of changes to assist in the assignment of Power Apps licences to users that need them.

In April 2023 users were able to request a licence when they needed it (https://bit.ly/43cMw87), in May 2023 a maker was able to request a licence for users of their app (https://bit.ly/49dHATh), and in September 2023 an IT admin could set up an auto-claim policy that automatically assigns available licences to users as they need them (https://bit.ly/48UUeqH).

The latest innovation (November 2023) is that auto-claim policies are automatically created for a managed environment.

You can find the announcement article here: https://bit.ly/47UpXHp, and find out more about auto-claim policies here: https://bit.ly/3SjVdK3.

Windows 11 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated-for-Windows 11 (April 2023) Desktop Operating Systems Licensing Guide. It’s a useful document covering the different Windows editions, device and user licensing options, as well as downgrade rights and Volume Licensing Activation.

Find this updated guide here: https://bit.ly/3B8xvZb.

Windows 365 Frontline

Microsoft announce that Windows 365 Frontline is now in public preview. Windows 365 Enterprise and Business became available in August 2021, Windows 365 Government (for US Government) in October 2022, and now Windows 365 Frontline joins this family of cloud PCs.

Like the rest of the family, Windows 365 Frontline delivers a personalised Cloud PC (consisting of Windows, apps, data and settings) to users, but is aimed at shift workers in an organisation. Every licence purchased allows a business to create 3 Cloud PCs which, in effect, cover 3 employees in 8-hour shifts over a 24-hour period. Note that the number of people using a Windows 365 Frontline Cloud PC at any one time can be no greater than the number of licences purchased. So, if you have 3 shifts of 110, 90, and 100 workers you would need to purchase 110 Windows 365 Frontline licences which would allow you to deploy 330 Cloud PCs, of which 110 can be used at any time.

Find the announcement here: http://bit.ly/3GySbMQ, a good overview video here: http://bit.ly/3mnfiTV, and join the public preview here: https://bit.ly/3nVu9VN.

Windows Server 2022 licensing changes

Microsoft have made a number of changes to Windows Server 2022 licensing, detailed in the April 2023 Product Terms.

First of all they’ve removed the requirement for a customer to have a minimum of 16 Windows Server Core licences in their estate before they can take advantage of licensing by virtual machine or use the Azure Hybrid Benefit. Secondly, there’s a change to the Azure Hybrid Benefit where Windows Server Core licences no longer have to be kept in groups of 8 when licensing a virtual machine with more than 8 cores – previously a 20-core virtual machine would have needed 24 licences (3×8), now it just needs 20.

Then there are changes to the rights when Windows Server licences are acquired as Software Subscriptions through CSP. If a customer has these licenses then they may use Standard licences with Windows Server Datacenter virtual machines. This right is available to them if they’re running their virtual machines in their own on-premises data centres, or with Authorized Outsourcers.

And finally there are changes when a CSP-Hoster partner sells Windows Server Software Subscription licences as part of a solution which they are hosting and managing for a customer. In this case, there’s no need for Windows Server CALs or External Connector licences, and the right to use Standard licences with Datacenter images also applies as above.

Microsoft 365 plan comparison document

There’s an April 2023 version of the popular Microsoft 365 plan comparison document showing you the different components in all of the Enterprise and Frontline Worker plans and the Add-on licences that are available. This time it’s updated for new offerings such as Intune Plan 2 and the Intune Suite. Find this useful document here: https://bit.ly/2LG4gqi.

Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide

There’s an updated (April 2023) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide with just a few small changes. Firstly, the term “Cortana Intelligence” is replaced with “Azure AI”. Then there’s a note added on page 33 that for organisations licensed for Intelligent Order Management, Modern Workplace-licensed users can use Teams to collaborate on Intelligent Order Management records.

And finally, the information on Capacity Add-ons has been reworked a little on pages 40 and 41. Help yourself to this updated guide here: http://bit.ly/40ZeV0j.