Tag Archives: Azure Services

Azure Marketplace

Microsoft announce that Azure Marketplace is now available to more EA customers.

Azure Marketplace is a set of over 3,000 offerings (from both Microsoft and partners) that are ready to deploy in Azure, and previously it was only customers who had a direct EA with Microsoft or purchased their Azure services through the web portal that were able to buy these solutions. Now, however, indirect EA customers are included.

Note that these services are billed quarterly in arrears for all customers and cannot be paid for out of a Monetary Commitment.

Get the full story and a useful FAQ here: http://bit.ly/1Eq58D1.

General Availability of Azure RemoteApp

Today (11 December 2014) sees the General Availability of Microsoft Azure RemoteApp. This service delivers Windows applications from the Azure cloud and is licensed with a choice of two USLs – Basic for lightweight LOB applications (data entry, for example) or Standard for productivity applications (Office, for example). 40 hours are included in the starting price ($10 and $15) and any overage is billed hourly up to a capped price of 80 hours ($17 and $23) and after that there are no more charges.

See this Microsoft page for full details and some very useful FAQs: http://bit.ly/1slel6c.

Licensing IBM software on Azure Virtual Machines

Certain IBM software is now available to run on Azure virtual machines and it’s licensed either with a Bring Your Own Licence (BYOL) or Bring Your Own Software and Licence (BYOSL) model, depending on whether you’ll be installing and configuring the software yourself (BYOSL) or using a Microsoft VM with the software provided (BYOL). This site from IBM is a useful resource if you need to know more: http://ibm.co/1xhcaH8.

Simplified Licence Management for Azure AD Premium and EMS

Microsoft announce a preview for group-based licence management to simplify the assignment of user licences for Azure AD Premium and the Enterprise Mobility Suite.

IT administrators can now assign a security group and Azure AD will automatically assign licences to all the members of the group. If a user is subsequently added to, or removed from the group, a licence will be automatically assigned or removed as appropriate.

Read the full blog post here: http://bit.ly/ZcSwOg.

Azure in Open Licensing Calculator

There’s a brand new Azure in Open Licensing Calculator. If you’re a partner and you want to help your customers to estimate the amount of Azure credit they’re going to need, then this is worth a look.

Get it here: http://bit.ly/1AU4z1k.

Azure through Open: Training Calls

Microsoft Azure is available through the Open Volume Licensing programs from 1st August 2014. If you’re interested in knowing more about how it will all work, then there are some Microsoft calls for both customers and partners on 13th August 2014

For more details and to register: http://bit.ly/1pyHjhO.

Azure in Open: Partner Resources

Azure is available through the Open Volume Licensing programs from 1 August 2014. If you’re a partner needing to get up to speed then visit aka.ms/AzureVAR to access a Partner Licensing Deck, a Reseller Deck, a Partner FAQ, and a Partner Datasheet.

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).

Azure: Available through Open from 1 August 2014

Azure will be available through the Open and Open Value programs from 1 August 2014. Customers will buy $100 Monetary Commitment SKUs from their resellers which will be fulfilled via an Online Service Activation (OSA) Key. These keys last for 12 months from redemption and there will be no refunds for unused credit or the opportunity for it to be rolled-over to the next year.

Read the Microsoft announcement here http://bit.ly/1krpLnP and find a link to a presentation, datasheet and FAQ.

Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite

The Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite is announced. This includes Azure AD Premium (for hybrid identity management), Intune (for mobile device management) and Azure Rights Management (for information protection).

Key licensing facts:

  • It is licensed Per User
  • It will be available through Enterprise Volume Licensing programs from 1 May 2014
  • Businesses can add EMS to active SA on the Core CAL or Enterprise CAL Suites or the Bridge CAL for Office 365
  • Estimated retail price is $7.50 per month, and
  • It will not be purchased through an Azure Monetary Commitment

These Microsoft sites are useful: http://bit.ly/PcfXBY for pricing and a datasheet, and http://bit.ly/1pwPRqn for a good overview and availability information.