This March 2023 Outsourcing Software Management Licensing Brief brings together information about changes that happened in October 2019 and October 2022. You’ll find information on using licences with Listed Providers and Authorized Outsourcers, as well as the benefits that enable this: the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, License Mobility through SA, and the Azure Hybrid Benefit. Find this Licensing Brief here: http://bit.ly/3T1nxR7.
Tag Archives: October 2022
Intune Plan 2 and Intune Suite
In October 2022 Microsoft announced that Intune would become a family name (rather than just a product) and that there would be a new suite. These changes are now effective from 1 March, 2023. The original Intune User SL is renamed to Intune Plan 1 and then there’s the option of adding on either Intune Plan 2 or the Intune Suite dependent on how much additional functionality you need. Price-wise, Intune Plan 1 is $8 per user per month with Plan 2 and the Suite $4 and $10 respectively. Note if you have an existing licence which includes the original Intune, then adding on either Plan 2 or the Suite is also an option. Find the announcement article (with information on features) here: http://bit.ly/3JnXWP8, and check out the license prerequisites in the Product Terms here: https://bit.ly/3T1Pqc8.
Introduction to Microsoft Core licensing models
There’s an updated (October 2022) “Introduction to Microsoft Core licensing models” Licensing Brief from Microsoft. The main changes are for the new Windows Server per virtual machine licensing option, as well as the change for SQL Server and BizTalk Server where licensing by virtual machine is now a Software Assurance benefit.
Find this updated Licensing Brief here: https://bit.ly/3SWTn0u.
SQL Server 2022 licensing
There’s a new SQL Server 2022 Licensing Guide (http://bit.ly/3OeDYqT) and Datasheet (http://bit.ly/3V0dETI), and the Product Terms is also updated (http://bit.ly/3prduoo) for SQL Server 2022. Here are the key licensing changes to be aware of:
- Licensing by virtual machine with Core licenses is now an SA/Software Subscription benefit
- When licensing by virtual machine a customer can run SQL Server in any number of containers in the virtual machine
- Customers with active SA/Software Subscriptions may now use Azure SQL Managed Instance as their preferred fail-over server option in Azure for disaster recovery
SQL Server 2022 licenses with SA or purchased as Software Subscriptions are also eligible for the Flexible Virtualization Benefit, introduced in October 2022, enabling customers to use their licences with any Authorized Outsourcer’s shared hardware. Find the Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide here: http://bit.ly/3hGOJ9l.
And finally, there’s the new PAYG option where customers can pay for SQL Server on a consumption basis from $0.1 per hour for a Standard Core, and $0.375 for an Enterprise Core for Azure Arc-enabled servers. Find out more about how that all works here: http://bit.ly/3Arq2UP.
Dynamics 365 Business Central On-premises Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (October 2022) Dynamics 365 Business Central On-premises Licensing Guide. On page 6 you’ll find information added about the compatibility of the Dynamics 365 Business Central Device licence, and there are some additional tables added to the Team Members Included Tables list on page 13. Find this updated guide here: https://bit.ly/3tl0yoa.
Microsoft 365 plan comparison document
There’s an October 2022 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. Find this useful document here: https://bit.ly/2LG4gqi.
Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide
There’s an updated (October 2022) Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide. The main change is for the inclusion of Viva Sales in Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Premium licences – see our blog for more information on Viva Sales: https://bit.ly/3Dfl93j.
Other changes include confirmation that Sales Professional users are not entitled to use the Sales Hub application (page 25) and a simplification of the “Microsoft Relationship Sales solution Plus” name to “Microsoft Relationship Sales” (page 60).
Get this updated guide here: https://bit.ly/3UYisKa.
General Availability of Teams Phone Mobile
Microsoft announce the General Availability of Teams Phone Mobile, previously known as Operator Connect Mobile, which gives users a single, business-provided number for Teams and their mobile phone.
From a licensing perspective users will need to be licensed for Teams Phone and will also need to have the $0 Teams Phone Mobile Add-on licence assigned to them.
Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3yO1aGi.
Licensing Windows Server for use with virtualization technologies
There’s an updated (October 2022) Microsoft Licensing Brief to detail the licensing of Windows Server for use with virtualisation technologies.
This document is updated for the new per virtual machine licensing model for Windows Server, so if you’re pondering how containers are licensed, how Windows Server licensing changes with VMware or Virtuozzo, or how you license Windows Server for use on Microsoft Azure, you’ll find this useful document here: https://bit.ly/3SSzfMJ.
General Availability of Viva Sales
Microsoft announce that Viva Sales is generally available as of 3 October, 2022. Viva as a brand is about improving the employee experience, with the Viva Suite aimed at employees in any role across a business.
Viva Sales, however, is tailored to improve the employee experience for a specific role – sellers – and it enables these users to use Office 365 and Teams to automatically capture, access and register data into a CRM system, eliminating the administrative burden of manual data entry.
Viva Sales is included in Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Premium licences, and is also available as a standalone licence priced at $40 per user per month.
Find the announcement here: https://bit.ly/3fZC28I, with links to other useful resources such as pricing information and an “Introduction to Viva Sales” course on Microsoft Learn.