Tag Archives: Volume Licensing Briefs

Microsoft Azure Customer Solution VL Brief

There’s an updated (April 2022) Microsoft Azure Customer Solution VL Brief. This is a useful document detailing the rules for ISVs when creating customer solutions built on Azure: essentially, ISVs should purchase the Azure services through an EA or (and this is the addition to this new document version) direct from Microsoft via the Microsoft Customer Agreement. Partners intending to just resell the Azure services should use the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.

Find this updated document here: https://bit.ly/39sdBgW.

Multiplexing Volume Licensing Brief

There’s an updated (March 2021) Multiplexing Volume Licensing Brief from Microsoft which is updated for the renaming of the Common Data Service to Dataverse.

This is a useful document if you want to learn more about how multiplexing may impact the licensing needs of customers, and there’s a wide range of products covered with plenty of examples and scenarios.

Find this updated Volume Licensing Brief here: https://bit.ly/3a2KoGI.

SharePoint Server Volume Licensing Brief

There’s an updated (April 2017) Licensing SharePoint Server Volume Licensing Brief from Microsoft. There are no significant changes but this is a useful document if you haven’t come across it before, covering the licensing of SharePoint in intranet, extranet and Internet scenarios.

Find it in the Application Servers section of our Licensing Guides emporium: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

Downgrade Rights Volume Licensing Brief

There’s an updated (March 2017) Downgrade Rights Volume Licensing Brief from Microsoft. The main update is for Windows Server 2016 with useful tables showing downgrade and down edition rights with the all important reminder of which use rights govern a deployment.

Find this updated Volume Licensing Brief in our Licensing Guides emporium – in the Desktop or Core Infrastructure section: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

New Office VL Brief

There’s an updated (June 2016) “Licensing Microsoft Office software in Volume Licensing ” VL Brief which is updated for Office Online Server. This is the successor product to Office Web Apps Server 2013 and provides browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote from on-premises environments.

For details on the licensing, the FAQs on page 8 are useful, but in summary: there are no licences required for viewing documents, but create/edit/save rights are an SA benefit and included in an Office 365 ProPlus subscription.

However, there’s an exception which means that licences bought without SA before 1 August 2016 don’t need SA before 1 August 2019.

Find the guide in the Desktop section of our Licensing Guides emporium: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

Updated Server Virtualisation VL Brief

There’s an updated (June 2016) “Licensing Microsoft server products for use in virtual environments” Volume Licensing Brief.

It’s updated for Exchange Server 2016 (no changes to the licensing), SQL Server 2016 (Business Intelligence edition removed, requirement to assign a minimum of 4 licences per processor rather than using the Core Factor table) and it references the Product Terms document rather than the Product List and Product Use Rights documents.

Get this updated brief here in the Application Servers section: http://bit.ly/MSLicensingGuides.

February 2016 Self-Hosted Applications Volume Licensing Brief

There’s a new (February 2016) Self-Hosted Applications Volume Licensing Brief.

The major change is that Unified Solutions may now be deployed on shared hardware and there’s a section added explaining the various possible scenarios on pages 3-4.

This also leads, of course, to a need for clarification on how Windows Server must now be licensed for a Unified Solution, and there’s reference throughout the document to the options: through your own or a Service Provider’s SPLA, through Azure, or making use of the Azure Hybrid Use Benefit.

Get the Brief here: http://bit.ly/1OF8zpt.

August 2015 Enterprise CAL Suite Changes

There are two changes to the Enterprise CAL Suite from 1 August 2015.

Firstly, Advanced Threat Analytics is added and is, in fact, added to all the Enterprise CAL Bridges and the Enterprise Mobility Suite too (see page 70 of the August 2015 Product Terms).

Secondly, the System Center Client Management Suite is “removed” – in quotes because the rights to use it will be included in the Enterprise CAL Suite and ECAL Bridge for Office 365 through 31 December, 2016 (page 86).

Due to these changes there are also August 2015 updates to two Volume Licensing Briefs:

Both of these briefs include the amendments noted above along with Skype for Business Server CALs replacing Lync CALs, and the second document has a jolly nice definition of Advanced Threat Analytics if that’s a new product for you.