Microsoft Volume Licensing
License Mobility information
Lady Licensing
The Microsoft Official Blog
STB News Bytes Blog
Windows for your Business Blog
TechNet Home
MPN 'Get Licensing News' (for partners)
Across the company, we are working to better organize and simplify complex documents, many of these changes having benefited Volume Licensing customers - such as the Enterprise Agreement that was simplified last year and updated to include online services, the recently refreshed PUR that emphasizes plain English, and recent changes to Windows 8 licensing under Software Assurance.
In this vein, we’re also updating the “Microsoft Services Agreement.” This agreement applies to many of our consumer online services such as Outlook, SkyDrive, Messenger, Hotmail, Bing and more. You can see the updated agreement here.
The Microsoft Solutions Accelerator team recently announced the new Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) toolkit 7.0 is now available for download.
For those of you who aren’t already familiar with MAP Toolkits, they’re agentless inventory, assessment and reporting tools that help assess an IT environment for platform migrations. MAP’s are a great tool for Volume Licensing and asset management.
A Software Usage Tracking feature in MAP Toolkit 7.0 generates automatic reports, giving you a view of actual server usage. This helps cut down the time and costs for managing server and client licenses (CALs) across a range of products: Windows Server, SharePoint Server, System Center Configuration Manager, Exchange Server, Forefront Endpoint Protection, Lync 2010 and SQL Server. Our volume licensing customers generally find this to be a terrific help.
Over the years, the Product use Rights (PUR) have grown in complexity as new products and new business models have been introduced. We heard your feedback that use rights need to be simpler and responded with the release of the October 2011 “Re-Designed PUR” to improve navigability, readability and to ensure consistent language across all the product families.
Having options is a good thing, but sometimes choice can be a bit daunting. Fifteen years ago, the perpetual license model was the only way that you could buy most business software. Subscription models started to become more prevalent in the software industry 10 years ago, and today almost every software package is available as either a subscription or perpetual purchase. The exception is public cloud software, or software as a service (SaaS), as this is almost always offered by subscription only.
On-premises software is traditionally associated with perpetual licenses, but software that is licensed via the perpetual model can be hosted by a cloud services provider, and a lot of on-premises software is priced via subscription. Often, a customer will make a deployment decision separate from a licensing decision. To maximize the utility of both models, most customers use a mix of on-premise and cloud software, and software vendors are responding with hybrid offerings that allow customers to choose the approach that makes sense today, with the ability to change course in the future if that is appropriate.
Last month we posted an article introducing the new Licensing Expert customer training and accreditation program. TechEd 2012 in Orlando was an important event to help establish this new resource and determine customer interest.
We are glad to say that it has been well received with over 500 freshly trained professionals bringing that knowledge back into their organizations. This Fall we expect to expand the number of modules available as well as refresh content as necessary to help keep folks current.
If you're interested in checking out the program, head on over to the www.microsoft.com/licensingexpert webpage for details. In addition, you can check out the video below.
Last week the annual Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) occurred in Toronto, Canada. During the conference we were glad to catch up with a few partners to discuss a range of topics spanning overall impressions of the keynotes, license mobility through Software Assurance, adoption of cloud technologies, how licensing updates are facilitating that adoption as well as software asset management. The first two video interviews are presented below, with a couple more to come later this week.
Again, congratulations to SoftwareONE Brasil for earning the Volume Licensing Partner of the Year Award. In addition, many thanks to Alex and James from RISE for taking time to capture their thoughts on video.
One of the most challenging aspects of volume licensing could be dubbed the ‘Goldilocks’ challenge. Which enterprise agreement or enrollment best suits a particular customer’s needs? Which program offers the flexibility that an enterprise needs at a winning price? Of the options available, which one is just right?
For Schahin Group, a Brazilian conglomerate active across multiple industries, temporary construction operations with fluctuating employee counts made finding the right licensing solution difficult. For years, Schahin had acquired licenses through OEM licenses or distributors, but it was paying a premium without the benefit of volume discounts or a direct relationship with Microsoft.
At most of the industry events I attend for Software Asset Management (SAM) Professionals, a common refrain is heard from these busy, and often frustrated, individuals who are tasked with ensuring compliance with software licensing agreements: "We need to know what we need to measure." They also want better software license manageability, as opposed to more audits or proprietary tools.
Asset managers are closer to getting what they are asking for, as progress on the adoption of the set of ISO 19770 standards continues. ISO 19770 is an international set of standards consisting of two parts (19770-1, and -2). The first part of the standard, (19770-1), is directed at enterprises and outlines best practices and processes for effective SAM. ISO 19770-1 uses implementation tiers to make it easier for customers to attain the ISO standard via a phased approach. Microsoft's SAM Optimization model will map to the 19770-1 tiers. The SAM Optimization model will show customers what they have obtained so far and the gaps to achieving more. Microsoft will be launching this as part of the Worldwide Partner Conference this July.
Each year, the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) Awards program recognizes partners who have delivered exemplary solutions and services built on Microsoft technologies.
SoftwareONE is a Global Large Account Reseller (LAR) and a Gold Certified Partner, focused on providing software licensing and software asset management solutions to customers. SoftwareONE Brazil has been a finalist for the Volume Licensing Partner of the Award the last couple of years for their impressive story of volume licensing growth and performance.
If you’re an IT or procurement professional then we have news that will interest you: Microsoft is previewing a new training and accreditation program designed to beef up foundational licensing knowledge so that IT pros and procurement rofessionals can maximize their software investments.
Developed based on feedback from more than 80 executives worldwide who participate in our Volume Licensing Customer Advisory Board, we’ll preview the training starting June 1. You can read more about customer feedback channels and common themes Microsoft Volume Licensing is hearing from customers in a recent blog post, including that the transition to cloud solutions has introduced licensing complexity and a strong interest in cloud-ready licensing.
TechEd 2012 is only a couple weeks away. We are looking forward to all the conversations with attendees who stop by our spot within the Connect Zone in the exhibit area.
Based on customer feedback we consistently hear that gaining a deeper understanding for how best to license for private and public cloud environments is of interest. In response, Microsoft Worldwide Licensing and Pricing will be presenting a session on Monday, June 11 @ 1:15pm. The video below has a few more details.
The adoption of cloud services and virtualization may add layers of complexity to product licensing; therefore, customers must be become even more diligent with volume licensing practices. To better understand the challenges and opportunities that customers are facing, Microsoft (WWLP) has established a Volume Licensing Customer Advisory Board to solicit and track feedback on licensing programs, elicit new ideas and validate strategy, in order to build long-term satisfaction among customers.
This is article four of a four part series of blog posts describing the many benefits of Software Assurance.
Following on our previous article about Software Assurance (SA), which described Microsoft’s more traditional SA benefits, we thought it would be a good timing to highlight one of the more specialized benefits within SA; the Spread Payment benefit.
Widely viewed as an essential ingredient for maximizing the value of Microsoft volume licensing, purchases Software Assurance has been a part of Microsoft’s licensing offerings since 2001. Over time the program has expanded significantly to encapsulate twenty different benefits. Complimentary to other categories of SA benefits such as new version rights, deployment planning, training and support, the Spread Payment option has been an important and integral part of Software Assurance from the initial roll out of the program.
Microsoft’s own “Lady Licensing,” Emma Healey, posted a blog entry today about System Center 2012 (SC 2012) simplifing its multi-SKU lineup to two editions (datacenter and standard) to provide an integrated solution to manage applications across private, public and hybrid cloud scenarios. She discusses how the updated licensing changes better align users with a hybrid cloud management design, which Microsoft continues to see as a prevalent trend in customer scenarios.
Together with Windows Server, System Center 2012 anchors Microsoft’s private cloud environment, helping make it possible for customers to build and manage the world of hybrid IT. We believe fewer SKUs and a simpler licensing construct make it easier for customers to choose Microsoft’s integrated private cloud solution leveraging the Windows Server platform and systems management solutions. It also creates a real opportunity to leverage the Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI) offerings.
From the folks who brought you the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) Toolkit 6.5—one of this blog’s most popular posts—the Microsoft Solution Accelerator team now brings us the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 (MDT), available for download today.
The MDT is a solution accelerator for operating systems and application deployment. With the new version, users can now deploy Windows 7, Office 2010, Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Server “8” Beta and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the new release. It is also the recommended process and toolset for automating Windows 7 and Office 365 deployments.
The Solution Accelerators Team added new features to MDT 2012 that include the ability for users to initiate and customize their own deployments using System Center Configuration Manager 2012, key enhancements in Windows 7 driver support, and much more.
From virtualization, device proliferation and the consumerization of IT, managing an enterprise’s IT inventory is becoming increasingly complex and time consuming. But it’s a task of significant importance, as organizations want to take advantage of every software license they hold, and manage the updates, support and service that are attendant. Getting an accurate count on software licenses and assets can be difficult. Inventory can consume people resources, time and budget, and even then it leaves many software procurement teams with an “educated guess” on what they need to buy or what they no longer need.
To that end, customers have asked us to help them lower the cost of managing their software licenses. We have responded by providing more robust SAM Services, in addition to free tools such as the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit
Today, Microsoft is taking its efforts a step further by announcing plans to implement the ISO/IEC 19770-2:2009 standard for software identification tags. These SWID tags are simple XML files embedded in the software that provide a universal method for IT departments to track and manage the software running in their respective IT environments.
Microsoft Volume Licensing serves organizations worldwide of virtually all sizes, from those with just a few employees to those with tens of thousands dispersed across the globe. Seeing similarities between your organization’s needs and the success achieved by another company through a case study is a great way to help inform your choices.
With this in mind, the Microsoft Case Studies website serves as the go-to resource into how customers and partners utilize the various Microsoft Volume Licensing programs, from open value to the enterprise agreement, and numerous other options which provide the flexibility and cost efficiencies to the best technology solution.
To gain access to the software that they need to run their businesses, software customers must navigate a lot of contractual territory. Most customers are managing multiple software license contracts, and the terms of these contracts — even within the same vendor's roster of products — are almost always different. Complexity increases compliance risk and reduces customer satisfaction.
Meanwhile, customers are also calling for increased flexibility in software licensing -- concurrent licensing, pay-per-use models, and licensing approaches that allow customers to take advantage of the benefits of virtualization — while at the same time that they are calling for increased simplicity. Market dynamics are ensuring that the complexities associated with understanding and managing software license contracts will likely increase. So, how can flexibility be simplified? How can complexity be managed?
IDC suggests that software customers employ a three-pronged approach to dealing with this complexity — process, technology, and compromise.
Recently we have been asked whether and how Microsoft partners and outsourcers can use Windows 7 Clients on hosted server platforms to deliver desktops as a service while remaining consistent with their licenses. Microsoft’s licensing allows the following:
Later this month, the Microsoft Volume Licensing team is giving the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Subscription Administration experience a fresh look. New and existing MSDN Subscription Administrators will be able to access and administer their MSDN Subscriptions via a tab on the main menu of the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).
With these changes, it will be easier for subscription administrators and partners to manage subscriptions, and similar to other VLSC functionality, they’ll need fewer clicks to add a new subscriber.
We’re pleased to announce availability of “Why an updated Microsoft Enterprise Agreement?” white paper which aims to spotlight key areas of business value customers can derive from the updated EA.
This is written with the intent to respond to feedback we’ve received from customers as well as both partners and analysts for additional perspective on why we made changes to the EA and more importantly how these changes can benefit organizations.
[click through to the article to read an excerpt from the white paper]
One of the great benefits of the new Enterprise Agreement (EA) is the flexibility it provides enterprise customers, enabling them to procure and manage a mix of both software and cloud services products within a single agreement all the while adding cloud services at their preferred pace.
For those customers looking to make the leap to Office365 and take advantage of the EA, we encourage registering for the upcoming webcast seminar “Considering a Move to Office365? Let Microsoft explain the move to you!”
This is article three of four in a series of blog posts describing the many benefits of Software Assurance
Following on our previous article about Software Assurance (SA), which described how SA can support customers considering migrating some or all of their applications to the cloud, we thought now would be a good time to highlight some of Microsoft’s more traditional SA benefits.
Software Assurance has been a part of Microsoft’s licensing offerings since 2001. While occasionally perceived as an “insurance policy” to deliver access to free software upgrades, SA has expanded greatly since its introduction and is now widely viewed as an essential ingredient for maximizing the value of Microsoft volume licensing purchases.
Today, Microsoft announced the general availability of the new System Center Advisor (formerly Microsoft codename ‘Atlanta’) as part of the innumerable benefits available through Software Assurance (SA).
System Center Advisor is a cloud service hosted on Windows Azure that enables IT Professionals to proactively avoid server configuration problems by assessing static, runtime and operational data to identify potential issues that cause outages or poor performance.