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Category Archives: SPLA General

If you could change ONE thing in SPLA…What would it be?

02 Mar

If you were THE Microsoft SPLA MGR in charge of the entire program, what would you change to help grow the SPLA business? (more importantly, YOUR SPLA business)  If you have multiple that’s ok.

Here’s a list from a colleague to get you started:

  • Allow Windows Desktop OS to be included in the unlimited virtualization rights of Windows Server DC
  • Allow MSDN to have License Mobility Rights.
  • Remove the SharePoint Enterprise SALs additive requirement.  Just make Enterprise more expensive.
  • Create cores for Excel and Access for ISV’s.
  • Expand the Productivity Suite and have O365 equivalents to align with O365 pricing.
  • Bring back SQL Enterprise SALs.
  • Add Power BI as a product
  • Reduce Office SPLA pricing!
  • Have the resellers require an End Customer Enrollment for deploying customer owned hardware, and open it up to include Windows PC’s.
  • Bring better clarity to RDS licensing.
  • Create a better way for Microsoft field reps to get credit for SPLA consumption.

You can tweet me at @SPLA_man or send me an email info@splalicensing.com

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2017 in SPLA General

 

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What’s Your Licensing Strategy?

14 Jun

I love the question “What’s your cloud strategy?” It’s the new ice breaker for salespeople around the globe. My thoughts? Why bother asking customers about their cloud strategy if it does not include licensing?  The BIGGEST mistake service providers (SPLA’s) make is selling a solution first and worrying about the licensing impact later. They build data centers, talk about virtualizing, even talk about the savings of cap ex vs. op ex, but never talk about the licensing until someone brings it up or they get audited. Just because the technology enables something, does not mean you can license that way.

VDI is a prime example of this. “You can host virtual desktops as a service right? Install the desktop OS on a server and stream it? Why not? The concept has been around for years. I ‘Googled’ VDI as a service and several companies are doing this…it must be right…right?” Wrong! Yes, technically speaking you can host virtual desktops using Windows 7/8. Licensing gurus and the product user rights and the audit team will disagree with you. Unfortunately there’s no way to do this under SPLA. Next question that comes up is “why?” Wish I knew the answer, perhaps Microsoft is looking out after the OEM manufactures, but then again they launched Surface.

Microsoft is auditing everyone. There are few guarantees in life, but one guarantee is not everyone under the SPLA program is licensing correctly. Just a word of advice, know the licensing before implementing a solution.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2013 in Compliance, License Mobility, SPLA General

 

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Why Timing is Everything

29 May

Whether you’re signing a new SPLA or renewing your old one, timing is everything.  When you sign an agreement, you are bound by the use rights at the time of sigining.  For example, if you sign a new SPLA in April, 2013 you will be bound by the SPUR (product use rights) for April 2013. 

Why is this important?  As with technology, licensing is always evolving.  As an example, with the release of SQL 2012, Microsoft switched from a processor based licensing structure to a core based licensing structure.  Since the 2013 SPUR only has core licensing (not processor), you will be forced to license by core when you sign a new SPLA regardless of which version you have installed. In other words, anyone (whether renewing or new) who signs an agreement after December 31st, 2012 will be forced to license by core. 

Windows 2012 is another change that can impact your usage reporting.  With the release of Windows 2012 last August, anyone who signs a new SPLA after August 31st, 2012 will be forced to license by the 2012 use rights.  You can run previous versions such as 2008, but you will need to license by the current SPUR. 

What happens if you sign a new SPLA in August before the license change?  You will have 3 years (SPLA is a 3 year agreement) to license the old way.  The catch? If you migrate any servers to the 2012 version you will have to license those servers by the 2012 use rights.  For example, if you are running SQL 2008 R2 Standard edition and decide to migrate to SQL 2012 Standard edition, the new server will need to be reported by the core not by processor!

Ask in advance for the licensing impact before renewing your SPLA agreement.  Better yet, follow this blog for the latest updates and you will be well prepared!

Thanks for reading-

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2013 in Compliance, SPLA General

 

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What is SPLA?

26 Feb

Article update (April, 2018 ) New use rights and updated articles on SPLA and CSP could be found at https://mscloudlicensing.com/blog-articles/ . Including best practices in reducing audit exposure, use rights and guidelines for SPLA licensing.

SPLA stands for Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA). The key difference between a SPLA license and a license that comes with a boxed product (similar to something you would buy at a retail store) is the person who uses the software. The software you buy at a retail store can only be used by the person who purchased it. SPLA on the other hand, is designed for hosting companies that provide software as a service to their customers. It is for third-party access, not internal employee access. For example, if a company wants to host an Exchange server on behalf of another organization, the Exchange license needed for this access would be SPLA. Some other common examples of organizations that use SPLA are companies such as Rackspace, Go Daddy.

SPLA is a month-month licensing program. If a service provider has 10 users who has access to the software in the month of February, they would pay for those 10 users in the first week of March. In March, if they have 10 users they would report those 10 users the first week of April, and so forth. SPLA is very flexible, it allows usage to scale up and down on a monthly basis. It is non perpetual, after the service agreement ends, no one actually owns the licenses. Think of SPLA as a leased software program designed for hosting companies who want to offer Microsoft software as a service.

Is the SPLA program right for your business? Here are some common business’ that fit the SPLA model.

Web Hosters

Independent Software Vendors

Application Providers

Hospitals

Managed Service Providers

Online Gaming Providers

Telco Companies

This program is only available for external users and is not designed for internal employees. For anything internal, you will need to purchase a volume licensing agreement not, SPLA.

Thank you for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on February 26, 2013 in SPLA General