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Ahhh…the SPLA audit.  There are very few things in this world that can disrupt a business like an audit notification. In this post, I will write about the reasons behind an audit and what you can do about it.

Why –

Did you recently purchase another company?  Are you hosting software that you lease from a third-party such as e-discovery software or EMR software?  Did your SPLA report change (higher/lower)?  Have you not reported usage at all?  Do you advertise hosting offerings but report minimal usage?  Do you not have a SPLA agreement but provide software as a service?

All of the above are valid, but the more important reason?  They can.  Vendors can audit whoever they choose.  It’s their software. I wouldn’t focus on the “why” as much as I would focus on “how”  Meaning how do you reduce your exposure and go on with your business?

The first step with any audit notification is to not do anything.  Don’t blame someone, justify it somehow. etc, etc.  I would just breathe.  Again, vendors can audit whoever they want.  It might sound odd to not do anything (at first) but too many providers take to email and start fuming.  Don’t do that.

How –

There’s a ton of tricks and tips in an audit.  Here’s a list of some of the tips.

1. Take inventory.  I think every service provider knows where they are vulnerable.  99% of the time it starts with two products with 3 letters; S-Q-L and R-D-S.

2. Look at your customers.  Do any of your customers have software assurance?

3. Respond to the auditors, but keep one thing in mind – less is more my friend. Not responding will only frustrate everyone involved.

4. Don’t hire a lawyer – be the lawyer.  Have you ever been involved in a litigation dispute?  Your lawyer will contact the defendant; and the defendant contacts their lawyer.  What do you think happens if your lawyer contacts a vendor?  Vendor contacts their legal department. I hate to say it, but my money is on the guy with the billion(s) of dollars.  I’d rather talk to the vendor representative who needs my business.

5. Take inventory of the licenses you purchased outside of SPLA that you use(d) to support your hosted solution.

Now for the tricks –

Now it wouldn’t be fair if I show this to my competitors right?  Email me at info@splalicensing.com to find out more.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

Here’s a list of SPLA questions that I’ve been asked.  Hope you find it helpful.

1. Can I license SQL Web edition to host SharePoint?

No.  Why?  Because SQL Web Edition can only be used to host PUBLICLY accessible websites.  It also CANNOT be used to support line of business applications.

2. Is Exchange licensed by user or by mailbox?

By user.  SAL = User.

3. System Center….What does the client management suite include?

Service Manager, Operations Manager, DPM, and Orchestrator.

4. If I have SQL Enterprise installed and was reporting it prior (by user) – can we report SQL BI without uninstalling anything?  Reason we ask is SQL Enterprise user licenses are discontinued.

Unfortunately no.  Two different products.  Checkout http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645993.aspx

5. Active/Passive…Do I need to licenses the passive server?

No. The passive secondary server used for failover support does not need to be separately licensed for SQL Server as long as it is truly passive. If it is serving data, such as reports to clients running active SQL Server workloads or performing any “work” such as additional backups from secondary servers, then it must be licensed for SQL Server.

6. My company is in Europe or Australia, how are my competitors offering lower prices?

Can’t answer that one publicly or else all your competitors would know too. I can promise you there are ways to reduce your costs, I just have to understand what you are reporting and why.  Email me your usage report and let’s chat. (blaforge@splalicensing.com).

7. My company is in the United States, how are my competitors offering lower prices?

See answer to question 6.

8. I want to offer VDI.

Good Luck.

9. I got an audit letter…what do I do?  

Nothing.  Email me and let’s walk through it.

10. Office – do I need to report it?

Will your application work the same without it?

11. I’m running SQL 2008, which is great because I can license it by processor..right?  I don’t have to license by core since I am not running 2012.

Wrong.  License by core if you signed a SPLA agreement between now and January, 2013.

12. I want to install customer owned Windows Server licenses in my datacenter.  

Do it.  Just make sure it’s dedicated.

13.  What’s something I should do now to ensure I am getting the most value from my SPLA expenditure?

People get worked up over the SPUR and forget about the actual SPLA agreement they signed.  Yes, the SPUR tells you how to license the products (not so clearly) but the agreement provides you insight into how the program works operationally.  It also tells you things that you CAN do with your SPLA.  Just don’t hand the agreement over to a lawyer, have them approve it, and never look at it again.  Big mistake in my opinion.

Thanks for reading…

SPLA Man

Happy New Year!  Here’s a price increase. How can Microsoft do this?  In the SPLA agreement it states they (Microsoft) can issue a price increase once a year in January.  Be prepared! Are there decreases?  No, but that doesn’t mean you cannot reduce your costs.

If you report over 10,000 a month (US, EU, or Australia) in SPLA reporting email me and let’s review. (blaforge@splalicensing.com) Why 10,000?  Historically, that’s where I was able to make the most cost savings.  There are tricks to licensing that often get overlooked.  In the “about” section of this blog, I mention I want to ensure you are licensing correctly (that’s #1) but just as important, the most cost effective way.  Happy to help.

Thanks for reading!

SPLA Man

Here’s a great article from Linda Rosencrance (writer from http://www.MSDynamicsworld.com).  You can read her article and her interview from a SPLA guru (aka me) and other hosting providers. It’s a great resource, especially for Dyanmics hosters.  The article is titled “Microsoft Dynamics ERP SPLA customers punished by lack of Office license mobility, hosting partners say”  Here is the link for those interested (Click here)  You must create a free log in.

I wouldn’t say “punished” because that insinuates you did something wrong.  You didn’t do anything wrong (unless you flat out don’t report).  I’ve always said that service providers need to change their game.  As quoted in the article “don’t focus on what you can’t do…focus what you CAN do.”  That’s what I’m here for; to help uncover what you can do that no one else has.  To quote my old coach “let’s do this!”

Thanks,

SPLA Man

I figured I would switch things up a bit.  Here’s twenty random questions regarding SPLA.  All of which are yes/no and all of which are true.  (even the SPUR/enjoyable to read question..I kind of like uncovering licensing gotchas).

1. Can I have customers bring a license to my datacenter?

Yes. Check out https://splalicensing.com/category/license-mobility/

2. I am being Audited can you help?

Yes.

3. Is it my responsibility to keep track of all licenses in my datacenter; even customer owned?

Yes.

4. I am always late with my SPLA usage report.  Is this a problem?

Yes – come on man…it’s against the agreement!

5. Can I run multiple instances of SQL on the same VM

Yes.

6. Is it written down in a document that I cannot host using my own licenses?

Yes.

7. Can I still report SQL Enterprise SAL?

No.

8. Do I get two VM’s with Windows Standard?

No.

9. Can I offer true VDI as a service?

No.

10. Can I use a reseller to sell my solution?

Yes.

11. Does a new SPUR come out each quarter?

Yes.

12. Do I need to license the server and each user?

No.

13. Can I use my own volume licensing to host Microsoft software?

No.

14. SPLA and External Connector licenses…same thing?

No.

15. Does SQL Enterprise and Windows Datacenter offer unlimited virtualization?

Yes.

16. Does license mobility cover all products in SPLA?

No.

17. Have you managed SPLA for a long time? Would you consider yourself a SPLA Expert?

Yes…but that’s two questions.

18. Do you find the SPUR enjoyable to read?

Yes.

19. If a product is covered with license mobility within server farms in the PUR, does that mean it is also covered with license mobility to a third party datacenter?

Yes.

20. Can I ask you any SPLA related question and you would give me an answer?

Yes.

I want to expand my opinion to the SPLA world to include a series of webinars in tandem to my blog post.  You can email me for slides from the last webinar (last week)

I promise it will be completely unbiased, direct, and worth your time.  The content of the webinar is based upon your feedback.  Message me with what you would like to discuss.  You can comment below or by private email – blaforge@splalicensing.com.  You can also say “you know what, your writing is so great why ruin it with your voice?”

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

Just a note to thank you for taking the time over the last year to read my ramblings on the Microsoft SPLA program. I’ve been asked from time to time as to why I write this blog.  I do it for two reasons –

1. I hear what service provider’s tell me, the questions you ask, and how you want to be compliant.  There’s A LOT of misinformation out there. VDI is a great example…and no, this is still not possible under SPLA :).  I’ve been doing this for what seems like decades – I know the licensing (not all of it…I am human) but I am an advocate. I want you to succeed.

2. I simply like to do it.  Odd right? I enjoy complex licensing scenarios and figuring out a solution.  (I also like easy scenarios too).

I am not perfect.  Mrs. SPLA Man would also agree. But I really appreciate all the kind words and feedback. Last, sorry for the ads. I don’t make a dime from them.  Guess it’s a WordPress thingy.  Maybe I can get a freebie if I give them licensing advice.  WordPress – who manages your SPLA?  Do you host using Windows?  Always selling…

Thanks,

SPLA Man

Now that Microsoft has wrapped up their fiscal year, I thought it would be a good time to take a step back and review the basics of the SPLA Program.  In this post I will highlight who uses SPLA, why SPLA, and who should not use SPLA.

Who should sign a SPLA agreement and why does it exist?

If you are hosting Microsoft software on behalf of a third-party; this is SPLA.  Let’s break this down a bit to try to make sense of this statement.

What does behalf of a third-party really mean?  Let’s say I own a company and want my employees to have email using Microsoft Exchange.  I don’t want to build a datacenter nor do I have the technical knowhow to administer a server.  So what do I do?  I contact a service provider who hosts  Exchange.  He/she informs me that I can pay a small monthly fee and my employees can have email.  As with every Microsoft licensing program, to access any server you will need a license.  The license to get access to a service provider’s server is called a SPLA license.   It’s non perpetual, non transferable, and in fact, being a customer I probably wouldn’t even know I am really paying for it.

So why couldn’t the service provider use his own licenses to host this solution?  Well for one, it’s part of the PUR (Product Use Rights) “No commercial hosting” but it’s really more than that.   Why would I want someone else accessing a server that I paid for?  Not only that, but using a volume licensing agreement (non subscription) is perpetual.  If you decide to buy Client Access Licenses (CAL’s) for all your customer’s, what happens if they leave?  You cannot return the licenses; you would be stuck with them.  Not only do you have to use SPLA from a compliance perspective, you really should use SPLA if you are indeed hosting software.  I wrote a blog about separate hardware and all that fun stuff here

Who Should Not Use SPLA

If you have external users just viewing information or if you created an e-commerce site to sell your own products; that’s not SPLA.  Yes, external users are accessing, but if you are not hosting software for another organization, volume licensing external connectors comes into play.  External Connector is defined by the following (page 7 of the PUR).

External Connector License means a license attached to a Server that permits access to the server software by External Users.

External Users means users that are not either your or your affiliates’ employees, or your or your affiliates’ on site contractors or onsite agents.

Let’s use www.SoftwareONE.com  as an example. Why are they not under SPLA?   External users are accessing!  No one is hosting http://www.softwareONE.com, it’s a site to promote our business. We set up a web server, users are accessing it.  This website is used to run our business, not someone else’s.  If we went to a hosting provider and asked them to host our website on our behalf, the service provider would charge us for this service.  Part of that charge would be a SPLA license.  Why? The service provider is hosting a server on behalf (there’s that word again) of our organization.

Here’s some useful links describing external users for some common products in which external users are accessing from TechNet and other bloggers.

Lync – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398775.aspx

SharePoint – I found this blog helpful http://www.sharepointsharon.com/2013/06/sharepoint-2013-and-external-users/

Great article from my friend and colleague at http://www.Microsoftlicensereview.com around this topic in general.       http://microsoftlicensereview.com/category/external-connectors/

More general terms for Client Access Licenses (CAL’s). I thought this would be helpful if you have customer’s that purchased their own licenses.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/volume-licensing/archive/2014/03/10/licensing-how-to-when-do-i-need-a-client-access-license-cal.aspx

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2230729/microsoft-subnet/microsoft-cals-and-external-connector-licenses-part-i.html

Conclusion

SPLA is not a bad program, in many ways it’s very practical.  Month-month, true up and true down easily, and you can terminate the agreement at any time.  One of the few programs that allows early termination I might add.  If you lose a customer, you are not out any money, since your only paying monthly.

Here’s my suggestion – I would partner with a reseller that understands the program.  Secondly, be sure to consider licensing impacts before implementation.  Too many times service providers will sell a solution and ask about the licensing later.  You need to do the opposite – ask about the licensing than worry about how to deploy.

Thanks,

SPLA Man