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Tag Archives: Microsoft SPLA

Welcome to 2025: What’s your licensing resolution?

02 Jan

Some people make resolutions to lose weight, go to the gym more, and maybe give up late-night snacks; for guys like me, I want to correct licensing woes for customers and partners. Imagine not having to worry about license compliance. Imagine going through an audit and not being concerned about it. Imagine billing your customers correctly and accurately, all the while gaining profitability. When working with managed service providers or hosters, sometimes licensing gets in the way of strategy. They are so focused on the service or solution, and the licensing is an afterthought until audit time. Here’s a list of resolutions to consider reducing costs, gaining profitability, and maintaining compliance. Curious about your thoughts?

SPLA Man’s Resolution Checklist

  1. SPLA reporting or any reporting should be considered business intelligence, not just a requirement by Microsoft. If you are underreporting, what that tells me is you are not charging your customers accurately either. And of course, you are also out of compliance. In essence, you are losing out on additional revenue all along and you have to pay for the licensing anyway for not reporting accurately.
  2. Understand your end customer options. This is a big one for a lot of companies. In every audit engagement I have ever been a part of, the question is asked: “The licenses are my clients; I have no idea what is installed or even care.” The reality is Microsoft auditor’s care. You have to prove or provide evidence that what you are doing is accurate. No evidence? You could be on the hook. As a resolution, I would understand all the different licensing programs available for customers. Take a look at Flexible Virtualization or outsourcing scenarios. Not only can you reduce your costs but you can provide an added value for your customers. Licensing knowledge is a differentiator.
  3. Understand your agreement. You are allowed 20 users per data center to access the software and not be out of compliance. There are ways you can provide testing or demonstrations without licensing costs. There is also language in the agreement about audits. What must you provide to the auditors, and what servers are you required to give them access to?
  4. Have strong contractual language with your customers about who is responsible for what. AWS does a great job of this. They tell their customers “We are responsible for everything under our Microsoft agreement, but you are responsible for everything under yours.” End-customer licensing has separate terms and conditions. All the new program updates involve end-customer licensing, not SPLA. Think Flexible Virtualization, Authorized Outsourcer, CSP, etc.
  5. Perform your own risk assessment. During an audit, Microsoft will perform an Effective License Position Report (ELP). This report shows everything installed and then compares it against everything you reported. It is critical to perform this assessment before an audit occurs. This is the key to resolution 1, which is mentioned above, regarding business intelligence. This report will show where you have license gaps, but also ways you can reduce your reporting. Did you know an engineer installed Visio, and ALL of your users have access? Did you know you can consolidate your SQL Server footprint significantly?

If you are interested in the above resolutions, how do you perform them? We developed a team of licensing experts, including ex-auditors who know the programs and can create this ELP report for you. It is not uncommon to find millions of dollars of risk, but our goal is to help you identify and correct the licensing gap before it becomes a risk to the auditor. If you want to learn more, email info@splalicensing.com. Together, we can make 2025 the best year ever.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on January 2, 2025 in Uncategorized

 

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Azure Arc is Replacing SPLA

03 Dec

Good, bad, or indifferent, Microsoft is pushing to replace SPLA. The writing is on the wall; SPLA is D.E.A.D. Then I woke up. My heart was pounding, sweat dripping from my brow, and my wife whispering to tell me everything was OK, it was just a dream. SPLA Man is still alive. But for how much longer?

Thank goodness it was just a dream. But the reality is things are changing. It’s CSP Hoster, it’s Flexible Virtualization, it’s Azure Arc, whatever the topic, change is on the horizon. What’s interesting about SPLA to me is the following:

  1. My anonymous sources tell me it is roughly a 7 BILLION dollar business globally. I know that is how much Microsoft probably spends on toilet paper annually, but for any other company, a 7-billion-dollar business is massive.
  2. Imagine running that 7-billion-dollar business without any overhead. There are very few licensing resources; Microsoft just discontinued their getlicensingready program. The only actual expense in my eyes is paying a 3rd party audit firm to collect revenue. Even in that scenario, there’s a massive return on investment.
  3. Hosters still love SPLA. Why? All the other programs Microsoft introduced has nothing to do with SPLA, but everything to do with end-customers. In SPLA, hosters control the end-end customer experience. In CSP, one hoster mentioned “We are just another reseller.”
  4. Microsoft continues to raise pricing but it has little impact on hosters. Hosters do not price solutions based on the cost of an individual license, but on the overall solution.
  5. Compliance risk has always been an issue, but it is present no matter what you do. Even in Azure Arc, there’s no license verification; you simply check a box. Does your Azure admin understand the licensing impact?

I don’t know if I just provided a case for SPLA, but it doesn’t appear it is going away anytime soon. You must understand your different licensing options and use cases, know your risk before it becomes a risk, and, lastly, if you want to move to Azure, go for it. But I recommend understanding what is going on in your own data center before moving to someone else’s.

Have a question or worried about your next audit? email info@splalicensing.com

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on December 3, 2024 in Uncategorized

 

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What is the Purpose of Using AD Scripts?

14 Aug

Great question campers.  Glad you asked.  This is one of the most painstaking processes during an audit.  Not only do you have to run scripts, discover licensing gaps, and ensure all user groups are accounted for, you have to spend time collecting this information in which your team could be focusing on other projects.  So why do they go through this?

The bottom line is to ensure completeness and accuracy in reporting. For instance, let’s say you report ‘x’ number of servers for a particular customer, but there are additional servers in the domain that you should have reported and were responsible for.  Auditors use this output as a way to ensure they have all the servers.  The other reason is to discover user-based licensing products.  As an example, an auditor might discover a user group within AD has access to workloads you thought they did not have access.  Or maybe they discover AD is indeed restricted and you were reporting them anyway.  No, you won’t get a discount for over reporting, but at least you can correct future reporting.

Do AD scripts need to be run on each customer’s environment?  At a minimum, it needs to be run across all customer domains for which the hoster (who is going through the audit) is responsible.  If it’s the end-customers AD, and some servers are not your responsibility, then it’s not as critical – especially if RVTools would capture the in-scope machines.

It’s VERY important to have language in your agreement with your customers that explains when there are end-customer servers, the different licensing rules, and who is responsible for what.  I have witnessed hosters lose customers over this disagreement.   It is a lot easier to be upfront with your customer, so come audit time, you are prepared, and so is your customer. 

One last note: all the new licensing changes (flexible virtualization, mobility, CSP Hoster) have nothing to do with SPLA; it is all about end customers.  If you can help your end customers, be prepared; it will separate you from your competition.

Do you have a question, or are you going through an audit?  We can help you.  Email info@splalicensing.com to learn more.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on August 14, 2024 in Uncategorized

 

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CSP Hoster Assessment

15 May

The CSP Hoster Assessment: Microsoft launched a new initiative to ensure compliance within the CSP Hoster Program. Just because you are not using SPLA does not mean you are immune to compliance risk.

What do you need to do?

The first thing you should do, is take a breath. You will be fine. (maybe) Nah, the world does not end because of an audit, but you do need to prepare. Here is a checklist to ensure what you are doing is accurate. Have a question? email info@splalicensing.com to learn more.

  1. Are you a CSP Hoster? Dumb question, but this is for CSP Hoster only, not the Flexible Virtualization Benefit.
  2. Are you providing the customer with the licenses? Meaning you are not using your own licensing, correct? Remember in the CSP Hoster program, the end customer is the licensee.
  3. When was your last audit? This is important because usually there is a settlement date.
  4. Are you reporting the licenses accurately to Microsoft?
  5. How are you tracking the licenses and deployments? Do you have a way to track SPLA and CSP?

Remember, in any engagement, Microsoft is trying to verify what you are doing is accurate and fits withing the licensing terms. Unfortunately, with hosting, there are several different terms and conditions to adhere to. There’s the SPLA (SPUR) there’s volume licensing (EA’s) and now CSP and Flexible Virtualization. If you are not sure what the rules are, let’s set up some time to review in greater detail. This is a great opportunity to eliminate any risk before it becomes a risk.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man (or maybe CSP Man)

info@splalicensing.com

 
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Posted by on May 15, 2024 in Uncategorized

 

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Licensing Microsoft Workloads in AWS

29 Sep

If you have followed me for some time, you may know that I always like to refer to the AWS model as an example for hosters in handling licensing and educating customers. AWS has a SPLA, they have end customers, they report usage, and they have to manage Microsoft licenses.   Sound familiar? 

AWS has more complexities than the average hoster because they are a Listed Provider. There’s no Flexible Virtualization or CSP-Hoster option; they are also restricted by the Hyperscaler definition in the SPLA Agreement, limiting certain use rights for specific products. So how do they win?

If you take one thing away from this article, please educate your end customers on licensing. AWS does a phenomenal job at that as compared to Microsoft. They have very informative licensing videos and a dedicated webpage specifically for Microsoft licensing inquiries. You can check it out here. I would do the same for your organization. Need help? You can email info@splalicensing.com

What are the licensing rules for running Microsoft workloads using AWS? Glad you asked. As mentioned, AWS is a Listed Provider, which means they have restrictions on workloads end customers can bring into their datacenters. For example, they cannot host a Windows 10 Operating System from their datacenter in shared environments because they are not authorized outsourcers. Let’s review some licensing challenges and options for end customers using AWS.

October 2019 Microsoft Licensing Changes

Changes were announced on October 1, 2019, that prohibited software without License Mobility to be installed in a Listed Providers datacenter regardless of whether it is dedicated (single-tenant) or shared. A good example of this is Windows Server. If you purchased Windows Server after 10/1/2019, you can no longer bring that Windows license to AWS. You can still install it on dedicated infrastructure if you purchased it before 10/1/2019 and the version was publicly available. Once you upgrade, you can no longer leverage your existing Windows licenses.   As a regular hoster (non Listed Provider), you can still run workloads in dedicated environments without issue. 

It seems unfair, especially since Azure has Hybrid-Use-Benefits.  One way AWS solves this issue for customers who want to upgrade or maybe purchase the Windows license after 10/1/2019 is to offer the “License Included” option. The end customer will lease (through SPLA) the Windows Server license. In many cases, end customers no longer want to mess with the licenses; they can purchase them from AWS and move on.

No Flexible Virtualization Benefit 

Microsoft does allow AWS customers to bring their M365 apps for Enterprise (workspace only) to their environment. They also can provide Windows desktops on dedicated infrastructure only, but with restrictions, they have to pay for the VDA license (M365 VDA E3 or E5). That is an increased cost for end users to use AWS versus an authorized outsourcer. However, they offer Windows Server + RDS to emulate a desktop and offer it as a service. This is a less expensive option, and end users would not know the difference. Using Windows Server + RDS + M365 apps for Enterprise makes a good bundled solution. As a hoster, you can offer the same thing.

End of Security Updates

I get asked a lot about this in the community.   Windows Server 2012/2012R2 support will end on October 10, 2023. That’s a big deal. What is ESU? This means Microsoft no longer offers patch security updates for products that reached their expiration (Windows 2012 – October 10 and SQL 2012 – July 12). Customers can bring their licenses (with SA) that are ESU eligible to AWS. Quick note: SPLA licenses are eligible. You purchase the ESU SKU from CSP or Microsoft directly.

What does AWS think of the new licensing rules? Flexible Virtualization/CSP Hoster/Listed Provider?

Are they happy? No. But one of AWS’s big advantages is they are not Microsoft. The cloud space is minimal right now. It seems odd to say that, but there are a lot of on-premise workloads not in the cloud. There’s an opportunity for everyone, including you (SPLA provider).   One thing that is consistent with Microsoft is change. No matter what Microsoft does, how will you help win customers and keep the ones you already have? I think AWS does a great job at both. With all the new changes, I believe, brings opportunities. Help your customers understand the licensing rules, and you will win.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on September 29, 2023 in Outsourcing Scenarios

 

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SPLA Paused!

28 Sep
SPLA Paused!

In certain markets, Ukraine, Turkey, Iraq, Brazil, India, Poland, and a handful of others SPLA is paused. What does “pause” mean and what impact does this have if I am a hoster in the US or UK?

Well, kind of like an audit. take a breath. SPLA is not dead. In fact, globally, SPLA continues to grow. This pause is for net new hosters who want to sign up in the program. If you are an existing hoster, there’s no impact. You can continue to use SPLA and even renew SPLA with updated terms. I think the bigger question is SPLA moving forward, and what changes do I see happening. To answer that question, let me share an example.

This morning I had the pleasure of speaking to a large hoster in Europe. We discussed SPLA and his thoughts on CSP. He’s an infrastructure provider, mainly hosting Windows, RDS, and a little SQL. Most customers bring licenses into their datacenter. He’s not interested in using Azure or AWS, he wants to host out of his datacenter, and uses it to differentiate amongst the larger providers. End customers bring licenses into their datacenter and they host it.

Wow SPLA Man, that’s a turn pager of a story. Tell me more!! Sure. I think this hoster is what SPLA is about. No one is a SaaS provider using SPLA. Hosters don’t provide Office as a service through the SPLA program. They provide Windows Server (it’s cheap) and they provide SQL (it’s expensive). What he likes about SPLA is the flexibility. He controls the customer end-to-end. Unlike CSP hoster, Microsoft does not know who the end customer is in SPLA. That’s where I see SPLA changing. In fact, with this latest announcement, they state “change is the first in a series of changes evolving the SPLA program. Future changes, including new SPLA agreement templates and a new process of reporting and submitting END CUSTOMER USER DATA for compliance verification are also planned”

End customer data has and always will be the problem with SPLA for Microsoft. They want to control the end customer and know why and how they are purchasing their software. Other than that, SPLA is a huge benefit to Microsoft. Differentiates Microsoft from AWS and the like.

If you are an infrastructure provider (like in the story above) what should you do now? I will keep saying it, start with education. Arm yourself with the best licensing practice around. This licensing environment in which we live is changing rapidly. Second, I would communicate these changes to your customer and how they may impact the way they purchase Microsoft products. All the changes that happened over the last few years, has zero impact to SPLA. It is all about the end customer. Last, I would start developing a SAM practice internally. You need to clean up your own mess before you do anything else. You should look into using OctopusCloud

More to come on this. I am also doing an interview with AWS and Microsoft. Stay tuned for more.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on September 28, 2023 in Uncategorized

 

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Is Azure Arc the gateway to ending SPLA?

21 Sep

I had a dream the other night, SPLA was going away. I woke up in horror. My wife thought something dramatic happened, and in a way, it did. In my dream there were pricing discounts, incentives, metered pricing, and security updates for hosters, not one benefit was part of the SPLA program. When I woke up, I was thankful it was just a dream until I Binged (man I can’t say that) Googled around and found Azure Arc. Is SPLA gone? No. But maybe there’s opportunities hosters should consider. In this article, let’s dive into the licensing side of Azure Arc and how it may benefit SPLA providers.

I like to think of Azure Arc as a bridge between your infrastructure and Azure. Maybe it’s the “arc” in the title or I just plagiarized it from the Microsoft website. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/azure-arc#overview either way, there’s a connection because it manages IT resources in your cloud, Joe’s Hosting Cloud, or another third-party using the same tools you would use to manage Azure hosted resources. So let’s take a look at how a SPLA partner might use this technology ,where does the licensing come into play, and the benefits.

I think we can all agree SQL is one of the most expensive products at Microsoft and managing SQL Server can be just as expensive. Azure Arc allows a hoster to manage all SQL Servers deployed in the hosters datacenter from, you guessed it, Azure. A hoster is still “hosting” SQL Server but using Azure resources to manage it. From the Azure portal, a hoster can query deployment information, get detailed information on the number of cores, or maybe they want to know which editions are running and where.

Ok, we get the management piece of it. But managing doesn’t replace SPLA. That statement is correct. When Azure Arc is enabled, customers, hosters, whoever has the ability to purchase SQL using a pay as you go model through Microsoft directly or CSP such as the CSP Hoster program. Yes, pay as you go model is SPLA, but one benefit over SPLA is pay as you use. In other words, if you are looking to save costs on SQL Server for development projects or maybe there’s times in high demand and times of low demand, hosters might benefit. With SPLA, if you spin up a server on the 28th of the month, you have to report that license as if you deployed it on the 1st of the month. You also receive incentives, rebates, and the deployment of Azure Arc goes towards your Azure revenue credit. One other side note, is end of security updates are also included as an add on which is not available in SPLA. (Your end customers can purchase ESU and deploy it in a SPLA providers datacenter though).

Ok, but the biggest benefits of SPLA is unlimited virtualization rights. And that is a BIG benefit. You can’t license SQL Enterprise on the host level and deploy SQL Standard virtual machines using CSP licenses. I also think Windows Datacenter in SPLA is very profitable for service providers. In addition, just because the virtual machine is installed locally when using Azure Arc, data/information is relayed back to Azure. There could be compliance/security concerns. You don’t have that issue with SPLA.

SPLA has it’s place and so does CSP. Can’t we all just get along? Either way, Microsoft still gets paid.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on September 21, 2023 in Uncategorized

 

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SPLA Audits: Survival Guide

19 Sep
SPLA Audits: Survival Guide

Here’s an example of an unsuccessful audit and what this Company could have done differently. True story. Don’t waste a failure. 

Customer A

Background

The Company reports roughly 75,000 USD a month in SPLA revenue. At one point, it was almost double that amount, but over the years, they moved workloads away from SPLA and into Azure. Although their SPLA has decreased, their CSP spend has increased significantly.

Five years ago, Company A went through an audit. They owed a small amount of money but were not nearly as large as now. Most of their growth has come by the way of acquisitions. Last year, Company A received another audit notification.   They were not as worried about the audit because they expected the same outcome as the previous one. 

The Process

The CEO received an audit notification specifying the audit process. A kick-off meeting would outline the requirements and what information they (auditors) would need to complete the project. This was conducted by a third-party audit firm, not Microsoft directly. Once the kick-off meeting was completed, they would move on to the data collection phase. They ran a scan of their entire infrastructure using the MAP tool and produced a raw data report. Once received, the auditors will compare Company A’s past usage reports and what was discovered during the audit. Whatever the delta is, ultimately, is what they would owe. 

The Outcome

This process was completely different than the original audit several years ago. Company A worked directly with Microsoft, not an audit firm. It was easier and completed on time. This new audit took a long time to complete. More assets (Servers/VMs) to uncover resulted in a longer time to perform the analysis. The longer it dragged out, the more uncomfortable senior management became. The Board wanted to move past this audit quickly to budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The auditors obliged; they didn’t want to spend too much time on the audit either. So, the auditors delivered a settlement letter with the total amount owed. The CEO was shocked. They initially thought they might owe about a month’s worth of licensing, but they owe well into seven figures. Completely unbudgeted, heads were going to roll. They pleaded with Microsoft, but the only option was to inquire about financing. Company A settled at the direction of their Board. Audit complete.

What did Company A do right?

They were responsive to the auditor’s request. I think this is a good thing. You shouldn’t ignore them, and your response is always appreciated.

What did Company A do wrong?

Everything outside of being responsive. Here’s what they should have done differently.

They have worked on their timeline, not the auditors. Company A should have taken a deep breath to respond but not rushed into something they were unprepared for. They knew their licensing wasn’t 100% accurate. They should have performed their risk assessment to understand their exposure.

Hired a consultant such as SPLA Man. You need to interpret and translate the data into a SPLA licensing report. This is also a great way to identify software you may have installed but never turned off or removed access. It’s good to get this information before the kick-off call.

They barely negotiated. The best Company A came up with is financing. When you negotiate with a major publisher, they must keep the conversation sales-oriented. When you don’t, it becomes very black and white. The product terms are the product terms, and you can’t change them. But leverage what you do have. In this example, Company A has a lot of CSP spend, leverage that. They also moved workloads to Azure. Guess what’s a top priority at Microsoft? Yes, Azure. 

They need a go-forward strategy. Maybe find a tool such as Octopus. Cloud to help manage installations more efficiently. Find your risk before it becomes a risk.

The key thing to remember is not only did Company A have to spend seven figures on an audit, but it also tells me they are not charging their customers accurately either. That’s the more significant issue, in my opinion.

So there you have it. What am I missing? Have a question? Going through an audit? Email info@splaicensing.com, and we can help.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on September 19, 2023 in Uncategorized

 

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Top Licensing Questions…Answered

18 Sep


What is a CSP – Hoster?

CSP Hoster allows a CSP Direct provider (Who has SPLA) to install, manage, and host CSP products to third parties.  Currently, you have to be authorized by Microsoft.  My take?  Don’t worry about #CSPHoster if you are not authorized.  Flexible Virtualization is your better option.

What is Flexible Virtualization?

Flexible Virtualization (Sometimes not so flexible..haha) allows end customers to bring licenses with SA or subscriptions to an authorized outsourcer.  Similar to license mobility without the forms.  The only issue I see with Flexible Virtualization is that there are so many ways to purchase licenses.

What is an Authorized Outsourcer?

Glad you asked.  EVERYONE can be an authorized outsourcer.  My 90-year-old neighbor (Sorry, Helen) can be an authorized outsourcer, and so can most hosters.  You DO NOT have to have a SPLA agreement to be an authorized outsourcer.  An authorized outsourcer is not a Listed Provider.  The bad news is competition has grown exponentially with this definition.  Since you do not have to have a SPLA, now SPLA and Managed Service Providers (MSP) are competing.  Differentiate yourself.

How do you differentiate yourself?

Know the licensing.  Think of a simple product like Windows Server.  SPLA, you license the physical cores.  EA, you license server, and CALs.  Flexible Virtualization: you can license by virtual core.  There’s a lot of confusion.  When there is confusion, there is opportunity.

Is License Mobility dead?

Like my neighbor, Helen, it does appear license mobility has one foot in the grave, doesn’t it?  License Mobility exists because of Listed Providers.  Since listed providers are not allowed to be an authorized outsourcers, license mobility is required in those scenarios where end customers are using AWS and the like.

What about QMTH?

Unlike Helen, she’s dead.

What about SPLA?

SPLA will never die.  In fact, Microsoft has incentives for hosters who report over 2 million a year in licensing.  If you have a question on that, email info@splalicensing.com

Can I mix SPLA and BYOL?

Yes.  But not for the same product.  For example, you can’t license Windows by SPLA and Windows by EA. 

SPLA Audits dead?

No.  It’s kind of like the 80’s Simple Minds song; they are alive and kicking.  It’s a great song, by the way.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIQo1OHkTI                     

Anything else?

Licensing questions are endless.  Have a question?  Email or leave a message.  Together, we can uncover the complexities of Microsoft licensing.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

PS – I was being goofy. I do not have a neighbor Helen.

 
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Posted by on September 18, 2023 in Uncategorized

 

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SPLA Man is BACK! And licensing is NOT getting easier.

15 Aug

I took a little time away from the computer, hoping Microsoft would make licensing easier for everyone and we could all retire to the beach. Unfortunately, my dream was crushed. I am not on a beach, and Microsoft is NOT making licensing easier. There are different rights dependent on how the customer purchased the licenses. Let’s review:

Licensing Windows Server VMs in CSP! 

Sounds great, but be careful; depending on the specific outsourcing scenario changes how you license. Let’s take a look at it more closely.

Purchase CSP for on-premise but use an authorized outsourcer.

 In this scenario, your customer (assuming you, the reader, are an authorized outsourcer) will need to purchase the following through CSP:

  1. License all virtual cores with a minimum of 8 cores per VM. They must purchase additional licenses for additional cores. 
  2. Assign CALs to users or devices. This is huge. There’s no CAL requirement in SPLA (or CSP Hoster and Azure). 

Deploy through the CSP Hoster Program  (this is when the licenses are acquired and hosted by a CSP-Hoster partner); the end customer must purchase the following:

  1. License all virtual cores with a minimum of 8 cores per VM. They must purchase additional licenses for additional cores.
  2. NO CALs required

Using Azure

The exact same rules apply to using a CSP-Hoster.

SPLA

No changes to SPLA, BUT if you provide SPLA for Windows, the entire server must be SPLA. You CAN provide Windows SPLA and have the customer bring applications through the flexible virtualization benefit. Similar to license mobility.

Subscription licenses for dual access rights (Using subscriptions on-premise and in the cloud) and Server installation rights

Customers who purchased Microsoft 365 Enterprise have dual access rights, but the poor souls who bought Business do not. On-Premise SERVER software installation rights for Microsoft 365 E3/E5 are allowed, but the user subscription license must be purchased through an Enterprise Agreement (Not CSP)

Windows 10/11 VDI

Customers with subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance (including Windows device licenses)

may run Windows desktop software on Authorized Outsourcers’ shared or dedicated servers for access by their licensed users or users accessing from licensed devices (Microsoft Outsourcing Software Management Brier)

Again, it does depend on how the customer purchased the licenses and which program. For argument’s sake, let’s say your customer purchased Windows Enterprise through an Enterprise Agreement. Good for them. They got ripped off. (Just kidding). Windows Enterprise licenses (such as Windows Enterprise E3) are sold as upgrade licenses to Windows Pro and have a Qualified Operating System prerequisite. This means that a user must have a device with a Qualified Operating System  to be eligible to be assigned a Windows Enterprise license *Source Licensing Windows 365 and Windows 11 Virtual Desktops for Remote Access.

However, if your customer purchased Microsoft 365 licenses, congratulation, they did not get ripped off; any user can be assigned a Microsoft 365 license regardless of the underlying device. 

I will go into VDI in another blog post, and there are many moving parts with it. If you have questions about it, I recommend emailing info@splalicensing.com to learn more about it. 

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on August 15, 2023 in Uncategorized

 

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