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Tag Archives: QMTH addendum

Answers to Your Cloud Licensing Questions

07 Nov

Will Azure be part of the SPLA program?

I wouldn’t think so and wouldn’t know how they could incorporate the two.  Azure is Microsoft hosted and SPLA is partnered.   Microsoft will want to keep SPLA and Azure separate.

Is Azure Stack part of SPLA?

Azure Stack by itself is not part of SPLA.  What’s part of SPLA is the Windows licenses.  As a service provider, you could deploy Azure Stack, pay the base consumption rate, and use Windows licensing with SPLA.  In fact, I think it’s less expensive to do it this way.

If my customer wants to use their own Windows license on Azure Stack, do they also require CAL’s?

Yes.  You need to pay attention to the Product Terms to ensure compliance.  As an example, volume licensing prohibits hosting.  You cannot install your own Windows licenses through volume licensing and host using Azure Stack.

Does Office 365 qualify for the SAL for SA product in SPLA?

The only Office 365 product that is eligible for SAL for SA is Skype.

Is SPLA pricing going up?

Yes and will not be decreasing anytime soon.

Since AWS offers dedicated hardware, could I transfer my customer’s license to their datacenter without Software Assurance?

Yes.  If its dedicated hardware Software Assurance is not required.

What about Azure?

No, you would need Software Assurance.

Will Microsoft finally allow MSDN to be licensed in my datacenter?

Probably not.  Although if you use Azure, MSDN is eligible to be transferred.

If I sell CSP through 2-Tier distributor, can I sign the QMTH addendum?

No.  You must be CSP 1 – Tier to qualify for QMTH.

Can I outsource support for certain software through CSP?

Yes.  You an resell the solutions you can support and leverage another partner for support for other products.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted by on November 7, 2017 in Top 5 Licensing Questions

 

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More SPLA Questions…More Answers.

13 Oct

Here is a list of some of the questions we received this month.  Enjoy!

Why does Microsoft not allow a SPLA SQL VM to be installed in a public cloud?  I understand if you were licensing the physical layer, but if you want to install on a VM, you can easily allocate the number of cores and report accordingly.  Any ideas?

No.  Honestly there is no reason outside of it’s just prohibited.  You cannot license SPLA cores/processors in public clouds even if the VM is dedicated.

What can be installed in Azure through SPLA licensing?

Anything that is licensed by SAL can be moved to Azure.  For your end customers, anything that has Software Assurance and is license mobility eligible can be transferred including: Windows 10 E3  (QMTH), Office 365 Pro Plus (QMTH) and MSDN.  Your end customers can also leverage Azure HUB to get discounted pricing for the Windows Servers they purchased with SA.   Check out the Azure FAQ site https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/licensing-faq/

Is Microsoft going to discontinue SPLA?

Nah.  I bet it will be merged into a new program though.  Just a hunch.

I received a compliance notification the other day.  Am I in trouble?

Depends on the type of notification and if you are out of compliant :).  If you have questions, we can review it with you.  Just email info@splalicensing.com

Can I report Windows 2016 but run Windows 2012?

Yes.  No problem there.  What you cannot do is license Windows 2012 and run 2016.  Don’t do that.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2017 in Top 5 Licensing Questions

 

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Details of the Qualified Multitenant Addendum

03 Aug

There’s been a lot of talk as of late about the new QMTH addendum.  I’ve written a couple of articles on the topic here  In this article, we will summarize what is written in the addendum so there’s no surprises.  I listed some (not all) of terms and conditions to ensure you are up to speed on the latest developments.

  • CSP Membership – You (or affiliates) must be a Direct CSP partner.  This means you cannot leverage an Indirect CSP partner for this program.  In other words, if you receive CSP licensing from Ingram Micro or SherWeb (as an example) your partnership with those distributors/partner does not qualify for QMTH.  Your organization must be CSP Direct authorized, not your partner.
  • Must meet the system requirements – System Requirements can be found here
  • Have an active SPLA agreement.
  • Reporting Requirements – You will always need to report underlying licenses in SPLA.  Those underlying licenses could be any software to deploy a VDI solution – (Windows Server and RDS).   In addition, you must report (by the last calendar day of each month) the Windows 10/O365 licenses deployed.  This is manual, meaning you will send an email to the QMTH alias for submission.  Once automated reporting is available, you must enable Microsoft’s automated reporting tool.  Microsoft will use the tool to collect your customer’s organization ID and tenant ID as well as the total number of users accessing the software.
  • As the provider, you must report to your SPLA Reseller the program administrative fee.  If you are currently in the SCA program, you will be familiar with this SKU.
  • As the provider, you must make all education materials publicly available.  You cannot just sign up for CSP, the education material should be like what’s on the QMH website.
  • For each per user subscription to Windows 10 Enterprise, the end-user can only access up to four (4) instances of Windows 10 either on Azure or you, the QMTH hoster.  This is like the SCA program in which the end user has five (5) instances of Office Pro Plus, Windows 10 works the same way.

Listed above is a summary.  I encourage you to reach out to your Microsoft rep for additional information.  I am happy to review it further, it’s a new program with pluses and minuses.  Be sure to understand the minuses first 🙂

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 
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Posted by on August 3, 2017 in Office 365

 

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More insight into the new Qualified Multitenant Program for CSP and SPLA

26 Jul

Over the course of the past week in a half, a lot of misleading information came about as a result of Microsoft’s announcement of the new QMTH program for hosting providers.  In this article, I will try to set the record straight and answer questions you may have.  Keep in mind, this is still developing, and the addendum is not available yet.  Please use this article as a general understanding, not a replacement for the Microsoft terms and conditions.  More information to come!  You can always email at info@splalicensing.com as well.

How do you I grasp QMTH in the simplest terms possible for my sellers?

Shared Computer Activation has been out for a long time, if your sellers understand SCA, QMH works in a very similar way.

Similarities to SCA 

  • Must be under SPLA to qualify and have the addendum
  • Must be CSP Direct authorized – check out qualifications and SCA here
  • Do not have to purchase Windows 10 directly from the hoster (the CSP Direct partner) they can purchase Windows 10 E3/E5 from other CSP partners but host it from your datacenter (as long as you are QMTH authorized)
  • Install on up to 5 devices.

Is SCA replaced with QMTH?

Yes.

If I’m SCA authorized, am I automatically authorzied for QMTH?

Yes/No.  You will need to update your landing page and you will need to sign the new addendum.  You will already be CSP Direct authorized if you are SCA authorized, it makes it a lot easier to transition.

Do I have to sell Office 365 with Windows 10?

No.  You can sell Windows 10 as a standalone product.

Can I still offer Windows/RDS for SPLA?

Yes.  Windows and RDS in SPLA is still available.  I would make it clear to the customer that you are not offering full Windows desktop but Windows Server.  I always liked Windows Server + RDS.  Shared environments, unlimited virtualization, etc. etc.

How does the activation and the licensing work? 

The base license for Windows 10 Enterprise is Windows 10 Pro.  It’s per user licensing, but the underlying qualified device needs Windows Pro.  The Windows 10 Enterprise features/bits is included with the Windows 10 Pro installation.  In other words, you install Windows 10 Pro, the Enterprise features are automatically turned off.  When your end customer subscribes to Windows 10 Enterprise E3/E5, those features will turn on.  When they unsubscribe, you guessed it – they are automatically turned off and the user goes back to Windows 10 Pro.  Check out this post from the Microsoft team Windows 10 Enterprise E3 in CSP

What happens if I work in a hospital with a dummy terminal that has no underlying/qualified OS.  Are you saying I must buy a Windows Pro license even if I don’t need it?

No.  You can buy Windows 10 Enterprise with VDA.  (Virtual Desktop Access), it provides a user access to a VDI session on a device that cannot run a qualified OS.  If an end-user has a dummy terminal, that user can still access a virtual desktop through VDA.

Can I just sell the customer Windows 10 E3 without virtualization rights?  They don’t need a virtual desktop.  

Yes.  Windows 10 E3 can be purchased with or without VDI rights (with is more expensive than without).  If they have Windows E5 the virtual rights are included but that doesn’t mean they have to install it virtually.

What happens if I use Azure as my datacenter provider?  Do I still need the addendum?

You do not need to be QMTH authorized to use Azure.  QMTH just provides you the ability to host Windows 10 E3/E5 in a shared environment from your datacenter.

When is this available?

August 1, 2017 for Azure.  September 1, 2017 for third-party hosting providers.

I am sure you have more questions.  I am always looking to learn more and learn your specific scenario.  If you do have a specific question, let me know and I can update this post accordingly.  It’s also worth mentioning that this program isn’t available yet.  I am sure there will be more information and updates as we move along.

Other articles of interest

Windows Blog – Windows virtualization rights coming to CSP…

ZDnet – Microsoft’ plan to move more small-business users to Windows 10…

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on July 26, 2017 in VDI

 

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