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Tag Archives: SCA

Top 5 Licensing questions…Answered

11 Sep
  1. If a customer has 4 x SQL Server Standard (8 cores), does that mean I will also need to have 4 x SQL-SAL?

There’s no server + CAL model in SPLA.  You license either per core or per user depending on the product.  Remember, SAL is not licensed per server, but for each user that has access to that server.  Your question indicates you might believe a SAL is licensed per server which is not true.

2.  Is MSDN available through SPLA?  Is it through Azure?

MSDN is not available in SPLA, but you can license the individual components through SPLA.   If an end-user would like to bring their MSDN license over to your datacenter, you must dedicate the solution for your customer.  Yes, Amazon must play by the same rules.  Oddly enough, Azure (which is shared) does allow MSDN to be transferred over to their datacenter.

3. I received an audit notification.  Should I respond?

Yes. But don’t work on their time, work on yours.

4.  If I signed the SCA addendum, do I need to sign the new QMTH addendum?

Unless you are planning on hosting Windows 10 you do not need to sign the new addendum.

5.  If I buy from a CSP indirect partner, do I qualify for QMTH?

No.  Your company must be CSP 1 tier authorized in order to qualify.

Thanks  for reading,

SPLA Man

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Posted by on September 11, 2017 in Top 5 Licensing Questions

 

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Top 5 CSP Questions…Answered

24 Aug

Here are a few hot topics this week around CSP.  Enjoy!

What would happen if I sell myself Office Pro Plus through my own CSP authorization?  Can I do that?

No.  You cannot sell yourself Office 365 Pro Plus licenses.  You can purchase it through any volume licensing program or through another CSP provider.  Might be a good way to check out the competition support processes though!

If you are CSP authorized in Australia, but have customers in UK, can you resell Office 365 through CSP?

No. You can only resell in the region in which you are authorized. 

If my end customer purchased Office 365 Pro Plus through Volume Licensing, can I host it from my datacenter if I am QMTH authorized?

Yes. The end customer can purchase from any licensing program as long as it is Office 365 Pro Plus version.  As the service provider, you must be QMTH authorized.

 

If I purchase CSP licenses indirectly from my distributor, do I qualify for QMTH?

No.  You must CSP Direct authorized in order to that.  You cannot purchase from a distributor and offer VDI or Office Pro Plus.

If I sell Azure through CSP, how do I know which region my data is located?

With Azure, you get to pick the region.

If I sell Office 365 through CSP, which region is my service hosted from?

The address on the invoice determines the location of the services. 

***Watch out for the new Microsoft Cloud Agreement (MCA) coming in September.  You can download the old version here

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on August 24, 2017 in Cloud Solution Provider Program

 

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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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Top 5 CSP Questions….Answered!

17 Jul
  1. Is the SCA addendum removed now that Microsoft announced the Qualified Multitenant Hoster addendum?  Yes.  SCA has been removed and replaced with the QMH addendum.
  2. If I have a CSP Indirect/Tier 1 authorization, can I resell Azure Stack but license Windows Server through SPLA?  Yes.  You will pay the base consumption rate because you A) Purchased the hardware through an authorized dealer and 2) paid for the Windows license through SPLA.
  3. If I am not authorized for CSP, can I still sell Office 365 to my end users?  Not in the general sense.  What you can do is resell CSP through a distributor or authorized CSP Indirect/Tier 2 partner. You can also partner with a CSP Direct partner to offer the solution.  They would resell the actual license but you can provide services on top of it.
  4. I am a SPLA partner who wants to resell Office to my end users.  What are my options?  You can sell Office through SPLA and include RDS and Windows.  You can become CSP Direct authorized and use the QMH addendum mentioned above.  You can also use end customer owned Office licenses and host it in a dedicated environment.
  5. Will Microsoft offer QMH for Indirect partners as well?  Not at this time.  You must be CSP Direct to qualify, not Indirect.

Lots more on this.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on July 17, 2017 in Office 365

 

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Top 5 SPLA Licensing Questions in March 2017

05 Apr

There’s March madness in college basketball and March madness in licensing.  College basketball is over, but licensing is just getting started.  In this post, I completed a list of the top 5 questions in SPLA.  Enjoy!

1.  Can we offer a customer dedicated VMs where they can have Windows-admin access? We want to offer the OS-plattform and let the customer handle applications etc themselves

No.  You can offer dedicated VMs, but unless a customer is transferring their licenses over to your datacenter, they should not have admin access.  Amazon does a good job of explaining this.  Check it out here

2.   I am looking at licensing SQL in Azure.  My question is can we run multiple     instances on a single VM or is it 1 instance per VM?  How can we reduce our consumption?

Yes. You can run multiple instances on a single VM to reduce the number of VM’s deployed.  This works with Azure, AWS, or even your own datacenter.

3.   If we have a hypervisor running 2012r2 datacenter edition. Can I install server 2016 on a VM or does the hyper visor also have to be 2016?

You can install the VM with 2016 but the entire host must be licensed by core if you do. (even if you are also running 2012) Remember with 2016, there is an 8- core minimum per physical processor and is sold in packs of 2 cores.

4. I have a production SQL server fully licenced. We will be introducing a second server that will only receive SQL transaction logs throughout the day. It’s not a hot standby, not even a warm standby.  Does it require a license?

As long as that server is passive, log shipping is allowed.  

5. We are a cloud hosting provider and find it very frustrating in regard to Office 365 and not being able to use SCA.  Any help?

There are specific requirements to become CSP Tier 1.  I will say Microsoft has made the requirements easier as it pertains to support.  If you are having difficulty becoming CSP Tier 1, it may help to look at partnering.  Let us know.  info@splalicensing.com

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on April 5, 2017 in Top 5 Licensing Questions

 

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Office Under Office 365 and Shared Environments…Can we do it or not?

25 Jan

There’s a rumor that Microsoft will allow a service provider the ability to host Office licenses under Office 365 in a shared cloud environment.  Is the rumor true?  Yes, it’s true.  But with everything in the world of licensing there’s always a catch.

For those that have read my blog for a while know that this blog is not a news source, but an education source.  I don’t care about late breaking news, I just want you to get the licensing right, the information right, and be profitable.

So what does Office under Office 365 really mean?  Some time ago, Microsoft created a use right titled “Shared Computer Activation”  For those playing at home this is code for installing end user Office license from O365 in a shared cloud infrastructure similar to license mobility.  In the past, this was only available in Azure.  (imagine that).  Fast forward to today and Microsoft is opening it up to the service provider channel as well.  Good news for you, and even better news for Microsoft.  If you would like to use this use right (SCA) you must meet the following criteria:

  1. You must be authorized for  Cloud Solution Provider Program (CSP Tier 1).  Thats why it’s good news for Microsoft.
  2. You must be managed by a Microsoft hosting team member.
  3. You must be an authorized SCA partner.  (Licensing Addendum)

If you don’t know if you are managed, let me know – I can see if you are.  Typically this is for SPLA partners that report not only high SPLA revenue (although not necessarily), but are also strategic in marketing activities with Microsoft.  If you are international, let me know and we can look into getting US authorized as well.  You can email me at info@splalicensing.com to learn more.  I also have a cool powerpoint.  (well, about as cool as powerpoint’s can go).  Although a bit out dated, here is a good overview as well on SCA: https://technet.microsoft.com/library/dn782860(v=office.15).aspx

Last, I sit on a licensing panel and would love to review the different use cases for this program.  Let me know how you may/may not benefit from Shared Computer Activation and we can voice our collective opinion to Microsoft.  info@splalicensing.com

There’s also a big change for rental PC’s.  Little teaser for an upcoming blog post.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2016 in Office 365

 

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