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What’s REALLY going on with SPLA????

16 Sep

In this article, let’s review the new licensing changes in greater detail. A LOT of questions on this change, so let’s get started! As always, if you have questions, please email info@splalicensing.com

Windows Server

For starters, Windows Server licensing rule change. In the past, (not specifically for SPLA) Windows Server was only available in CSP for Windows Standard edition. Fast forward to today, CSP will now have both Standard and Datacenter options. Great!

For end customers, they also have the option to license Windows Server by virtual machine, making it easier to move Windows Server workloads to a public cloud (as long as the hoster is not a Listed Provider). Other requirement is the Windows Server MUST have Software Assurance. No SA, NO outsourcer.

My Take?

Great move although now Hosters REALLY need to educate themselves on pricing options and licensing rules. DO NOT try and do this without assistance. Think about this from an end customer perspective:


1. They can leverage their EA to move to the cloud for Windows Server. Question is do they have SA on ALL workloads and associated CALs?

2. They can move workloads such as Office, Visio, and Project as well as Windows 11. Do you know the purchasing rights and do you know for certain they have SA? Are you CSP Direct? See below for more details on Office.

3. Is it less expensive for them to buy Windows Datacenter licenses through you in SPLA instead of buying perpetual licenses? That is the big question and often overlooked.

4. How are you going to track CSP, On -premise, and SPLA?

Our team can help you identify the best option for your customers. I also believe this is a GREAT way to differentiate yourself amongst your competitors. I work with SPLA partners all over the world, the one common denominator is not understanding the licensing rules and trying to do this alone. The best option is to outsource your licensing if you are unsure of what to do and how to properly educate your customers. Need help? Email us at info@splalicensing.com

Office, Visio, Project

If your end customer has license AND SA, they can use and authorized outsourcer (you if you meet the requirements) for shared hosting. Other terms may apply so stay tuned. If your end customer has license only, you have to isolate the hardware for the customer.

My Take?

This is great considering it provides options, but tracking the licenses may be difficult. This is especially true if you use a Listed Provider such as AWS. Most of these new rules do not apply to Listed Providers so stay on top of it!

Microsoft 365

If you purchase these licenses through CSP or through volume licensing the end customer has the ability to leverage an existing Authorized Outsourcer for both dedicated and shared environments. This is not defined as License Mobility, but “Extended Use Rights”

My Take?

Same as above to be honest. Windows Server and SQL have the same benefit in CSP (sorry, forgot to mention that) but the complexity still exists. As an example, for Windows Server through CSP, not only are you purchasing the Server licenses, but you are required to buy CALs. In SPLA, no CAL requirement to host. Microsoft 365 is a big deal and will be a bigger deal once they open it up to everyone.\

Windows 11

The big news here is mobility and the removal of a Qualified Operating System for VDA deployments. There’s going to be a lot of information on this. Microsoft stated the following:

Source: Microsoft Sept 2022 training

Other announcements? Last but not least….CSP for Hoster program. Basically allows hosters to deploy and manage CSP workloads from a datacenter environment.

Must be QMTH authorized, have an active SPLA and be CSP Direct. More details on this to follow. If you have a question, I encourage you to email us at info@splalicensing.com to help walk us through your specific questions.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

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Posted by on September 16, 2022 in Uncategorized

 

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New SPLA Price Announcements Coming! Are you ready?

18 Oct
Ahhh…..Microsoft. If you haven’t heard the news, there is an update coming for SPLA regarding pricing and new announcements to the program. Some of these changes include Windows Server, CIS, and the Office Suite. Suppose you want an opportunity to review these changes and how it directly affects your business. In that case, we can certainly set up a time to review and how other service providers are handling this impact. You can reach us at info@splalicensing.com Why the changes, and what precisely are they? The change has a lot to do with the direction Microsoft is going with its programs. SPLA is a mature program, with other solutions such as CSP, an emerging program for Microsoft.  That doesn’t mean SPLA is going away, but it does mean there will be changes, updates, and pricing increases.  If you would like to learn more, we can assist.  Do not keep licensing the same each month, expecting different results.  If you are frustrated and want an opportunity to optimize and, in some cases, reduce your costs, let SPLA Man come to the rescue! Let’s set up some time and review what these updates mean for you!  Please email us at info@splalicensing.com Thanks for reading, SPLA Man
 
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Posted by on October 18, 2021 in Uncategorized

 

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Can SPLA go towards the 300k CSP requirement?

15 Jan

Many CSP Direct partners who also have an SPLA agreement have asked if their SPLA usage reporting will go towards the 300k requirement to remain CSP Direct authorized.  Unfortunately, they are two separate programs, and one does not affect the other. 

The other question we get asked is: Can CSP replace SPLA for Windows, RDS, and SQL?  The answer again is no.  You are not allowed to host CSP products from your datacenter.  You can; however, license CSP products on-premise for your customers or in Azure. 

Whenever you license CSP for on-premise deployments, the software will follow the Product Terms, which (A) Prohibits hosting, and (B) Requires CALs.   When you deploy in Azure, you can host to third-parties, and there’s no CAL requirement.     

What is a service provider to do?  If you already invested in a platform, services, and billing systems to enable CSP Direct sales and still feel nervous about achieving the 300k requirement, here’s a quick list of things you may want to consider.

  • Microsoft recently discontinued the Open licensing program.  In doing so, they added perpetual licensing to the CSP program.  Do not think of CSP as a cloud-only solution, rather an opportunity to maybe expand your sales to include on-premise licensing sales.  On-premise CSP sales will go towards your 300k number.
  • If you are only CSP Direct authorized to have the QMTH addendum, make a cost comparison of running the same solution in Azure versus investing in sales and other activities to reach the 300k mark.  Is it worth it, or can you forgo the CSP authorization and use Azure?
  • Lower your cost for certain CSP products.  You do not make money from the sale of CSP licensing anyway.  Stop thinking your Exchange Online price increase is going to grow your bottom line.  Lower your cost to win customers and raise it later.  You can add services such as migration and cloud support to increase margins.  The 300k will not be based on your margin; it is based on Microsoft’s revenue billed.

Those are only suggestions, and a lot of this requires a change in business strategy, not just licensing.  Many service providers have asked about the future of SPLA.  I recently wrote an article regarding the future of the SPLA program.  You can download it here https://mscloudlicensing.com/product/whitepaper/  Some of the proceeds will go towards our charity, Mow Down Cancer, Inc. 

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on January 15, 2021 in Uncategorized

 

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Can I use CSP for Windows Server and not SPLA?

30 Jul

No.  How about that for a short answer?

We have been asked multiple times on this topic. It is not impossible, but not really viable either. Let me explain.

If you are CSP Direct authorized (or CSP Reseller), you could resell your end customer Windows and/or SQL Server subscriptions through CSP and host it in a dedicated infrastructure. I do not think it is really worth the time and effort just to host Windows and SQL. The cost in licensing is not that substantial from SPLA. If Microsoft allowed a service provider to host it on shared infrastructure than that would be a different story. You cannot purchase Windows through CSP and host it. Remember, Server Subscriptions for on premise deployments follow the Product Terms, which of course prohibits hosting.
If you are an ISV and want to host your application from your own datacenter, I would consider CSP Servers. Under the current Product Terms, Microsoft will allow Self-Hosted rights. I think this reduces your compliance risk since SPLA is tricky to license to begin with.

Isn’t licensing fun? We provide consulting services around these offerings. If you have questions, feel free to email us at info@splalicensing.com

Thanks for reading.

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on July 30, 2020 in Cloud Solution Provider Program, Self Hosted, Uncategorized

 

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What are your top 5 reasons for continuing with SPLA over CSP

23 Jul

Let us know!  Email info@splalicensing.com We are conducting a study to understand the hosting world better.

Here’s my top 5

  1. Cost.  Yes I can buy a Windows Server Subscription through CSP and save consumption costs by deploying through Azure, but my datacenter costs are consistent and can offer a fixed price point to my customers.
  2. Confusing.  I thought SPLA was confusing, CSP is just a complex.  Want CSP Windows Server on prem?  You cannot host if you do!  Want CSP Incentives?  You are better off reading the SPUR, it’s an easier read!  Want the new CSP perpetual license?  That’s fine, but don’t plan on hosting or having your customer transfer that license into your datacenter.  No Software Assurance equals no License Mobility
  3. Dedicated Infrastructure.  With Listed Provider rules, I can offer dedicated hosts and compete with larger hosting companies.
  4. Local Support.  My customers want their data local and with someone they know.
  5. You can do both.  We can offer E3 plans or Windows 10 to my end users through CSP, but use SPLA for infrastructure solutions  for my financial customer or ISV solutions.

What do you think?  Bad list?  Good list?  Anything additional?

Stay tuned for reasons to do CSP over SPLA in my next post.  Here’s a hint…compliance.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man.

 
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Posted by on July 23, 2020 in Cloud Solution Provider Program, Uncategorized

 

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Licensing Options to Meet the ESU (End Security Update) Deadline.

19 Nov

Holidays are right around the corner, chill in the air, and a looming end of security update for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 is right around the corner.  What is a MSP going to do?  Luckily for you, there’s SPLA Man, or MSP Man, or CSP Man (whatever acronym Microsoft calls me these days), any of which can provide you options.  In this article, we’ll review these options and how each one can fit into your business.

Windows Server 2008

If you are hosting software under SPLA, the good news is you already have access to the latest version as part of your agreement.   If you are not licensing SPLA and want to provide Windows Servers to your clients, you have a couple options:

  1. Under the Cloud Solution Provider Program (CSP) you can license Windows Servers through your indirect provider or through your own authorization.  This will allow you access to the latest version, pay annually for the subscription, and allow you to install the software on your customers datacenter or in Azure.  You will not be allowed to host Windows Server subscription licenses in CSP and host it from your datacenter.  Whenever you install CSP Server Subscriptions on premise, it follows the Product Terms (which prohibits hosting).  This also means you must buy CALs if installed on premise as well.  CALs are available through CSP or through the end customers volume licensing agreement.
  2.  You can have your end customers buy the new version of Windows Server licenses through their own volume licensing agreement.  Under this model, you (as a service provider) would need to isolate the hardware for that customer (dedicated hardware).  CALs would also be required.  You cannot have the end customer buy the licenses and host it in AWS or other “Listed Provider” as mentioned in the Product Terms.  Microsoft prohibits anything outside of license mobility to be installed on shared servers from a Listed Provider.
  3. You can have the end customer buy ESU through their own volume licensing agreement (I believe only the Enterprise Agreement qualifies).  This is a fairly expensive option.

Windows 7

Many organizations must upgrade their PCs and end devices running Windows 7 to a newer version.  Here are the 3 options available.

  1. Windows 10 through CSP.  You receive the latest version rights which will allow the end customer to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10.  Couple things to keep in mind: 1) Windows 7 Pro can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro included with the subscription.  2) Windows 7 Home can upgrade to Windows 10 Home (Home only).  CSP is a channel program that allows a service provider to buy licenses from an authorized CSP provider and resell it to their end users.  (Same process as SPLA in essence).
  2. Buy ESU.  Similar to servers, ESU is available through the Enterprise Agreement.  (Should be avaialble through CSP in December).  This is only a viable option if the end customer does not have plans to upgrade to a newer version.
  3. Buy Windows 10 through a Volume Licensing agreement.  There is a rental addendum through VL that allows an organization to rent PCs to end users.  More details can be found here

The good news is there are options.  The bad news is time is running out.  If you have any questions, please let us know info@splalicensing.com

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 
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Posted by on November 19, 2019 in DaaS, Uncategorized

 

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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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Top News in September

25 Sep

Here’s the latest news of the month for all MSP’s and SPLA providers.  Enjoy!

SQL 2017

This month is a month we will remember for the rest of our lives.  That’s right, today SQL 2017 is available to run on…a non-Microsoft system?

From the licensing guide: “SQL Server 2017 now supports deployment on RedHat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Ubuntu, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES). The SQL Server 2017 SKUs are platform agnostic, so customers can run the software on either Windows or Linux.” (check it out here)

What this means for those anti-Microsoft lovers is a customer who demands SQL can now install SQL 2017 on a Linux machine and not report Windows.  The machine cannot run any Windows guest VM’s for it not to be reported.  Pay attention to that last sentence as we get asked a lot about licensing individual VM’s instead of the actual host.  In Windows licensing, you license the physical host, not the VM’s.  If there are 100 Linux VM’s and only 1 Windows VM, you must license the host with Windows Datacenter to be in compliant.

Azure Stack Availability

The long await is over – Azure Stack is now shipping through the OEM channel (Dell, Lenovo, HPE)  You can read more about this announce here  From a licensing perspective, I think it is less expensive to license Windows through SPLA than pay as you use model.  It’s more of a predictable cost in my opinion.  This is one way Microsoft is attempting to extend Azure (public cloud) into your private cloud and have the best of both worlds.

“Hit Refresh”

Satya Nadella “Hit Refresh” book is available at a time when we are all in a strange way, hitting refresh.  The cloud transformation is only getting more complex – hybrid, dedicated, Google, AWS, Azure, every company is transforming to try and get the slightest edge over their competitors.  I look forward to reading it and every dollar goes to Microsoft charities.  Regardless of what you think of Microsoft, Satya seems like one of the good guys.  You can check out more about the book here

More to come –

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on September 25, 2017 in In My Opinion, Uncategorized

 

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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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