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What’s your AI Strategy?

07 Jan

The other day, I listened to Bill Gates explain the Internet to David Letterman in a 1995 YouTube clip. Letterman asked him, “Are you familiar with this internet thing? What the hell is that exactly?” Gates explained that it has become a place where people publish information. You can even have your own homepage! The clip is hilarious but shows how far the world has come in 30 years. You can check out the clip here. So here we are today. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hotter topic than the cloud was in the early 2000s. A stock skyrockets to oblivion if a company mentions “AI” on their conference call. Don’t believe me, check out the 2-year chart on Nivida.

This site is dedicated to licensing, strategy, and, of course, service providers. As a service provider, what do you think of AI? What are Microsoft’s plans around AI? What are some steps you can do now to prepare for whatever or wherever AI may lead us?

Microsoft announced earlier that they will spend approximately $80 BILLION on AI-enabled data centers. That pretty much sums up the question on what Microsoft plans to do around AI.

I came across several organizations that are now offering AI as a Service (AAS for short, close to ASS but…) It’s interesting how an organization can adapt, create a new service offering, and still continue to offer the same solution as they did prior. As a cloud partner or CSP Partner, you can join the AI Cloud Partner Program, allowing you to access enhanced skilling, specializations, co-sell marketing funds, and incentives. They defined this as your “foundation for success.” I get it, I sound like a Microsoft commercial, but It is available through the Microsoft partner center if you want to learn more. It’s also a way to connect with other providers in this area.

That’s all great, but AI is only as good as the data and information it collects. I would argue that the first step to your AI journey (or the foundation for success) is understanding how and where you collect your data? Azure solutions, such as Purview, can help identify and solve data sprawl if implemented correctly. AWS has a similar solution called Amazon Macie. Whichever partner you work with, make sure your data is collected, protected, and relevant.

If your strategy is status quo, good for you. I don’t blame you. I’m SPLA Man. But I wonder what role AI will play as we are literally in the infancy phases of this new technology. Will we sound as silly as David Letterman when he asked about the internet thirty years from now? I welcome your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

or is it SPLA Man? Maybe it’s an AI generated form of SPLA Man.

 
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Posted by on January 7, 2025 in Uncategorized

 

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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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The Cloud Insider News – Dynamics CRM

11 May

We read article after article, use rights after use rights, to provide you the best and accurate information.  Now it’s your turn.  The Cloud Insider News takes articles written by you to tell your story and help educate the community.  In this edition, we take a look at CRM.  Have a hot topic? Email info@splalicensing.com

The Register Microsoft plans summer CRM war opener against Salesforce

XRM – CRM Online FAQ

Omnivue.net (white paper) – Is Your Business Ready for ERP?

SaaSPlaza – What’s all the hype about Microsoft Dynamics 365?

Wealthmanagement.com/Tamarac – Five Ways a Client Portal Can Transform Your Practice

WatServ – Dynamics 365 Pricing Plans and Migration Discount Announced at Dynamics 365 Tech Conference.

Channele2e – Microsoft Preps Partners for Dynamics 365, LinkedIN Integration

Cisco – Cisco Unified CallConnector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Caltech – Dynamics 365 Enterprise Edition Customer Service

Tribridge – Is it Time to Check the Vital Signs of Your Microsoft Dynamics CRM System?

Computer World – Adobe continues to march to the cloud

Ipipeline – Customer Centricity – Do you “CRM?”

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2017 in The Cloud Insider Times

 

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Worried about Windows 2016 Cores?

09 Sep

Yes, it’s the talk of the town.  “Windows 2016!  Oh my!  It’s moving to cores!!!”  That part is true.  What is NOT true is even when Windows 2016 is released, it doesn’t mean you have to license by core – you can still license by processor for all 2012 and earlier editions.  The catch?  Once your agreement expires and you sign a new SPLA after October 1st (when Windows 2016 is released) you must license by core regardless which version you are running.

So what does this mean to you?  If I was a service provider that reports over 2k in Windows and SQL licenses,  I might readjust when my SPLA expires to extend processor based licensing.   Wait…What?   You can readjust when my SPLA agreement expires?  Sure.  I’m SPLA Man.  Anything is possible with SPLA Man.

Thanks for reading,

Windows 2016 Man

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2016 in Windows 2016

 

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How to License Exchange

04 May

Article update: We created a new website called MSCloudlicensing to help SPLA and CSP partners understand the different program options and use rights available to them. The site is designed to be a collaborative platform,  which includes a forum to ask and answer licensing questions, document library, and licensing articles.  It’s more in depth than a simple blog. Check it out, it’s free!  www.mscloudlicensing.com 

 

 

 

In my years of managing the SPLA program, I came to the conclusion that no one likes to babysit an Exchange server.  Organizations do not have the resources or the time to constantly monitor a server, and hosters (if that’s a word) feel the pressure of managing a mission critical application such as email.  If it goes down, not only can you lose a customer, but the customer might lose business as well!

For those hosters that feel up to the challenge, Exchange can be a very profitable opportunity.  Whenever there is complexity, along comes value…which every hoster needs to run a business. What’s the downside? As always, there’s a concern over licensing.

Exchange for SPLA partners (hosters) comes in five flavors: Exchange Basic, Standard, Standard Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus. Each comes with different functionality as well as price. From experience, 90% of what is being reported is the Exchange Standard SKU. The breakdown of each SKU is as follows:

Exchange Basic – Think of OWA/POP Mail only
Exchange Standard – Features of Exchange Basic as well as shared calendaring and mobile device synchronization
Exchange Standard Plus – Features of Exchange Standard plus the full Outlook client
Exchange Enterprise – Includes all the features of Exchange Standard as well as unified messaging and anti virus/spam features
Exchange Enterprise Plus – All the features listed above plus the full Outlook client

The list above is just an overview, for a full feature list check out the SPUR (user section). The way you license Exchange is by user. Every user that HAS access to the software will need a license; not who does access. Think of your cable company, they will charge you regardless if you turn your TV on or not. User licenses works the same way.

In my opinion, the key to a successful Exchange launch is to offer a multi-tenant (shared) environment. If you license Windows by processor (Exchange runs on a Windows OS) and Exchange by user, the more users you have on that particular server the less expensive it is for the user. Eventually all you are charging is the cost of the Exchange license. That’s how large service providers are able to seemingly charge less. They have thousands of users accessing a limited number of servers in a shared environment.

If a customer wants a dedicated environment (one server hosting one client) the end customer can bring their licenses to you and you host it for them, or provide the licenses via SPLA, but the cost per user is going to be higher (unless it’s a large enterprise).

Once you offer Exchange, it makes it easier to offer other collaboration applications as well; such as SharePoint, CRM, and Lync. Who knows, you might become the next Amazon or Rackspace.

Thanks for reading!

SPLA Man

 
14 Comments

Posted by on May 4, 2013 in Exchange

 

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What CAN I do with my SPLA Licenses?

04 Apr

When it comes to licensing, most of the time we discuss what you cannot do with the licenses.  Today I thought I would touch on what you CAN do with Microsoft licenses as it pertains to the SPLA program.   I came up with a list of ideas that you can take advantage of being a Microsoft hosting partner.

  • Use SPLA licenses internally.  There is a 50% rule with SPLA that states you can use 50% of what you are hosting for your internal employees.  Let’s say you are hosting 10 Exchange licenses externally, the terms of the agreement states you can use up to 5 licenses internally.  These licenses are not free, you would still need to report those 5 licenses on your monthly report (report a total of 15 licenses to your reseller).  One way of reducing your volume licensing count.
  • 60 Day Evaluation – This allows a service provider to host an application as a trial for up to 60 days per customer!  Trick is you cannot receive a fee during this period.
  • Customer Owned Licenses – Customers can bring their own licenses into your data center and you can host the software for them.  The issue: you must host it in a physical dedicated environment (nothing shared amongst other customers).
  • Install Servers on Customers Premise – As long as you own the hardware, you can locate the server at your customers location.
  • Receive the latest version. As new technology is released, you will have access. (check SPUR for availability)
  • Partner with another service providers to host the software.  This is especially important for customers looking to deploy a Dynamics solution but are not Dynamics authorized.

It’s refreshing to write about what you can do. Microsoft is not always the bad guy!

Thanks for reading!

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on April 4, 2013 in Compliance

 

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SPLA Compliance Audit- How Not to be the Chosen One!

05 Mar

If you recently went through an audit or just nervous about being notified, I outlined ten steps that service providers can take to arm themselves more efficiently and be compliant.

  1. If you are running Microsoft software, you must license Windows.  All Microsoft software runs on a Windows OS.
  2. If you are licensing SharePoint- SharePoint requires SQL and Windows.
  3. Reporting SharePoint Enterprise you must license SharePoint Standard
  4. Installing Office on a server requires Remote Desktop (RDS) licenses.  Office and RDS licenses should match (cannot have more Office licenses than RDS licenses)
  5. If you have customers bringing licenses into your hosted environment you need to host it in a physical and dedicated environment.  (nothing shared among other customers)
  6. If you are reporting user licenses (SAL- Subscriber Access License) you need a license for each user that has access.  For example, if you have 10 totals users in the month of May and only 4 actually use or access that software, you must license all 10.  SPLA user licenses are similar to your cable bill; your cable provider is going to charge you regardless if you turn your TV on or not.
  7. If you have customer owned licenses in your environment, you must keep all relevant documentation.  This includes enrollment information, start date, end date, and who they bought the licenses from.
  8. Renting out a PC make sure the PC has an OEM license preinstalled.
  9. No virtualizing/streaming Windows desktop OS from a datacenter.
  10. You can install your server on a customer premise, but do not install SPLA software on your customer’s server!

This is not bulletproof by any means.  Use this as a guide when looking at your own environment.  Look at it from the auditors eyes.  What information would they need to verify that I am compliant? The SPUR (Service Provider Use Rights) is the best reference when it comes to Microsoft SPLA.  You can download a copy here.  If you have trouble sleeping at night; this is a must read.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
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Posted by on March 5, 2013 in Compliance

 

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Office 365 Under SPLA

26 Feb

Article update: We created a new website called MSCloudlicensing to help SPLA and CSP partners understand the different program options and use rights available to them. The site is designed to be a collaborative platform,  which includes a forum to ask and answer licensing questions, document library, and licensing articles.  It’s more in depth than a simple blog.  www.mscloudlicensing.com 

Document Library: Easy to read white papers on licensing and best practices. What really happens in an audit? How are other service providers handling CSP and Azure? AWS licensing? https://mscloudlicensing.com/document-library/
Forum: Experts always review and answer your licensing questions. https://mscloudlicensing.com/forum/
Articles: Most of the splalicensing.com articles you are used to reading and many more on CSP, Azure, AWS, and other cloud providers.
https://mscloudlicensing.com/subscription/

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With the release of Office 365, the Microsoft hosting community has been asking “What’s in it for us?”   At a glance, I would agree, especially when it comes to Office.   Office can be installed on up to 5 devices with Office 365, under SPLA, you have to install it on a server and have remote access into the server.  This would require not only Office, but RDS and Windows Server!  Microsoft did recently (January, 2014) announce RDS mobility rights. More details found here. I also wrote why Office needs to have mobility rights or else the entire “Office 365” type experience (from a licensing perspective) won’t work. Check it out here
If I was in the hosting business, I would not try to compete against Office 365 from a licensing perspective; I would embrace it.  The most successful service providers offer Office 365 as part of their solution.  For example, if you host SharePoint, like it or not the end customer is going to look at Office 365.  They will want to compare your solution to Microsoft’s. What differentiates your offering to Microsoft’s?  There’s the obvious – you are regional or local, you can offer customization, you can also offer dedicated or multitenant environments; but more importantly you can offer services. Customers want to move to the cloud, the question is “how do they get there?”  This is what you do.  This is what you are great at.  This is where you can increase your margins. Back to my SharePoint example, if you say to your customer – “here’s Microsoft’s SharePoint and here’s ours.  We will help you facilitate to Office 365 if you choose (become the partner of record) but here is what you will be missing.”  You are promoting your brand and not shunning Microsoft’s.  I like what FP Web is doing.  They are the SharePoint experts and are wiling to compare their solution to Microsoft’s on their website.  Check it out for yourself http://www.fpweb.net/why-us/compare-o365-fpweb/

From a SPLA licensing perspective, the only bundled SKU is the productivity suite.  This includes Lync Enterprise, SharePoint Standard, and Exchange Standard.  It does not include Windows, SQL, or Office. Windows processor licenses allows unlimited number of users to access, the more users, the less expensive it is. Eventually all you will be quoting is the Exchange license.  (if you are an Exchange only provider) That is how large service providers are able to hold down their costs.

Other option to Office 365 is to offer License Mobility.  License Mobility allows your end customers to purchase licenses (with Software Assurance) and bring it into your environment.  The advantage for the customer is volume discounts, and the advantage for the service provider is the ability to offer this in a multitenant hardware infrastructure.  The virtual instance has to be dedicated, but the hardware it resides on can be multitenant.  This is only if the customer has Software Assurance and the service provider signs the license mobility addendum.  Windows is not included and would have to be reported under SPLA.  I will write another blog on license mobility.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

 
22 Comments

Posted by on February 26, 2013 in Office 365

 

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