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Category: Microsoft Software Assurance

Microsoft Products Reaching End-of-Life in or by October 2023

As an ongoing effort, Miro will deliver the Microsoft products reaching end-of-life (EOL) in or by October 2023 in a clear, concise way. Two (2) things are very important – and potentially critical – to your organization: Microsoft Office 2019 Including Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac and all the applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, the EOL is October 2023. That is this October! And this is for Mainstream Support. The Extended Support end is currently two (2) […]

Microsoft Office Rebranding

For the first time in over 30 years, Microsoft Office will be no more. At least, the name. While the functionality of each component – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, for example – will remain the same, the product will be referred to as Microsoft 365. Throughout the coming timeframe, these products as well as some others will absorb the new branding. However, the price will change. While Microsoft Office is a one-time, perpetual right-to-use, the new Microsoft 365 is a […]

Licensing by Virtual Core

Beginning in October 2022, Microsoft allows for licensing of certain products by virtual core. In this blog, we look at three (3) specific titles: Windows Server, System Center, and SQL Server.   Windows Server The announcement reads: “When licensing either edition of Windows Server by virtual machine…”   But there’s other parts of this statement – caveats, if you will: “The licensed server must be assigned a minimum of 8 core licenses per virtual machine.” – So four (4) 2-pack […]

Microsoft Changes Cloud Licensing

We all know how big cloud computing is. And you might be aware that a lawsuit was brought against Microsoft alleging its practices in the cloud were unfair. Technically, this case was brought in the European Union, but now Microsoft has responded to it by changing these practices worldwide. It is not clear that this will suffice in settling the lawsuit. These changes do not apply to what Microsoft refers to as “Listed Providers” – that is, Microsoft, Alibaba, AWS, […]

Microsoft Products Reaching End-of-Life in 2025

It’s not that far away. 2025. That year (and into 2026) spells the end of some on-premises software and end-of-support dates. This could leave your organization with unsupported software. And if there are regulations imposed whereby that cannot be abided, then there’s some work to do. However, some of the alternatives could be limiting – or, at least, more costly. Microsoft has increased its focus on subscriptions be they on-premise or cloud-based. This blog intends to provide an overview of […]

Microsoft Dropping Support for Medium and Small Businesses

Microsoft will no longer offer direct support for medium and small businesses with Software Assurance spends below $250,000 per year Larger organizations who have a Software Assurance spend of $250,000 or more annually will be compelled to go to Unified Support. Smaller organizations will have to make do with partner support, unless they forego support altogether. “Sometime in 2023” (that’s a direct quote from Microsoft), incident-based support will be replaced with as-needed support. Microsoft will also offer credits toward Unified […]

8 Secrets Microsoft Won’t Tell You

Microsoft keeps a lot of secrets from its clients. They can cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in compliance penalties and wasted expenditures. They can also cost you your job. 1. You’re Paying for Cloud Whether You Use It or Not Microsoft Enterprise Agreements typically include an “Azure Monetary Commitment” fee. This is Microsoft charging you for using their cloud, even if you didn’t want it or ever use it. Not only do Microsoft reps usually not explain what […]

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