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Tag: Microsoft licensing

Licensing usage: Use as intended (always)
Scott D. RosenbergMicrosoft Licensing Compliance, Microsoft Licensing Tip, Microsoft: News You Can UseLeave a Comment on Licensing usage: Use as intended (always)

No matter what day or week it is, we’ll always get a question about “how else can we use our license” with a very specific example. The short answer is – you must always use licenses as they are intended for use, otherwise you will be out of compliance, and penalties can be steep! We understand that there are a lot of gray areas in your licensing agreement, but this usage is usually not one of them. One example of […]

Changes are happening with Microsoft virtual environments!
Scott D. RosenbergLicensing Change Alert, Microsoft Licensing Compliance, Microsoft Licensing Tip, Microsoft: News You Can UseLeave a Comment on Changes are happening with Microsoft virtual environments!

Some good news regarding Microsoft licensing in virtual environments – near the end of March, Microsoft announced that customers with active Software Agreements on Windows desktop software can freely access virtualized Windows desktop instances without additional charge. This is an important and welcome departure from the prior model of Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) which resulted in additional costs to customers contemplating the move to a virtual desktop environment. The critical point here, of course, is an active Software Assurance […]

The simplest of them all – developer tools
Scott D. RosenbergMicrosoft Licensing Tip, Microsoft: News You Can UseLeave a Comment on The simplest of them all – developer tools

Online services are one of the easier licensing models from Microsoft. Yet, even simpler are developer tools – one license is required for each user that accesses the software. Regardless of how many copies are installed on however many of devices, each user must be licensed individually and the software must be used only to “design, develop, test or demonstrate” programs. In order to remain in compliance, be absolutely sure each user is licensed properly and you use the software […]

Microsoft online services – licensing tips
Scott D. RosenbergMicrosoft Licensing Tip, Microsoft: News You Can UseLeave a Comment on Microsoft online services – licensing tips

Microsoft online services, which are growing in popularity, are a subscription-based model and are very specific in its use. Licensing is much simpler to decipher, especially due to the lack of hardware associated with the service. Just like any other web-based service, you can buy one or multiple licenses, or a company-wide unlimited usage plan. For certain products, such as Forefront Protection for Exchange, you can purchase it in either a per device or per user subscription, dependent on your […]

Licensing desktop operating systems
Scott D. RosenbergMicrosoft Licensing Tip, Microsoft: News You Can UseLeave a Comment on Licensing desktop operating systems

With Microsoft desktop operating systems (OS) are surprisingly simple when it comes to licensing. For each physical or virtual client that uses that operating system you can install one copy per license. This includes thin clients also. The only exception to this rule is if you have a volume licensing program – the desktop OS license is an upgrade. Typically, the licenses that come with your PCs when you purchase them are considered base licenses; therefore, you should only have […]

Microsoft changes are a-coming!
Scott D. RosenbergLicensing Change Alert, Microsoft Licensing Compliance, Microsoft: News You Can UseLeave a Comment on Microsoft changes are a-coming!

We have addressed how the per-device licensing model that Microsoft currently utilizes is slowing the adoption of virtualization, making it too expensive. But… guess what? Later this year, Microsoft is finally going to make some changes! Some of the complaints from the industry have been about the required purchase of SA in order to access virtual desktop tools, and that Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD), which is required, is too expensive. While Microsoft is well aware of these issues that […]

Knowing your Peak Capacity
Scott D. RosenbergMicrosoft Licensing Compliance, Microsoft Licensing Tip, VirtualizationLeave a Comment on Knowing your Peak Capacity

One important rule in server licensing (especially in the Microsoft environment) is understanding your peak capacity. Very simply, you must be licensed for the maximum usage of your server – the maximum number of running instances. Even if you, for example, only ever need one instance, but there is a possibility at some point there will be two instances run on that server at the same time – it needs to be licensed for two. The number of instances that […]

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