Tag: Microsoft

Microsoft’s New Volume Licensing Plan – Select Plus

Microsoft unveiled a new volume licensing plan for large organizations this month called Microsoft Select Plus. The program will allow companies to use a single ID to track their licensing contracts across the entire company. The program will mean bigger discounts as there will be the opportunity to increase your overall “points” – which are used to determine volume qualifications (you must have 500 points to qualify for Select Plus). You can still qualify for this new program if you […]

Quick Byte: Microsoft Licensing # 10

Validation? Some may not be aware, but your Microsoft software may occasionally need to be validated – meaning you will have to download the validation feature of your software so Microsoft can be sure that you have activated and licensed your copy properly. Ouch! Yet another reason why licensing and activation are an important part of implementing any software application. During the process, the product keys are checked along with the IP address of the device it’s being used on. […]

Microsoft – Licensing Help?

Microsoft is now offering a software asset management (SAM) optimization framework that will help its customers align their software licensing with business requirements. By evaluating your software assets and past spending habits, the system will then assign you a rating – from basic to dynamic – and then teaches you how to match up the appropriate license with the right software assets- at the right time. The program will also point you in the direction of more appropriate licensing packages […]

Microsoft Moving to Open Source?

Microsoft announced last week that it was joining the Apache Software Foundation, a foundation that focuses on open source Web projects. Additionally, they have added to their open source team at Microsoft to include 112 people today. About a year ago they only had 15. Microsoft currently has two open source licenses – the Microsoft Public License and the Microsoft Reciprocal License. It has been reported that Microsoft products – Exchange, SQL Server and others – will eventually become open […]

What the Heck is an Operation System according to Microsoft

What exactly is an operating system environment? According to Microsoft, an operating system is: i.   all or part of an operating system instance, or all or part of a virtual (or otherwise emulated) operating system instance which enables separate machine identity (primary computer name or similar unique identifier) or separate administrative rights, and ii.   instances of applications, if any, configured to run on the operating system instance or parts identified above. As if this isn’t confusing enough, there are also two […]

Quick Byte: Microsoft Licensing # 9

Client Access Licenses (CALs) are needed when you would like your clients to access your server (s). You will see on many business websites a client log-in section which is a great tool for many types of businesses and are often used for customer service and even client communication. Of course, this incident has its own licensing requirements. Each device or user that plans to access the server requires its own license, whether it’s direct or indirect use of the […]

Quick Byte: Microsoft Licensing # 8

There is a lot of talk about server licenses and how exactly it works. For each software license you acquire, you must assign that license to one of your servers. You can assign as many software licenses as you would like to one server but if you were to assign the software to more than one server you would be out of compliance. One thing to keep in mind here also – a hardware partition or blade is considered a […]

Quick Byte: Microsoft Licensing Tip # 4

For Microsoft online services such as Live Meeting or Exchange Online, there are three kinds of licenses for these products dependant on the offering in which you choose to use and its requirements – meaning, you may or may have to license each of your programs differently should Microsoft ask for it. The first is a User or Device Subscription License which is required for each user or device that will access the online service. The second – a services […]

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