Cloudy with a chance of Licensing
Latest news on Microsoft licensing, Cloud, and AI
Microsoft have announced another great benefit available to education customers:
“Any academic institution that licenses Office for staff & faculty can provide Office 365 Office Pro Plus to students AT NO ADDITIONAL COST”
This, known as Student Advantage, starts from December 1st.
Its aim is to help give students the skills they’ll need to be successful out in the world of work, whilst helping schools manage costs – certainly a worthy aim!
You can read more here:
Microsoft make yet another change to their licensing programs, aimed at making it easier for organizations to license what they need.
The Server & Cloud Enrollment (SCE) is related to an EA (Enterprise Agreement) offers four components:
Customers can choose any of these components individually or group them as needed. When choosing any of the first three components, customers will also have access to Windows Azure at the best pricing available.
To enroll in an SCE, customers make an enterprise-wide commitment to one or more components. This means committing to full Software Assurance coverage across the installed base of an SCE component and in the case of System Center, committing to full System Center coverage on their Windows Server installed base through Core Infrastructure Suites (CIS).
Benefits include:
The SCE makes it easier for customers to standardise on MS technologies, easier for customers to migrate to the Cloud and simplifies the licensing involved.
More info is available in the datasheet here:
Microsoft’s latest server operating system, Windows Server 2012 R2, is due with us on October 18th so let’s take a look at what’s new in the upcoming release.
People Centric IT (PCIT): Borne out of/related to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), PCIT is a key component of all Microsoft’s upcoming server releases including System Center and Intune.
The Workplace Join feature will enable users to register their devices in Active Directory (AD) and then to enroll them for management in System Center / Intune.
As part of that Workplace Join, we’ve created a user@device record in the Active Directory. In this way, we’re enabling your existing AD infrastructure to be extended to accommodate mobile devices. This allows us to provide the IT Pro with an inventory of devices and their users, and to audit the access that will be subsequently granted to those users on those devices. The certificate issued to the device includes both the identity of that device and the identity of the authenticated user. Access to resources published via our Web Application Proxy (see below), or to any other resource that relies on AD FS for authentication, will rely on this certificate for authentication.
One thing worth noting: The act of registering the device to Active Directory does not allow IT to control the device in any manner — that’s is covered by enrollment. Workplace Join is only used to govern access to corporate resources and to enable SSO.
The new Company Portal gives users a central place to perform common tasks such as:
What are Work Folders you may ask, well:
Work Folders address the bring-your-own device (BYOD) scenario, enabling users to store and access work files on personal PCs and devices as well as corporate PCs. Users gain a convenient location to store work files and access them from anywhere, while organizations maintain control over corporate data, storing the files on centrally managed file servers and optionally specifying user device policies such as encryption and lock screen passwords.
Work Folders can be deployed alongside existing deployments of Folder Redirection, Offline Files, and home folders. Work Folders stores user files in a folder on the server called a sync share, and you can specify a folder that already contains user data, enabling you to adopt Work Folders without migrating servers and data or immediately phasing out your existing solution.
This all makes it easier for users to be able “work anywhere” as:
As part of enrolling for management, users can have their devices provisioned with certificates, WiFi profiles, VPN profiles, and DirectAccess configuration. The VPN profiles can be associated with DNS names or specific applications so that they automatically launch on demand. This allows users to work remotely and always be connected to the corporate network without the need to initiate a VPN connection.
A new feature in Server 2012 R2, SCCM 2012 2 and Windows 8.1 enables apps to initiate the VPN connection when launched.
Another big BYOD addition is this:
With the R2 wave of releases, we have added the ability to selectively wipe corporate information while leaving personal data intact.
That’s a huge thing with BYOD, if users are using their personal devices for work it stands to reason their will be personal data on the device – holiday pictures, music etc. – and the risk of losing all that due to a corporate wipe has put many people off. Some may say that is the price one pays for BYOD but it doesn’t have to be the case and it’s great to see it baked into the new MS products.
Other areas added to in Windows Server 2012 R2 include:
To see much more in depth, technical info around all the above (and more) head over to:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud/archive/tags/what_2700_s+new+in+2012+r2/
It was announced at WPC 2013 that Microsoft would be making it easier for Office 365 customers to move between the various plans and now, less that 4 weeks later, the first move has been made.
This first update makes it MUCH easier to move to a higher plan within the same family. Considering that this scenario is the customer saying “I want more features and will give you more money for them” it was an oddly difficult process; it required a call to support, cancelling subscriptions and manually re-assigning licenses! Now it is all done with a simple, automated self-service wizard in the Admin portal – happy days! The current options are:
NB: As the moment, only subscriptions of 300 or fewer users can be switched with this method. Also, this is only available to those with the new portal – if you’re still waiting for the upgrade this won’t be there.
Microsoft are also working on expanding the switching options to make it possible to move between families. Later this year the following will be available:
Giving people the ability to easily move from Midsize Business to E3 will be a great option.
For more info head over to http://blogs.office.com/b/office365tech/archive/2013/08/01/office-365-customers-can-more-easily-switch-plans.aspx
Cheers
Rich
There have been a number of announcements about the upcoming Windows 8.1 and now we have more information around how the latest Windows OS update will help enterprises.
This is a huge area of interest for a huge number of people and organizations right now. Even if they’re just at the research stage, well over 60% of the people that I speak to are looking at how BYOD may/will impact their business…whether they want it to or not. Microsoft have announced a number of key additions in this area:
More info can be found here:
These improvements are all excellent additions to what is (I feel) a great OS, and will serve to make Windows 8 even more popular with existing users and open it up to a whole new section of users and organizations.
Microsoft have confirmed a few things we already knew about Windows Blue, so not new news but good to have it as a definite nonetheless.
Tamie Reller, Windows CFO (pictured below), said today that Windows Blue will indeed officially be Windows 8.1 and that it will be free to existing users of Windows 8 & Windows RT.
The rumours that it would be a chargeable add-on were growing in strength in some corners of the internet; it’s good to see Microsoft moving to correct the chatter and let everyone know how the land lies.
Earlier this month, Reller also revealed that Blue would be available by “holiday 2013”. Also, Julie Larsson-Green (pictured below), Head of Windows Engineering, confirmed that a public preview of Windows Blue will be available by the end of June 2013 – making it’s appearance at the BUILD conference on 26th June.
See more about the announcements here.
See more about Windows Blue and its features here.
Windows 8 has been with us for around 6 months now, and for a lot of that time, rumours of Windows Blue have been with is as well. (Mary Jo had a post about it on August 13th 2012 – http://www.zdnet.com/windows-next-just-call-it-blue-7000002535/)
Well, this week saw an early build of Windows Blue leak online and – thanks to early early adopters – we’ve got a great look at what it has to offer.
Windows 8 currently offers a snap view where one app takes up 2/3 of the screen and another makes up the other 1/3. I find it very useful and use it regularly but not everyone seems to agree on it’s usefulness. HP, for example, claim it is a “consumer feature” and purposefully built their business focused Windows 8 tablet, the ElitePad 900, with a screen resolution incapable of snapping; as they don’t feel that business users need it.
Windows 8 Blue brings new snap capabilities, giving 50/50 snapping (as per desktop mode & Windows 7) but also allowing 3 and 4 apps to be snapped simultaneously.
New Snap:
These improvements also extend to multi-monitor support, allowing you to run individual Windows 8 apps across multiple monitors.
As the current Windows 8 snap features requires a minimum resolution of 1368×768, will the additional 3 & 4 app snap capability require an even higher resolution?
The latest revision of Internet Explorer will be available as part of the Blue update:
The word on the street/online is that tab synchronization will be introduced in IE11 and Windows Blue, allowing users to continue internet browsing across devices. You’re looking at a page on your desktop pc and need to leave the office, you can pull out your tablet on the train and pick up where you left off…it should also be possible to continue the browsing on a Windows Phone 8 device.
Oddly enough I was talking to someone who’s quite the Apple fan the other day (hi Mat!) and they mentioned this as something they really like about the iOS universe. I wasn’t aware that it was a thing and had never really thought about it so it wasn’t something that I missed…that said, since our conversation and now it’s rumoured inclusion in Windows Blue, I can see myself using it a lot between laptop/desktop and tablet. Something I wonder is this – will it be possible to do it across devices that don’t share MS accounts? For example, people won’t have their Hotmail account linked to their work machine but they may wish to continue their browsing on a personal device, which will have the MS account rather than corporate details – will this be possible?
In a move that brings it in line with Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 Blue will support smaller live tiles. This please me and I’m sure many others, as it enables one to have many more things easily accessible without creating a huge start screen to scroll through. That change between WP7 & 8 was one of the biggest and most beneficial for me.
The Desktop tile is the only one to have a special “extra large” offering too:
(courtesy of The Verge)
Microsoft have made many of the Control Panel features now available in the Windows 8 mode, rather than forcing the user into the desktop. This is a brilliant move, the switching between modes is one of the biggest complaints I hear and I find it very jarring myself, so steps to reduce it’s frequency can only be a good thing. I’d be happy to spend all my time in the Windows 8 interface if I could do everything I needed to (and I’m sure many others would) so this is definitely a step in the right direction.
You can see here the ability to backup a device to SkyDrive. I imagine this will be pretty useful although quite a slow process!
The Devices Charm features a new “play to” option.
The Share Charm lets you quickly take a screenshot:
The Verge tells us that “On the Start Screen you can swipe up from the bottom to bring up a list of all apps, and in the desktop mode you can swipe up or down to reveal a desktop app bar that provides access to snap, projector settings, and more” which sounds like a great addition.
The new Apps section in settings lets you see how much storage each app is using.
There is a new, quick way to add VPN settings.
A “Quiet Mode” has been introduced, allowing you to set periods when notifications are subdued.
New built in apps include:
Microsoft today announced their BUILD conference, the Windows Developer event, will be held in San Francisco on June 26-28 2013. It seems likely that we will see the first public preview of Windows Blue around this time – so not that long to wait really, yay!
Registration for BUILD begins 09:00am PST April 2nd here – www.buildwindows.com.
Thanks to Winforum.eu for the screenshots and The Verge for some of the extra info.
As reported by Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, Microsoft have made it a little easier for volume licensing customers to get their hands on the Surface RT & Surface Pro devices with a new website –
https://microsoftedweblive.com/sites/BHO/default.aspx
Text from the site:
Welcome to the Surface commercial customer ordering site. Using the link for your country below, you can order Surface devices, accessories, and after-market service plans (availability varies by market).
Some important notes:
- A valid Purchase Order (PO) is required for each order form submission
- Lead times for delivery and order requirements may vary depending on inventory.
- If you do not currently have a volume licensing agreement with Microsoft, there may be additional processing time to setup account and credit terms
While Surface devices come with a standard one-year limited warranty, you may want to consider purchasing a Surface Extended Hardware Service Plan. This plan is available for both Surface Pro and Surface RT devices and includes an extension of the hardware warranty up to 3-years.
The plan includes shipping a replacement unit out prior to your product return to minimize downtime. The Extended Hardware Service Plan can be purchased up to 45 days after device purchase. For details on what is and is not covered in the Extended Hardware Service Plan for Surface devices, please see the Terms and Conditions.
The Extended Hardware Service Plan is priced at $200 per device for Surface Pro and $150 per device for Surface RT. At this time, the Extended Hardware Service plans are available only in the US and Canada and via direct purchase from Microsoft.
You need to log into the website to see the above screens and move through to the pricing & ordering sections. I’d expect that any login that can access the VLSC (Volume License Service Center) will be able to sign into this site.
This is an interesting move from Microsoft – still not involving their channel partners but at least making it easier for corporations to purchase these devices! It’s interesting to note that they’re not offering a discount via this new site – the prices are the same as those on the public website.
Also, the Surface Pro isn’t listed on the UK page but it is on the US page, so it conforms to the current availability schedule. No early Pro goodness, even for volume licensing customers 
Some BizTalk changes coming next month:
Biztalk 2013 will be on the pricelists from April and is moving to a per-core licensing model. As with SQL 2012, 1 license will cover 2 cores.
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BztlkSvrStd 2013 ALNG MVL 2Lic CoreLic |
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BztlkSvrEnt 2013 SNGL OLP 2Lic NL CoreLic |
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BztlkSvrBrnch 2013 ALNG MVL 2Lic CoreLic |
Office Pro Plus has been available via Office 365 for a while but using it via an RDS server has never been allowed…until now.
With the recent update to Office 365, Microsoft have relaxed the licensing rules to allow RDS use of Office 365 licenses. Under “Installation & Use Rights” on page 82 of the January PUR:
Each user may also use one of the five activations on a network server with the Remote Desktop Services (RDS) role enabled
and from the March Product List:
Media Eligibility with Remote Desktop Services (RDS)
If the user to whom you have assigned an Office 365 ProPlus license uses the software on a network server with RDS role enabled, in lieu of installing a copy of the software provided with Office 365 ProPlus on one of the five permitted devices pursuant to the Product Use Rights for Office 365 ProPlus, that user may 1) install one copy of the Office Professional Plus 2013 software on a network server and 2) access the Office Professional Plus 2013 software from any device. Upon termination of your Office 365 ProPlus subscription you must uninstall Office Professional Plus 2013 software from the network server.
I’m glad they’ve done this as it makes the messaging of “same product, different delivery method” a much truer statement and reduces any possible confusion for customers.
