Category: licensing

Posted on

Windows Intune


Windows Intune is the newest addition to the Microsoft Online Services stable…and it’s a biggie! Do you remember System Center Online Desktop Manager (SCODM)? Did you notice that it all went quiet on that front? Well here it is with a new name…

What is it?

Windows Intune is a cloud based, central management system aimed at SMB’s of up to 250 machines (or so).

“Windows Intune simplifies how businesses manage and secure PCs using Windows cloud services and Windows 7—so your computers and users can operate at peak performance, from virtually anywhere.”

Intune covers many of the areas that IT Managers find difficult and time consuming such as:

  • Managing Updates
  • Pro-active monitoring
  • Malware Protection
  • Asset Tracking (Hardware & Software)
  • Remote Assistance
  • Setting Security Policies

Windows Intune screenshot

Extra Features:

It’s not just great central systems management that Intune gives you also get:

Software Assurance: Subscribing to InTune allows you to upgrade all your machines to Windows 7 Enterprise and take advantage of features including:

    • Bit Locker to Go
    • Federated Search
    • Direct Access
    • and more

You also receive

“new features or updates to Windows Intune or the Windows operating system automatically as long as your subscription is active”

so say “Hello” to Windows 8 further down the line 🙂

Despite this, you can run Vista, or even XP, as your corporate desktop OS.

MDOP: The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack is a great set of tools including MED-V & App-V that make managing your environment easier and more cost effective. See more info here. The Asset Inventory Service (AIS) component of MDOP is already included as part of InTune.

How can I get it?

It’s currently in beta, limited to 1000 customers in US, Canada, Mexico & Puerto Rico. If one of those is you locale, go sign up here:

http://www.microsoft.com/online/windows-intune.mspx

 

Relation to existing Products.

Microsoft have had on-site management products for years. First SMS & MOM and now the System Center family such as:

  • SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager)
  • SCOM (System Center Operations Manager)
  • SCE (System Center Essentials)

These products are becoming more and more popular among both corporate customers and the education sector, and have been marked by Steve Ballmer as an area of big focus for the coming years. Microsoft have also put a lot of effort into their Online Services but could still do with a real killer product to help those small to medium businesses (SMB’s) fully embrace “The Cloud”. Thus it make sense that they’ve combined the 2 and created InTune.

My thoughts are all around how InTune will sit alongside products and offering that already exist. It is very much an online version of System Center Essentials, although InTune can’t do Application Deployment and SCE doesn’t include any ForeFront Protection. A breakdown is below:

image

However I do think that it could cause a lot of confusion when it comes to Software Assurance. As a Channel Licensing Specialist I, and my company, have done a lot of work around Software Assurance – especially as it relates to Windows 7. It seems to me that InTune may well undermine a lot of the work we (and other partners) have done in this area to show the whole range of benefits that SA offers…many of which aren’t included with the new offering.

It will also muddy the waters when it comes to purchasing Windows 7 & SA now. InTune is slated to be available in many more countries with 12 months of the beta; so companies considering Software Assurance within the next 6-12 months (say) may now push the projects back in order to evaluate InTune. Not great for partners or the channel.

Conclusion

As a product, I think InTune is great. I’m a big of BPOS (as a concept, although it hasn’t reached its potential yet) and adding management tools to the Suite is really good way of both bolstering the Online offering and helping more people reap the benefits of Microsoft’s management expertise.

I am however, more cautious about it’s effect on the perception of SA and project timelines over the coming 12 to 18 months.

To find out more about Windows InTune, go here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsintune/default.aspx

Posted on

Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) 3.5


The change to VLSC (from eOpen & MVLS) in December 2009 didn’t go as smoothly as anyone hoped, with a couple of weeks of downtime, various issues and ongoing user confusion over the last 4 months. You can see the full run down of issues, as well as partner and customer comments here:

Read Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Centre (VLSC)

but this post is to cover the changes that are coming in April 2010 with VLSC 3.5.

Current VLSC

I’ve used the VLSC a number of times from the viewpoint of both a partner, and a customer and one of the biggest problems is the new layout. The location of menu options isn’t always particularly intuitive, leading to a lot of “random clicking” and menu surfing; clearly not what anyone wants. This has led to a lot of frustrated customers, angry that things are more difficult than they used to be, especially as most customers don’t enjoy licence management anyway!

Feedback

Microsoft ran a series of feedback sessions with customers and partners via Live Meeting, Phone interviews etc to see what problems people were experiencing and how they would change it.

I took part in one of the usability scenario Live Meetings, which involved me performing various tasks in VLSC while the Softies observed (Live Meeting Share Desktop feature FTW!). There were a few instances where, even though I’d done it before, I couldn’t remember where certain functions were and resorted to clicking through all the menus! I felt that the people in the meeting really were listening to what I said and that they really valued my feedback…the fact that a couple of the changes I suggested have now been implemented show this to be true 🙂

VLSC 3.5

VLSC 3.5 is being rolled out this month (April 2010) with a number of changes, facelifts and new features including:

Improved Navigation Bar:

The 2 main things customers need/want to do in VLSC are:

Download product media

Access licence keys

Under the old menu, it isn’t 100% clear where these are located but the new VLSC gives 2 new menu choices, just for these actions.

Improved Key Management:

There are a number of changes and improvements being made here with 2 of the biggest being:

Enabling customers to download all their VLK’s (Volume Licence Keys) to a local file, giving them easy offline access to all their keys. This will be a huge benefit to just about everyone 🙂

Providing the ability to see VLK’s relating to a specific licence ID. When companies have dozens of agreements, it can often be useful to see which keys relate specifically to which ID’s…and thus perhaps to which orders.

Manage on Behalf of:

This is a great change for Partners. Often we’ll get customers who don’t want to be involved with the day to day management of VLSC and so they ask us to “look after it” for them.

The new “Add Open Licence” feature gives non-administrative rights to the agreement, enabling partners to:

  • Download media
  • View VLK’s
  • Manage SA benefits

and more.

You can see the whole range of changes and more information over on Eric Ligman’s blog here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2010/03/29/announcing-microsoft-vlsc-3-5-with-add-open-license-coming-in-april.aspx

Although the initial launch of VLSC was something of an issue, Microsoft have done a great job of asking the right questions of the right people, listening to their feedback and implementing it in a timely manner. It’s great to seem them listening to customers and partners and taking action on what we say… 🙂

If you’ve had issues with the VLSC I’d love to hear what you think of these new changes…especially if you commented on my original VLSC post in December.

Will they make your life easier, are there any changes you’d still like to see?

Posted on

Microsoft VDI Licensing changes


Microsoft have made some changes to their licensing, specifically aimed at making VDI adoption easier and more cost effective.

VDI with Microsoft is done via VECD (Virtual Enterprise Centralised Desktop) and there are 2 types of VECD licence available, one for machines without Software Assurance and one for machines with SA, priced at:

  • VECD (for users without SA) = $110 per device per year
  • VECD for SA (for users with SA) = $23 per device per year

    • So, although greatly reduced, there is still an extra cost on top of a customer’s investment in Software Assurance.

    However, from July 1st 2010, Software Assurance for Windows Client will include the VECD licence at no extra charge; simultaneously reducing the barriers to VDI adoption and increasing the amazing benefits and ROI that Software Assurance offers…good work Redmond!

    Also from that date, machines without SA will be covered by a Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) licence, priced at $100.

    July 1st also gives customers licensed with the above the rights to access their virtual desktop from secondary, non-corporate machines such as home PC’s, hotel machines etc.

    Posted on

    Microsoft & Citrix “Rescue for VMWare VDI” Promotion


    Alongside the new RDP/VDI enhancement, there is a new promo being kicked off called:

    Rescue for VMWare VDI

    For customers currently using VMWare view:

    “eligible customers can trade-in their VMware View licenses with same number of Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual licenses, up to a maximum of 500, at no cost”

    At no cost!!! There are of course caveats and restrictions:

    “Customers with existing VMware View licenses for desktops covered by Microsoft Core CAL or Enterprise CAL suites with Software Assurance through Select, Enterprise & CASA (Campus & Schools Agreements)   family of agreements can take advantage of this offer. Determination of eligibility will be done by Citrix and Microsoft sales representatives”

    *(bold mine)

    So:

    Customers on:

    • Open
    • Open Value Perpetual
    • Open Value Subscription

    cannot take part in this promotion…which seems a little odd to me. I’d be interested to hear the reasoning behind this…

    Also, even if you are on one of the chosen licensing schemes but have chosen to purchase CALs individually, you are unable to take part.

    For those who are eligible, this promo is available until December 31 2010.

    You can see more on this, and other joint efforts, over at:

    http://www.citrixandmicrosoft.com/

    Posted on

    BPOS Exchange Online Extra Storage discontinued


    Just a quick post to cover the fact that the Exchange Online Extra Storage SKU (TRA-00018 ) for BPOS is being discontinued.

    The default mailbox size is being increased from 5GB to 25GB and, as this is the maximum storage a user can have, there’s simply no need to have the extra storage SKU.

    Posted on

    Microsoft Select Licensing Discontinued


    Microsoft Select Licensing is being discontinued and July 1st 2011 is the official “End of Sales” date”.

    Microsoft have many licensing schemes and Select has been a long running and quite popular one, aimed ostensibly at business of 250+ machines. A huge number of business in the upper end of the mid market and the Enterprise sectors have a Select contract, either standalone or tagged onto an Enterprise Agreement.

    Currently customers can choose between Select & Select Plus but, from July 1st 2011, only Select Plus will be available.

    What about existing customers?

    After July 1st 2011, no new Select agreements will be available however,

    “Customers will not be required to migrate existing Select agreements, and renewals will continue to be available”

    so this isn’t going to be a huge upheaval for current Select customers.

    What is Select Plus?

    Select Plus was introduced to offer customers more choice and flexibility as well as offer improved cost savings:

    · Improved customer insight with single cross-company purchasing with customer ID

    · Administrative cost savings due to evergreen agreement term

    · Reduced complexity with automatic tiered pricing

    What’s the point?

    One of the big differences is that Select Plus gives you a full 36 months of Software Assurance coverage from the time you purchase the licence rather than up until the end of the agreement. This will mean that customers see a greater ROI and also reduce licensing complexity. Under current Select licensing, one must take into account the position through the contract at which the purchase is being made and purchase the correct licence:

    • 3 years remaining
    • 2 years remaining
    • 1 year remaining

    and each has a different price.

    A common objection from Financial Directors/Finance Dept’s is that Software Assurance costs are not pro-rated through the year, for example:

    A new contract is started on 01/01/2010 and Windows Server Std licences with 3 years SA are purchased for £1200*.

    6 months later, the customer needs to acquire another of the same licences…and it still costs £1200*. This is a sore point for many people!

    Often the result of the above is customers delaying projects until the next year of their contact. So rather than spending £12000 on deploying 10 Windows Servers they will push the project back 3-3 months and spend maybe £10,400 on the project instead. While this will save them money in the short term, there are of course costs associated with delaying projects and not benefitting from the increased productivity etc that the project would deliver.

    Microsoft have clearly decided that Select Plus is the way forward although, in my experience, there hasn’t been as much uptake as expected. There will be people who aren’t happy with this (as always) but I think, in general, this will be a positive move for Microsoft’s customers.

    Posted on

    Office 2010 Release Dates & Free Upgrade


    It’s announced, buy/activate Office 2007 from today and you get a free upgrade to Office 2010!

    How?

    To qualify simply:

  • Purchase Office 2007, or a new PC with Office 2007, and activate it between March 5, 2010 and September 30, 2010.
  • Have, or create a Windows Live ID.
  • Redeem your Tech Guarantee before October 31, 2010 by visiting www.office.com/techg

    • When will I, will I…get Office 2010?

    We have an answer on this too!

    Office, Sharepoint, Visio and Project 2010 will all RTM (Release To Manufacturing) next month (April) and the products will launch on:

    Business = May 12th

    Consumers = June (sometime)

    This is great news for businesses and end users as Office 2010 is a HUGE improvement over previous versions…even 2007!

    Posted on

    Microsoft EBS is no more


    Microsoft EBS (Essential Business Server) has been discontinued. The team said today (March 5th) on their blog:

    “Since the launch of EBS, several changes have occurred that drove our decision to streamline our server product portfolio. First, midsize businesses are rapidly turning to technologies such as management, virtualization and cloud computing as a means to cut costs, improve efficiency, and increase competitiveness. Those capabilities are already available through other offerings, including Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft System Center and the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).”

    I’m not particularly surprised at all about this as we’ve seen very low levels of interest in this product over the last year or so. It was relatively attractive if you were setting up a completely new company that was straight away 75+ users and would run totally self sufficiently, but that isn’t something that happens very often!

    As far as I can see, SMB’s of 75-300 users, especially nowadays, are less likely to go for a “one size fits all, here’s a package-go install it” style. The skills sets of mid market IT techs are much broader and deeper than in the past…often comparable to that of much bigger Enterprises. I don’t think “The Cloud” is being adopted as much might be suggested, but it is certainly a road that many SMB’s are looking at travelling down in the future.

    There are some people on Twitter that love EBS and will no doubt be sad to see this go (you know who you are!) but I think, on the whole, this is a product death that few will mourn. In fact, it may well pass most people completely by as EBS wasn’t even that well known!

    What happens next?

    There won’t be an EBS 2010 but customers will continue to get:

    Mainstream Support

    Extended Support

    Service Pack support

    for the current EBS product.

    image

    Promo

    From June 30th – December 31st there is a promo running which allows current EBS owners to get the individual component parts free of charge so:

    Windows Server 2008 Std

    Exchange Server 2007 Std

    System Center Essentials 2007

    The EBS site is here and Mary Jo’s article is here.

    Posted on

    BPOS & Blackberry


    Microsoft BPOS has support Blackberry linking for a while, but for the full BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) experience, users were required to purchase the Blackberry licences separately. Not any more as

    “Microsoft Online Services is now a BlackBerry® certified partner and BlackBerry Alliance Elite Member”

    which gives us “Microsoft Online Services Hosted BlackBerry service”.

    Microsoft will:

    · Host and operate BlackBerry Enterprise Server

    · Provide all BlackBerry Enterprise Server server, client licenses and support services Included in the service (There is no need for customers to provide licenses or service agreements.)

    · Provide technical support to the customer’s IT administrators, including interfacing with RIM on troubleshooting as needed

    The 3rd point there is a pretty attractive reason to go with this solution…as it gives you one port of call to troubleshoot your online services and your RIM infrastructure.

    The features include:

    image

    Pricing

    “The Hosted BlackBerry Service is purchased and billed separately from Exchange Online Standard or the Business Productivity Online Suite Standard from Microsoft Online Services. It is a separate month-to-month auto-renewing agreement. Pricing is U.S.$10.00 per user per month with no minimum number of users required.”

    There is a 30 day trial available so you can give it a whirl.

    This is a good move on Microsoft’s part, positioning themselves as a more central pillar of a customer’s infrastructure and recognizing that Blackberries are here to stay. It’s good to see them embracing that rather than attempting to fight/ignore the competition as they might have done a few years ago.

    You can see the full post here.

    Posted on

    Office 2010 line up revealed


    Office 2010 is a little bit closer as today Microsoft announced the FPP (Full Packaged Product aka Box Copy) SKU lineup, along with US retail pricing.

    The Tech Preview & Beta have been very well received with the current beta being downloaded over 2,000,000 times already! Now consumers & small businesses can see what versions are available and which Office products they will contain.

    Office Home & Student:
    This version has proved very popular on Office 2007, giving great flexibility for home users & students while also offering great value for money. The 2010 release includes:

    Word 2010
    Excel 2010
    PowerPoint 2010
    OneNote 2010
    Office Web Apps

    It will continue to allow installation on three PCs in one house; which is a huge draw for everyone 🙂

    Office Home & Business:
    This is aimed at small businesses and includes all the above plus Outlook 2010.

    Office Professional:

    This is the top level version of Office available outside of Volume Licensing, and is comprised of:

    Word 2010
    Excel 2010
    PowerPoint 2010
    OneNote 2010
    Outlook 2010
    Publisher 2010
    Access 2010
    Office Web Apps

    You’ll notice that Sharepoint Workspace (the new name for Groove) isn’t included…that’s included in Office Pro Plus on Volume Licensing.

    Office Professional Academic:

    This contains the same products as the regular Office Pro but with Educational pricing, so around 1/5 the cost! The inclusion of Outlook et al make this a great offering for more advanced students such as those in Higher Education.

    Although not mentioned in today’s announcement, Standard & Professional Plus will still be available in Volume Licensing with Office 2010. Don’t forget that we will also have Office 2010 Starter as the free, ad supported replacement for MS Works!

    I’m excited for Office 2010 both as a user and a partner…how about you?

    Website Powered by WordPress.com.