Microsoft have stopped producing the standalone Product Terms document and have officially launched the Product Terms website as a replacement.
I’ve been a big fan of the Product Terms document for a long time and I’m not 100% happy about this change tbh! The ability to filter the site by program (EA, MPSA etc.) and product (M365, SQL etc.) will probably make it less confusing for many people – showing only the info that’s relevant to their search.
However, being able to see everything altogether was great for spotting any changes, missing bits etc. that Microsoft hadn’t highlighted and that isn’t as easy on the new site.
My initial concern was that not having a point in time downloadable copy would put customers and partners at a disadvantage, giving them nothing to reference in future conversations. However, having played with the site a little bit it turns out you can download a document from the site. It’s quite similar to the previous document although you have to filter by program, so you don’t get a document that allows comparison across the different licensing options.
The changes in February 2021 are:
Addition of Microsoft 365 F5 SKUs (more info here)
Planning Services & Training Vouchers SA Benefits have been removed
The free Audio Conferencing promos for EA/EES/CSP have been extended to June 30, 2021
Clarification that the Microsoft 365 E3/A3 Unattended license doesn’t require a Qualifying Operating System
Updates to terms for Azure Maps and Cognitive Services
Microsoft 365 Business Voice, the SMB cloud telephony package, is added. Available via CSP and requires Microsoft 365 Business Basic/Business Standard/Business Premium.
The various name changes (ATP = Defender etc.) have (finally) been updated.
2 x Power Apps promotions that could be quite interesting have been added:
“Power Apps per App” promo = Available to new/existing EA/EAS/CSP customers & has a minimum purchase of 200.
“Power Apps per User” promo = Available to new/existing EA or EAS (not CSP) customers & has a minimum purchase of 5,000.
Microsoft Cloud Healthcare Add-on: This can be added onto M365 E3/E5, Power Apps/Automate/BI, or a range of D365 licenses
GitHub Enterprise Æ <– 👀 Not sure if this is the actual name or a typo! As a couple of people have pointed out, it’s got a bit of an Elon Musk vibe 😂
Couple of promotions added too…
Free Audio Conferencing licenses for EA, EAS, and EES customers: You need to have a paid sub with Teams. Requires min. 20% Teams adoption within 6 months Not available in China or India
Free audio conferencing for CSP & Web direct: Free (up to) 12 months licenses are available via the admin portal, not in China or India.
June is the last month of Microsoft’s financial year but they’re still made a few changes worth noting in this month’s Product Terms:
5 year reservations for Azure VMs are added – with a 35% early termination fee
Azure Hybrid Rights for SQL have been expanded so now:
on-premises SQL Server Standard licenses can be used to run SQL Server Enterprise VMs in Azure
on-premises SQL Server Enterprise licenses can be used to run SQL Server Standard VMs in Azure
Changes to the eligibility for Office 365 and Microsoft 365 F1 & F3 licenses
SQL Server
The core conversion ratio is different for the two new scenarios:
4 x SQL Server Std on-prem cores w/SA = 1 x SQL Server Ent Azure core
1 x SQL Server Ent on-prem core w/SA = 4 x SQL Server Std Azure core
You can see the above table, and the info, on pages 54-54 of the June 2020 Product Terms.
F1/F3 changes
Microsoft have again changed the rules around who is eligible for a “Firstline” SKU. The new requirements are that to qualify for an F1/F3 license a worker must satisfy at least one of these conditions:
Uses a primary work device with a single screen smaller than 10.1”
Shares their primary work device with other qualifying Microsoft 365 or Office 365 Firstline Worker licensed users, during or across shifts
Other licensed Microsoft Firstline Worker users must also use the device as their primary work device
Any software or services accessed from the shared device requires the device or users to be assigned a license that includes use of those software or services
The previous guidance, updated in November 2019, was:
“A Dedicated Device is a computing device used for work with a 10.1” screen or larger, used by the user more than 60% of the user’s total work time during any 90-day period.”
These new rules should make it a bit easier for everyone to police but, for organisations already licensed for F1/F3 prior to June 1, 2020, you can continue to license based on the previous rules until your next renewal.
This month’s Product Terms has got a few cool additions – one in particular!
Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection for Servers
This was previously only available via an Azure Security Center subscription but can now be obtained via EA/EAS and CSP. It covers Windows Server 2008 R2/2012R2/2016/2019.
In order to purchase MDATP for Servers, organisations must have a combined minimum of 50 licenses of:
Microsoft Defender ATP
Windows E5/A5
Microsoft 365 E5/A5
Microsoft 365 E5 Security
Interestingly, if ATP for Servers customers decide to migrate to using Azure Security Center (ASC) on those same servers, active ATP for Server licenses will be credited against the ASC price.
New Microsoft 365 SKUs
April 2020 sees the introduction of:
E5 eDiscovery & Audit
E5 Information Protection & Governance
E5 Insider Risk management
Prerequisites
For eDiscovery & Audit and Insider Risk Management, the license prerequisites are:
Microsoft 365 (any)
Office 365 (any)
Exchange Online
SharePoint Online
OneDrive for Business
For Information Protection & Governance, the prerequisite licenses are:
Microsoft 365 (any)
Office 365 (any)
Exchange Online
SharePoint Online
OneDrive for Business
Azure Information Protection
EMS E3/A3
Office / Microsoft 365 F1 & F3
Microsoft have renamed the old F1 licenses to F3, and introduced a new F1 SKU to sit underneath, with limited capabilities as it only includes EMS E3 and “limited” Office services. The F1 license is pretty much just Teams really – no email, no Onedrive etc.
Microsoft licensing for Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
I’ve saved the best ’til last here – in my opinion at least! RPA is a growing area of business – the idea of using bots, rather than humans, to perform repetitive tasks to increase efficiency and, when used properly, job satisfaction. However, it’s also a licensing minefield – and Microsoft have been very quiet on this subject…until now! Well, actually, they’re still being quiet because these new additions were just slipped into the April Product Terms without any other mention – it strikes me as odd because these new licenses could herald a pretty significant change.
What have they added?
The Product Terms now contains:
Microsoft 365 E3/A3 – Unattended license
Power Automate per user with attended RPA plan
Power Automate unattended RPA add-on
There’s not a huge amount of extra info in the Product Terms but it does say that the E3/A3 unattended license includes Office 365 E3/A3, Windows 10 E3/A3, and EMS E3/A3 – no mention of them being restricted or limited at all.
Some definitions
The OST (Online Service Terms) gives more information. Microsoft’s definition of RPA is:
“An application (or set of applications) used to capture data and manipulate applications to perform repetitive tasks. Bots operate upon any UI element of Windows 10 within an OSE and/or operates upon any Office application in any OSE.”
Attended bot = This is a bot that “assists a person to execute automation on the person’s local and/or remote workstations.” They go on to say that “it operates concurrently with the person on the same workstation/s to accomplish repetitive tasks and is triggered by explicit actions of that person“.
In this scenario, it sounds like you would assign a regular M365 license to both the user and the bot?
Unattended bot = “Any bot that doesn’t strictly conform to the definition of an attended bot“.
The Power Automate unattended RPA add-on can be added onto the Power Automate per user with attended RPA plan and Power Automate per flow plan.
A pretty quiet March from Microsoft again – the main changes being:
VDA add-on for M365 E3/E5 added
Updated Windows 10 use rights for Microsoft 365 F1*. It can now use prior versions, access VDI, and use KMS activation.
Number of O365 licenses required for Multi-Geo Capabilities reduced from 500 to 250.
*It was called Microsoft F1 at the time but they have subsequently announced this product will be renamed to Microsoft 365 F3, and a new F1 will be introduced as well.
Nothing major but a couple of interesting SQL Server bits:
1) A clause that, if you’re using SQL in Azure via Azure Hybrid Rights or DR rights, you must indicate it in the portal/API.
2) If you acquire SQL 2017 from an OEM before March 31, 2020 – you can add Software Assurance within 90 days of purchase.
That first addition feels audit related doesn’t it? While it makes sense that organisations indicate where they’re using their licenses and which Software Assurance benefits they’re using etc. – it definitely feels like Microsoft are getting things lined up for the next generation of license compliance audits which will look at cloud environments too.
Also, slightly interestingly, the Online Service Terms (OST) won’t be published until January 8th. Whether this is because people are still on holiday or due to a major change being announced – we’ll have to wait and see! 😊
Cloudy with a chance of Licensing 