Here at Ultima, we recognise that the speed of the technology market is driving mass change in the industry and it is essential that we as a business adapt with the change to remain competitive.
Over the last 3 months, we have transformed the way our Microsoft business is positioned and are excited to bring you these latest announcements:
Ultima’s new Microsoft CSP Platform is ready!
As mentioned in previous newsletters, here at Ultima we are always looking to improve our services with customer experience in mind. I am excited to announce that the new CSP Platform goes live on Monday 8th July 2019 for both existing and new customers to CSP with Ultima.
This change means we can provide our CSP customers:
- Self-Serve portal for visibility and adjustment of your Office 365 & Online Services
- Azure Management Portal, enabling access to view / create consumption dashboards, run and export reports
- Ultima’s dedicated Microsoft CSP Support desk available 24/7 - 365 days per year with options to upgrade to more enhanced support tiers that include advanced support options and value added services to assist customers on their cloud journeys
If you would like more information on this please reach out to our licensing team or csp@ultima.com
Microsoft Surface Hub 2S
Ultima are now an approved reseller for the whole Surface portfolio including Surface Hub. Should you have any requirements for the Hub 2S or the future Hub 2X please get in touch, as well as any additional information or deal registration processes.
Introducing FSLogix to Office 365
Microsoft acquired FSLogix to extend their virtualisation capabilities within the desktop and app offerings. With FSLogix and Office Pro Plus, users will benefit from faster load times for Outlook and OneDrive, as well as performance enhancement within multi-user virtual environments (including Windows Virtual Desktop). For more information on FSLogix please click here.
Microsoft are now offering this as part of the following products:
- Microsoft 365 E3/E5 (A3/A5)
- Microsoft 365 F1
- Microsoft 365 Business
- Windows 10 Enterprise E3/E5 (A3/A5)
- Windows 10 VDA per user
- Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Client Access License (CAL)
Teams being added to Office 365 Business & Office 365 ProPlus
Microsoft Teams is gaining momentum with more than 500,000 businesses now using this collaboration and communication tool. To continue this to all Microsoft users they have decided as of 9th July that Microsoft Teams will also be included in the installs and monthly updates for Office 365 Business and Office 365 ProPlus in addition to all the suites this is already included within.
End of Skype for Business standalone offers
Continuing with the messaging from the last topic, Microsoft Teams is replacing Skype for Business Online as the main collaboration and communication tool. With this in mind, Microsoft have announced that no further standalone products of Skype for Business Online will be sold through any of the volume licensing programmes or CSP.
Until August 2019 this will be still be included within Office 365 Suites with the plan that in August we will see all information changed from Skype for Business Online to Microsoft Teams. Microsoft have already stopped new installs of Skype for Business Online, with the default being Microsoft Teams. If you have any queries on this or if you need to migrate from Skype for Business Online to Teams please do get in touch. We have fantastic consultants that can assist you with the planning and implementation of this change for your business.
For more information on Teams check out the recording of our webinar – click here.
Azure Active Directory Basic no longer available
From 1st July 2019 you will be unable to purchase Azure Active Directory Basic on any of the volume licensing programmes and CSP. Microsoft have decided the 4 offers they had could be reduced to 3 as the functionality needed by the majority of customers was in the advanced solutions.
The 3 tiers are now:
- Azure Active Directory Free (limited functionality)
- Azure Active Directory Premium P1
- Azure Active Directory Premium P2
These product subscriptions are sold separately as well as being included within some of Microsoft’s bundled offers, such as Microsoft M365 and Enterprise Mobility + Security suites. For more information on what you are covered for and functionality, please speak to your licensing team.
Monthly Licensing Webinars and Events
Make sure you check out the latest webinars and events running - click here.
Our previous Webinar recordings are available here.
**Next Monthly licensing webinar is Wednesday 10th July @ 11am – register here**
Further Information
For further information regarding Microsoft Licensing or for any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the team - or your Account Manager.
Written by Sabrina Gosney, Microsoft Alliance Manager
