There have been several exciting changes recently from Microsoft, with an unsurprising weight towards growing the cloud subscription revenue. That is not to say the value isn't there for customers - many of the developments are designed to increase the value and power of the cloud.
Microsoft 365
For example, the Microsoft 365 licensing suite launched in August - more and more customers are now seeing the benefits of advanced functionality with a subscription cost that can be justified.
Much of the work Ultima and myself have completed recently has been around Microsoft 365, and I encourage all customers with any interest to get engaged and understand where (and if) the suite has value to your organisation.
Azure
With Azure, the savings and capabilities continue to grow. There are several key areas to update and understand, but the headlines include the continuation of leveraging existing investment in on premise Windows Server licenses – with the Hybrid Use Benefit. Microsoft have produced this calculator to help you understand how you could reduce cost in Azure by 40%.
Further Azure news includes the replacement of Compute Pre Purchase (CPP) with Azure Reserved Instances, with more licensing cost savings and easier transactions. There are no longer specific SKUs as customers can simply benefit from Reserved Instances as part of the wider Azure monetary commitment. Again, we advise you contact us to learn more about how this can help your organisation.
The final point to note, and this will have longer term and wide reaching effects, is around setting up new Server & Cloud Enrolment (SCE) for Azure and making the commitment to the FULL 3 years – as opposed to annual adjustment. This means any Azure commitment not used in year one isn't lost – it is rolled over to the following years.
Useful Links and Updates:
- Azure Reserved VM Instances are now available in all EA programs and on Azure.com
- Azure Monetary Commitment EA/SCE Prepay (3 year upfront) option – as opposed to annual; new/renewal direct EA customers will be billed quarterly for all overages
- Microsoft extend Microsoft 365 GDPR reporting and management with Compliance Manager in Preview
- Office 365 received new features in October
- Editions and supported features of SQL Server 2017
If you'd like to understand more about how we can help with your Microsoft licensing take a look at our data sheet below. We also run monthly Microsoft webinars; past recordings are available here.
- By Ian Gerrard (Licensing Consultant)
