Monthly Microsoft News
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August 2008
Brought to you by En Pointe Technologies
Feature Article
You have an opportunity to have special access into the new Microsoft Business Productivity Online (BPO)
services through En Pointe, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, and authorized Microsoft BPO partner.
But first, a little background.
In March 2008, Bill Gates announced bold moves by Microsoft into the world of Software as a Service.
Microsoft sees the trend in more of a hybrid, eg, Software Plus Services. This model leverages customer's
existing investments and enables cloud based services where and when it makes sense. In July 2008,
Steve Ballmer expanded on this vision during the worldwide partner conference where 12,000 Microsoft
partners from around the world learned more about Software Plus Services and BPO. In the end of July,
Microsoft hosted an "Airlift", a specialized, invitation only training for a limited set of partners
in Redmond, WA. En Pointe attended and would like to reach out to organizations with a special offer.
Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS)
BPOS is a bundling of key Microsoft technologies in a hosted delivery model. As a subscription service
hosted by Microsoft, customers no longer have to worry about maintaining servers, signing software license
contracts, or upgrades and patches.
BPOS as a bundle includes:
Exchange Online for anywhere, anytime email utilizing web based or Outlook 2007 access
SharePoint Online for document management, version control, collaboration, workflow and a host
of other "portal" capabilities
Live Meeting for online meetings, web conferencing, collaboration, and information sharing
OCS for secure Instant Messaging and Presence to enable richer unified communications within
an organization
Looking for Early Adopters
Microsoft and En Pointe are looking for early adopters of this service. Customers such as
Coca Cola, American Airlines, are already leveraging some or all of these services.
If your company is seriously interested in adopting the technology, En Pointe would like to hear from you.
Contact MSteam@enpointe.com
to find out if your company would qualify. There is a set of criteria including a minimum of 10 users,
and adopting by the end of August.
Want more information on En Pointe's Software As A Service? Visit us online
www.enpointe.com/saas
Program specific: Listed Languages vs All Languages Language Changes: All Languages rights granted as an SA Benefit
Q. What language changes are happening in October 2008? A. In October 2007 (Microsoft FY08), Microsoft implemented Single Language Phase 1.
This resulted in eliminating the naming of languages in the Open and Select SKUs (customers still order
the media in the language they want, however Microsoft will no longer provide all the SKU choices for each
and every language option, instead customers just specify "single language").
Language Phase 2 will be implemented in October 2008.
Q. What is the impact of these language changes? A.
Language use rights across all Volume Licensing products will no longer be so diverse and will fall
into one of two categories. For the desktop including Systems and Applications, the rights to use
multiple languages or multi-language functionality where available will be granted as an SA benefit. This
approach is currently how Windows Vista is licensed and sold; the desktop applications will now follow that
same process. For Servers, CALs and Tools, any language rights will be automatically granted with a
license purchase. For example, if you buy Windows Server Standard License in the Select program, the
customer will then have the ability to use any language available for that product as long as the use
rights defined for the product are met.
Q. How will this rationalize SKUs? A. This change will have agreement and SKU impacts to the Enterprise Agreement (EA)
and Open Value programs, including the subscription offerings. The current agreements offer 2 language
choices, Listed Language and All Language (and European Language for Open Value in EMEA) for all products
in EA and Enterprise company-wide purchases in Open Value. The All Languages offering, provides all
Microsoft languages and includes the MUI technology for a cost premium for most products. With this
change, all SKUs except All Languages will be eliminated as well as most premiums where they are applied.
These changes are summarized below:
Products
VL Program
Current All Language Policy
Future All Language Policy
Desktop Apps
(e.g.
Office, Visio)
EA/ESU/OV/OVS/Open License Value
Customers pay premium
All language capability is included in SA
Select & Open
Customer can purchase a Multi-Language Pack (MLP)
All language capability is included in SA or separate MLP purchase
Servers & CALs
EA/ESU/OV/OVS/Open License Value
Customers pay premium
Included with license rights
Select & Open
All languages are available at no additional charge, MUI a premium
Included with license rights
Systems
EA/ESU/OV/OVS/Open License Value
All language capability is included in SA
All language capability is included in SA
Select & Open
All language capability is included in SA
All language capability is included in SA
Q. What programs are affected by these changes? A. Changes in language rights will affect products across all Volume Licensing programs
to varying degrees.
Programs
Use Rights Changes
SKU Changes
Agreement Changes
Comment
Open License
Yes
No
No
Open Value / OVS
Yes
Yes
Yes
Open License Value
Yes
Yes
No
Select
Yes
No
No
Enterprise / EAS
Yes
Yes
Yes
Campus Agreement
Yes
No
No
Program SKUs already All Language only
Q. How will my Volume Licensing Agreement be affected? A. Only agreements for Open Value/Open License Value Program/OVS/EA/ESU programs will
be affected. Any active agreement will not change, but new and renewal agreements will have updated content.
The update will remove the language option from those agreements that are now moving to All Languages by default.
For Open Value customers, there are a number of scenarios impacted by this change. Please use following
guidelines to determine the appropriate SKUs:
Scenario
Response
I have a current Listed or All Language agreement and want to purchase a new product.
Products not already purchased are treated like a new order. All Language SKUs should
be purchased from the current price list.
I have a current Listed or All Language agreement and want to purchase additional quantities
of a product already purchased.
Microsoft guarantees price protection for this case. Even if the price for the SKU has changed,
the price will be adjusted to reflect the price at the time of the agreement start when the order is
received. For both Listed and All Language customers, the All Language SKUs should be used or the
order will be rejected.
I have a current Listed or European Language agreement and my next anniversary order is
coming up soon.
Your anniversary orders are based on the original SKUs ordered and although these SKUs
are no longer on the price list, they will still be accepted for annual orders.
I have a current All Language agreement and my next anniversary order is coming up soon.
When your order comes in, Microsoft's systems will apply the price originally paid for these
annual orders.
I am signing a new v6.6 agreement during the 90 day grace period.
You will still be able to use the old contract and select Listed Language. Your order should then
be placed for All Language SKUs as that is all that exists on the price list. The Product List will state
as of October 1st, equal language rights exist between Listed and All Language agreements so there will be
no problems accepting this type of order.
I purchased a Listed Language Up-to-Date (UTD) SKUs for my Open Value Subscription agreement
and my annual order is coming up.
Your purchase records will be set up with the Standard Enterprise (non-UTD) equivalent SKU in
Listed Language for 2nd and 3rd year anniversary orders per normal process.
Q. I am an Open Value / Open Value Subscription All Language customer. What does
this change mean to me? A. There is no change to your purchase activity. The only change you may see is a
price decrease on the price list for new orders of All Language products as numerous adjustments
associated with all language or multi-language rights have been removed.
Q. I am an Enterprise Agreement / Enterprise Agreement Subscription Listed Language
customer. What does this change mean to me? A. For future new product purchases you will need to purchase products using
All Language SKUs. For existing Listed Language purchases the new language rights will automatically
be applied. For desktop products such as Office Professional Plus, the All Languages offering with SA
includes the right to use any language or multi-language functionality, since it is an SA benefit.
For Server / CAL products, all language functionality is an automatic right as those rights are part
of any License purchase in Volume Licensing.
For Enterprise Agreement customers, there are a number of scenarios impacted by this
change. Please use following guidelines to determine the appropriate SKUs:
Scenario
Response
I have a current Listed or All Language agreement and want to purchase a new product
Products not already purchased therefore with no fixed true-up pricing are treated
like a new order. All Language SKUs should be purchased from the current price list.
I have a current Listed or All Language agreement and want to purchase additional
quantities of a product already purchased.
This is a standard true-up situation where the price and SKU are already defined either
on the CPS or from the pricelist of the original order. Those details should be used for
placing these orders. If you are a Listed Language customer, those SKUs will still be
accepted so there is no impact.
I have a current Enterprise Agreement and my next scheduled billing is coming up soon.
You do not have to do anything. Your scheduled billings are based on the CPS and
will not be affected by this change.
I have a current Enterprise Subscription Agreement and my annual order time is coming up.
Your order will be based on the SKUs listed on your CPS for the Annual Price Level Summary.
So, if they are Listed Language SKUs your annual order will continue to use those same SKUs.
Only when ordering new products which are not on CPS, will you need to use All Language SKUs.
I am signing a new v6.6 agreement during the 90 day grace period.
If you are signing a new V6.6 agreement during the 90 day window and you with the
customer have chosen the Listed Language SKU option on the agreement, then please contact
your Licensing Specialist to ensure the CPS aligns to that selection.
Q. I am an EMEA EA customer and have restrictions on language purchases. How is this impacted? A. There are no longer any restrictions for Enterprise Agreement purchases. Worldwide there is
only one option which is All Language so EA customers automatically are granted any product
associated multi-language use rights.
Q. What about RAB (Romanian and Bulgarian) purchases for EA? A. RAB SKUs will remain on the price list as they exist today. These will not be replaced by
All Language SKUs.
Q. I am an Enterprise Agreement / Enterprise Agreement Subscription All Language
customer. What does this change mean to me? A. There is no change to your SKU selection process.
Q. I am an SA customer and since I now have rights to the Office Multi-Language Pack (MLP), I want to
start using that product. How does it get fulfilled? A. The Office MLP bits will be included in the Welcome and Subscription Kits shipped to
Volume Licensing customers. Additional media purchase processes do not change.
Q. Will the MLP rights expire if I do not renew my contract? A. No, the Office MLP will be a perpetual SA benefit. However, the MLP is of value only with its
associated products. So you need to have valid office license, otherwise the Office MLP will
not be of any use.
Online Services Customers Access to E-Learning Content Has Moved
FAQs Q. What is happening with the E-Learning subscriptions acquired through Volume Licensing
or from the bulk order process? A. In order to provide improved service tailored for business customers, the Volume
Licensing E-Learning subscriptions and bulk order E-Learning subscriptions have been moved. If the
organization also uses Software Assurance, they will notice the Volume Licensing / bulk order E-Learning
content and the Software Assurance E-Learning content are now available in one location.
Employees who have already activated Volume Licensing E-Learning content will automatically be
migrated to the new website -
http://business.microsoftelearning.com/ .
They will be able to use
the same Windows Live™ ID and password to access their content. (They may be requested to confirm
user profile information the first time they log onto this new site).
Q. Who is affected by this change in access to subscriptions acquired via Volume Licensing / bulk
order E-Learning? A. Any Volume Licensing customer that has acquired E-Learning subscription(s) via
Online Services as well as any E-Learning subscription acquired via the E-Learning bulk order process.
Q. What action does the customer need to take with the E-Learning Subscriptions? A. Moving forward, the Administrator of E-Learning within the organization will need to direct
all employees currently accessing E-Learning to login at the new
website -
http://business.microsoftelearning.com . All employees activating an E-Learning subscription
for the first time will start the activation process on the following website -
http://business.microsoftelearning.com/activate
Q. How will the organization's employees know if they are affected? A. Each active user has been emailed the new website location of their E-Learning
subscription. If the employee tries to access their information at the old website, there will be a
notification that displays informing them their subscription has expired. In addition, a message is
displayed on the web site for Volume Licensing customers, indicating where to access their E-Learning
content.
IMPORTANT - In order for the employee to access their content, they will need to login to the
new site -
http://business.microsoftelearning.com with their existing Windows Live ID.
Q. Which E-Learning Subscriptions are affected? A. All E-Learning Subscriptions purchased through Volume Licensing or the bulk
order process, which include (but not limited to):
Official Microsoft E-Learning for Volume Licensing - Technical Library
Official Microsoft E-Learning for Volume Licensing - Core Desktop Library
Official Microsoft E-Learning for Volume Licensing - Business Skills Library
Official Microsoft E-Learning for Volume Licensing - Technical Course Collection
Official Microsoft E-Learning for Volume Licensing - Desktop Course Collection
Q. An organization purchased MELL via Volume Licensing, what will happen to my content? A. MELL customers who continue to use the MELL CDs will not be affected. If the E-Learning
content is accessed online, it has been moved to the new website
http://business.microsoftelearning.com
.
Microsoft E-Learning Reporting for Software Assurance Benefits and Online
Services Available Now!
Tracking and reporting on E-Learning products!
In response to customers request for reports on Microsoft E-Learning subscriptions either purchased
through their Select or Enterprise agreement or received as a benefit through Microsoft Software
Assurance for Volume Licensing, Microsoft is proud to announce the launch of the new Business
Administration Center. The Business Administration Center allows administrators of the Microsoft
E-Learning services within organizations to track the progress of the E-Learning courses being
taken by the organization's employees.
Details
The Business Administration Center will allow Software Assurance Benefits Administrators and Online
Services Administrators to request reports on activity of their Microsoft E-Learning Benefit/Service
at any time. There are three primary reports available for the administrator:
Assessment Activity Report - a report on an assessment associated with a particular
course including, but not limited to start date, finish date, score and date and time of attempt
of assessment.
Course Activity Report - a report showing the progress associated with a particular course
including, but not limited to course title, topics completed, date and time course accessed and date
and time course completed.
Login Activity Report - a report showing date logged in, time (in minutes) logged in and
first and last login.
Access to the Business Administration Center
Any individual/administrator who has access to
MVLS (https://licensing.microsoft.com
) and a
license agreement associated to their login will have access to the new Business Administration Center.
In order to see any reporting the agreement must have E-Learning activated.
SQL Server 2008 is slated be available on the August 1, 2008 Volume License price lists. The
licensing of SQL Server 2008 remains consistent with SQL Server 2005 with similar pricing. A
new Web SKU has been added.
The notable SKU related changes for SQL Server 2008 from SQL Server 2005 are:
Addition of a Web SKU. This is a SKU for hosting public facing web sites and applications only
Individual binaries for SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition 32-bit, 64-bit and Itanium platform
will be available on a single DVD as against a separate DVD for each platform.
SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition is no longer available for Itanium processors
As a limited time offer from February 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008 Open Value and Select customers are eligible to acquire User Subscription Licenses (USLs), Device Subscription Licenses (DSLs), and Services Subscription Licenses (SSLs) for Forefront Client Security at potential savings.
As a limited time offer from May 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008, Open Value, Select and Enterprise
Agreement customers are eligible to acquire per user and per device subscriptions for Forefront
Security for Exchange Server at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers with expiring subscription licenses for Antigen for Exchange.
As a limited time offer from August 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009, Open, Open Value, Select and Enterprise
Agreement customers are eligible to acquire Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) CAL 2007 with Software
Assurance at potential savings. This offer is available for Commercial and Government customers only.
As a limited time offer from March 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008, Select and Enterprise Agreement
customers are eligible to acquire Project Server 2007 CAL with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers purchasing at least 500 Project Server 2007 CALs in a single order,
and the discount is available only on a single order.
As a limited time offer from December 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008, Select customers are eligible
to purchase SharePoint (MOSS) Enterprise CAL 2007 with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers that are also purchasing equal quantities of PerformancePoint
Server (PPS) CAL with Software Assurance or ProClarity Desktop Professional 6.3 licenses with
Software Assurance.
As a limited time offer from May 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008, Open, Open Value, Select and Enterprise
Agreement customers are eligible to acquire System Center Essentials 2007 server and client management
licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers that own a total of at least 50 Core CALs or System Center
Configuration Manager 2007 client management licenses with Software Assurance. Coverage must be active
on qualifying Core CALs or System Center Configuration Manager 2007 client management licenses at the
time the System Center Essentials licenses are acquired. System Center Essentials 2007 client management
licenses can be acquired under this offer up to the total number of Core CALs and System Center Configuration
Manager 2007 client management licenses with Software Assurance that the customer owns.
As a limited time offer from April 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008, Open, Open Value, Select
and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire System Center Virtual Machine Manager
2007 Workgroup Edition licenses and licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer has been extended until September 30, 2008. As a limited time offer from March 1, 2008 through
September 30, 2008, Open Value customers are eligible to acquire Windows Server 2008 CAL with Software
Assurance at potential savings. This offer is available for Commercial and Government program customers only.
Policy
provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product
support availability at the time of product release and
throughout the product life. By understanding the product
support available, customers are better able to maximize
the management of their IT investments and strategically
plan for a successful IT future.
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