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Later this month, the Microsoft Volume Licensing team is giving the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Subscription Administration experience a fresh look. New and existing MSDN Subscription Administrators will be able to access and administer their MSDN Subscriptions via a tab on the main menu of the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).
With these changes, it will be easier for subscription administrators and partners to manage subscriptions, and similar to other VLSC functionality, they’ll need fewer clicks to add a new subscriber.
We’re pleased to announce availability of “Why an updated Microsoft Enterprise Agreement?” white paper which aims to spotlight key areas of business value customers can derive from the updated EA.
This is written with the intent to respond to feedback we’ve received from customers as well as both partners and analysts for additional perspective on why we made changes to the EA and more importantly how these changes can benefit organizations.
[click through to the article to read an excerpt from the white paper]
One of the great benefits of the new Enterprise Agreement (EA) is the flexibility it provides enterprise customers, enabling them to procure and manage a mix of both software and cloud services products within a single agreement all the while adding cloud services at their preferred pace.
For those customers looking to make the leap to Office365 and take advantage of the EA, we encourage registering for the upcoming webcast seminar “Considering a Move to Office365? Let Microsoft explain the move to you!”
This is article three of four in a series of blog posts describing the many benefits of Software Assurance
Following on our previous article about Software Assurance (SA), which described how SA can support customers considering migrating some or all of their applications to the cloud, we thought now would be a good time to highlight some of Microsoft’s more traditional SA benefits.
Software Assurance has been a part of Microsoft’s licensing offerings since 2001. While occasionally perceived as an “insurance policy” to deliver access to free software upgrades, SA has expanded greatly since its introduction and is now widely viewed as an essential ingredient for maximizing the value of Microsoft volume licensing purchases.
Today, Microsoft announced the general availability of the new System Center Advisor (formerly Microsoft codename ‘Atlanta’) as part of the innumerable benefits available through Software Assurance (SA).
System Center Advisor is a cloud service hosted on Windows Azure that enables IT Professionals to proactively avoid server configuration problems by assessing static, runtime and operational data to identify potential issues that cause outages or poor performance.
VIDEO: With the launch of System Center 2012, the enterprise datacenter evolves in a fundamental way, with huge implications across the business. Hear what’s behind System Center 2012 from the Microsoft engineers and product managers who build the product.
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Earlier today, Microsoft announced the System Center 2012 release candidate during a live webcast featuring Satya Nadella, president of Microsoft Server and Tools Business. In the webcast, Nadella outlined how Microsoft’s private cloud solution will help businesses move faster, save money and better compete in 2012 and the future.
The Microsoft Volume Licensing team has updated its news Web site. Not only does the site have a new look and feel, it features the latest news and views of Microsoft Volume licensing and pricing from within and outside the organization—all in one convenient place.
Many IT organizations are contemplating how to maintain and upgrade their assets on premises, while also investing wisely to support a strategic and cost-effective transition to cloud. In today’s economy, reserving cash is a priority, and for many, financing to run, grow or transform an IT organization is a necessary consideration.
Recently, one of Europe’s leading IT providers turned to Microsoft Financing in support of updated Volume Licensing through a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, Select Plus and Software Assurance. Its goal: reduce IT costs, increase efficiency, and enable a flexible approach to software deployment and rollout across operations in Europe and Asia.
Since launching the Microsoft Volume Licensing blog in May, we have enjoyed sharing our news and highlights with our readers and are looking forward to more great things to come in 2012. It’s been a busy year for the Microsoft Volume Licensing team and we wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of our top highlights from 2011.
Ensuring licensing provides ample flexibility to embrace the cloud on your terms has been a focus for us this past year and we know it is top-of-mind for many customers and partners. Throughout the year, we’ve mademany tools and resources available to help our customers make a smooth transition incorporating the power of cloud computing...
Earlier this year, we shared how the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 6.0 can simplify cloud migration planning. Now the Microsoft Solution Accelerators team has made the MAP Toolkit 6.5 available for download.
The new capabilities in the MAP Toolkit 6.5 will help organizations make the journey to the cloud smoother than ever. Find all the details on the download page for the MAP Toolkit 6.5.
Following on our first of four articles about Software Assurance (SA), which describes how SA can help customers move to Office 365, I’d like to highlight some additional SA benefits that may be of interest to customers considering migrating some or all of their applications to the cloud.
Starting this month, customers in the United States and Canada have the option to contact a Microsoft Volume Licensing specialist through an online chat function. The service is available weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time and enables customers to engage in real-time with our representatives in a convenient format.
Back in September we shared details about “What’s New with Microsoft Software Asset Management Services” and yesterday we saw an article post on Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) by Jon Roskill, CVP, Worldwide Partner Group which we thought would be of further interest.
With so much interest in the Cloud we continue to receive questions about how one can best leverage the benefits of the Software Assurance (SA) program as it relates to Office 365. So we wanted to share with you the essentials for maximizing the value of SA as it pertains to helping you move to Office 365 and explain what happens to your SA benefits after you move to Office 365. In a future post, we’ll share other aspects of SA which are important to evaluate to derive even greater value through this program from your technology investments.
There are several SA benefits you can use to help you assess Office 365 and plan for your migration. This new factsheet, Move to Office 365 with Software Assurance, provides a quick reference on benefits that can help you evaluate, plan, and prepare for Office 365.
In August, we announced changes to the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) would be made throughout the month. In order to make sure that all our customers and partners take advantage of the new tools and resources, we’ve published an overview of the changes, tips on how to get started and several video demos to help make the change smoother. And today, we’ve posted a “how-to” video for the VLSC available to MSDN subscribers here. After all, we know that change is change, and change can be challenging.
You can read all about the newest version of Windows Intune over on the Windows blog; a quick summary follows below along with links to useful resources.
Windows Intune brings together Windows cloud services for PC management, endpoint protection, and a Windows 7 upgrade subscription. With its simple web-based console, it can help you manage and secure virtually all your users’ PCs through the cloud—whether they’re working onsite, at home, in a remote office, or on the road. All you need is an Internet connection and the Windows Intune client installed on each PC you wish to manage.
As of October 3, 2011 the Agreement refresh updates will go into effect. In comparison to previous years there are fewer changes to note, due in large part to the significant changes already implemented through the process of updating the Enterprise Agreement.
Mid-September Microsoft had the opportunity to sponsor the Gartner ITAM Summit in Orlando, Fla., where we announced new software asset management (SAM) services. (Check out our full recap of the event >>HERE<< )
Following the successful announcement at Gartner ITAM, we wanted to take a moment to give a deeper dive into SAM services and explore the added value these services provide.
Earlier this week, nearly 25% of the 500 or so attendees listened in to the Microsoft Solution Provider Session at the Gartner ITAM Conference here in Orlando, Florida. We were honored to have two customer spokespeople participate in the hour long presentation entitled, “Best Practices for On Premises and Cloud Asset Management” helping make the session the best attended for the day.
The customer perspective shared by Dr. Joel Hartman, CIO and Vice Provost for IT and Resources for University of Central Florida and Kathy Porter, Manager, Vice President of IT Asset Management for U.S. Bank was invaluable in helping transform the theory of best practices into tangible, real world examples.
Microsoft Worldwide Licensing & Pricing (WWLP), together with colleagues from the Software Asset Management (SAM) team will be attending and presenting at the Gartner IT, Financial, Procurement & Asset Management Summit next week in Orlando, Florida. In addition, we’re delighted to share that Microsoft is a Platinum Level sponsor for the event. If you’re planning to attend, we will also have a booth presence with plenty of helpful staff to answer questions and share tips about useful resources around Microsoft licensing and software assetmanagement.
The new System Center monitoring pack for Windows Azure applications enables you to monitor the availability and performance of applications that are running on Windows Azure. Previously available as a release candidate, this new Operations Manager monitoring pack enables an integrated view into Windows Azure based applications running in your public cloud environment and can be leverage as part of License Mobility through Software Assurance.
Download the release version of this monitoring pack here.
This week marks the official availability of the updated Core CAL Suite including Lync Server Standard CAL and Forefront Endpoint Protection. This update marks the first change to Core CAL since it was introduced nearly 10 years ago, and it enables the suite to deliver the essential capabilities that every user needs, and also aligns our largest on-premises suite with Windows Intune and Office 365.
Bringing cloud computing into your organization is often a gradual process; understanding one’s technology position is key to crafting a transition plan that works for your organization. The Solution Accelerator Team has a range of tools that can help in this regard and they introduced the latest version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit (v6.0) in a recent blog post.
One of the most compelling aspects of the Enterprise Agreement (EA) has been the support benefits provided to help customers plan, deploy and use Microsoft technologies through the Software Assurance (SA) program. As WWLP, Corporate Vice President Joe Matz mentions in this video, Microsoft has almost doubled the value delivered to customers through SA making it much more than a maintenance program.