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.