A Microsoft Volume Licensing Expert Answers your Burning Questions on Licensing the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

Microsoft VDI offers the ability to rapidly and securely deploy desktops from a data center to users. IT support teams can manage desktops centrally, and VDI can help improve security by centralizing users’ data. VDI also gives end users the flexibility they need to access their work desktops from almost any device that has a reliable network connection.

Louise Ulrick, a UK-based licensing consultant and trainer, has relished taking the opportunity to answer some of your thornier questions on the licensing of VDI. She first began running licensing training courses all the way back in 1995.  Today, Louise continues to love licensing and works all over the world on behalf of Microsoft.

Today Microsoft announced its continued efforts to improve software management with its membership to TagVault.org. TagVault.org is a nonprofit organization that works with industry partners to lower costs and improve security for organizations managing software portfolios based on the software identification ISO standard.

Join the more than 5,000 IT and procurement professionals who have already gain Microsoft licensing Expert accreditation; Take the new licensing SQL Server 2012 and Licensing Office 2013 and Office 365 classes and become an expert

In the past year, more than 5,000 students have passed the Customer Licensing Expert program launched last summer at Tech Ed North America. In celebration of the program’s success, Microsoft Volume Licensing has
adding two more accreditation classes for IT pros and procurement professionals through the Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA)

by Richard Smith, General Manager in World Wide Licensing & Pricing (WWLP)

Richard is responsible for the design and maintenance of our current and new Volume Licensing Programs plus the Marketing and Readiness for Microsoft's Licensing & Pricing.

This is the first in a series of blog posts about how Microsoft’s licensing is evolving to enable customers to take advantage of two major trends: Consumerization of IT and Cloud Computing.

The “consumerization of IT” is a major technological trend changing how organizations around the world think about employee productivity.  While this term has many definitions, at Microsoft, we think of it as allowing end users to make the ultimate choice about which devices, applications and services they use to get their work done.

More and more, users are favoring the tools and devices they use in their personal lives and as with this, the line between the personal and the professional technology is blurring. This can provide potential benefits for the user and the business, it also creates control, security, data and cost challenges for IT organizations. IT has the responsibility of ensuring that checks and balances are in place and that applications and devices can be controlled in an increasingly complex world. 

We’re proud to share that today, Microsoft Corp. announced that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has expanded on a global Enterprise Agreement with a new Memorandum of Understanding to offer Microsoft Office 365 and other products as the standard communications and collaboration platform for its National Societies worldwide, helping provide greater licensing flexibility. The signing has the potential to serve more than 1 million volunteers and staff members in the network.