CSP News Archive

Welcome to CSP News Archive, here we share important CSP updates in case you missed it in our Monthly Newsletter: CSP Notifications & Updates



 



Billing change notice for Azure reservation and server subscription 



 



Summary



 



Digital transformation is changing the way everyone does business. Customers want to have more choices and control over how they buy and consume products and services and have partners assist them in the best way possible. Microsoft’s new commerce platform is enabling a simplified, streamlined selling and buying experience for customers and partners.



To deliver an enhanced billing experience, Microsoft is introducing billing changes for Azure reservations and server subscriptions in the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. These changes will be applicable only for the Azure Reservations and Server Subscriptions offers and will not impact the existing billing process for other offers.



 



What is changing



 



Effective March 1, 2019, all invoices for Azure reservations and server subscriptions transactions will be issued by the end of 8th calendar day of the following month, consolidating the billing cycle for the specified offers. The first invoice with the new billing cycle will be available by the end of the day April 8th, 2019. Also, effective March 1, 2019 the invoices for Azure reservations and server subscriptions will be issued using an improved format.



The effect of this is that potentially customers will get 2 invoices from First Technology. One around the middle of the month and one towards the end of the month - for customers who have the traditional CSP licensing and also the Server Subscription and Azure RI licensing.



 



Licensing Rights



 



As per the Product Terms CSP does not include the following rights that are available on other Microsoft Volume Licensing Agreements



 



3.5 Microsoft Cloud Agreement Activation Use Rights



For Customers licensed under a Microsoft Cloud Agreement,



    
	
  • Notwithstanding sections 3.2 and 3.7, each user may activate no more than five concurrent instances of the software across physical and virtual OSEs. 
    • 
	
  • Notwithstanding the Universal License Terms or volume licensing agreement, upgrade Licenses do not include rights to run or install a prior version, different language version, different platform version, or a lower edition of Windows, including Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC. 
    • 
	
  • Section 4 (Software Assurance) does not apply. 
    • 




 



In summary: Activation on no more than five ODEs, no downgrade rights, no LTSC rights, no Software Assurance, virtual desktops hosted only in Azure or with Qualified Multi-Tenant Hosting partner. 



 



 



 



 



 



Microsoft 365 in CSP



 



Stay up do date: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compare-all-microsoft-365-plans



 



You can download a very helpful Enterprise Poster of M365 here that clearly shows the various M365 options amongst other things



 



https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/microsoft-365-overview



 



 



Please note that Hybrid use rights are not available for M365 in CSP. So on Volume Licensing Programmes you will get the on prem server rights to some products – note that this is not available on CSP.



 



 



2.2 Extended Use Rights for Microsoft 365 E3/E5



2.2.1 Office Servers



Each Licensed User assigned a Microsoft 365 E3/E5 User SL may:



    
	
  • 
	
      
		
    • install any number of copies of the following server software on any Server dedicated to Customer’s use: Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and Skype for Business Server; and 
      • 
		
    • access to the above server software is exclusive to those users assigned a Microsoft 365 E3/E5 User SL or External Users.
      • 
	
    
	
    • 




This provision does not apply to User SLs acquired under the Microsoft Cloud Agreement.



 



 



Windows 10 Enterprise with CSP



 



The Windows 10 Enterprise E3 User Subscription License (USL) is available through Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreement (EA), MPSA, Select Plus as well as through the Cloud Solution Provider program (CSP), but even though the name is the same, the product use rights with CSP are different. In short, CSP lacks the following use rights:



 



    
	
  • Down edition use rights, i.e. the right to use Windows Pro 
    • 
	
  • Downgrade rights, i.e. the right to use Windows 8.1 or a prior version
    • 
	
  • Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 
    • 
	
  • Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 
    • 
	
  • Reimaging rights 
    • 
	
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) access beyond Qualified Multitenant Hosting (QMTH) 
    • 
	
  • Windows Thin PC 
    • 




 



The Product Terms also articulate another difference: whereas with EA/EAS, the MPSA and Select Plus, any PC with Windows 7 Professional or better qualifies for an upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise, CSP requires Windows 10 Pro as a “Qualifying Operating System” (see Windows Desktop Operating System, section 2.2.1 “Qualifying OS – Per User Licenses and Virtual Desktop Access Per Device/User Licenses”). However, in the same chapter, section 3.6 “Windows 10 Upgrade Benefit” states: 



 



The following User SLs include a Windows 10 upgrade benefit (version upgrade only, edition remains the same) for device(s) licensed with Windows 7, 8, 8.1:



    
	
  • Windows 10 Enterprise (all) 
    • 
	
  • Microsoft 365 (all) 
    • 




 



Microsoft has confirmed that this may be interpreted as follows:



 



CSP and other customers who have Windows 7 Professional, 8 Pro or 8.1 Pro PCs and who license their users for Windows 10 Enterprise, Microsoft 365 E3 or Microsoft 365 E5 receive a perpetual upgrade that allows them to upgrade said devices to Windows 10 Pro, which then qualifies them for a non-perpetual Windows 10 Enterprise upgrade (purchased standalone or as part of Microsoft 365 E3 or E5). 



Customers can safely license their users and upgrade their PCs to Windows 10 Enterprise, and don’t have to worry about redeploying a previous operating system because once the subscription expires, their PCs will automatically roll back to Windows 10 Pro.



 



 



 



Does Government and Non- Profit organisations qualify for discounted pricing on CSP? 



 



For government the answer is no. The reasoning from Microsoft is as follows:



The price model with all programs is that the government price is equal to the lowest commercial price. With CSP there is only one commercial price level. This means CSP government net price is equal to the commercial price.



 



Non-profit organisations however do qualify for a 10% discount off the commercial price. Customers must be registered with Microsoft and validated as an eligible organization in order to qualify. Criteria for non-profit can be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/eligibility. To register as a non-profit with Microsoft go here: https://www.microsoft.com/nonprofits



 



 



Trial on CSP



 



Through the Trial and Conversion Option, customers can get a 30-day free trial, then easily convert it to a paid subscription. Below is a list of the current offerings available, and Microsoft add more offerings over time. Trials are limited to one order of 25 licenses per product.



 



    
	
  • Microsoft 365 Business
    • 
	
  • Enterprise Mobility + Security E5
    • 
	
  • Office 365 Business Premium
    • 
	
  • Office 365 Enterprise E3
    • 
	
  • Office 365 Enterprise E5
    • 
	
  • Office 365 Enterprise E5 without Audio Conferencing
    • 
	
  • Windows 10 Enterprise E3
    • 
	
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium
    • 
	
  • Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Plan
    • 
	
  • Dynamics 365 Layout
    • 
	
  • Dynamics 365 Remote Assist
    •

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