Virtualization allows multiple computing environments to be run through a single physical server. License mobility, in its simplest terms, is a software assurance benefit that allows customers to migrate their existing licenses to a thirdparty data center. Here is a typical manager recommendations for software assurance benefit management. Not only will license mobility make the transition easier for existing sa customers, it provides customers who prefer to purchase perpetual licenses the ability to continue doing so while still taking advantage of the efficiencies of the cloud. Apply for license mobility through software assurance. License mobility through software assurance gives customers the ability to deploy certain server application licenses with active software assurance onpremises or with a service provider in the cloud in a shared hardware environment to take advantage of the lowest cost infrastructure for changing business. Microsoft software assurance what it is and how it applies. Exchange and sharepoint will require software assurance with license mobility. Microsofts product use rights state very clearly that you. For sql server customers with corebased licensing and software assurance coverage, broader benefits are available under azure hybrid benefit rights. Microsofts general advice is that software assurance is now required. Microsoft software assurance what it is and how it. This is a great move, it will allow service providers to have shared hardware, but dedicated vms just like others under the license mobility program. Becoming an authorized license mobility partner to become an authorized license mobility partner you must be a microsoft services provider license agreement spla partner and attach an addendum, with.
Customers can choose either microsoft azure or an authorized mobility partner to utilize the benefits of license mobility through software assurance. License mobility with software assurance the facts spla. Payments are handled through the software assurance voucher benefit savb online payment tool. Software assurance helps boost organizational productivity with 24x7 technical support, deployment planning services, enduser and technical training, exclusive technologies and rights, and the latest microsoft software releases and unique technologiesall in one costeffective. License mobility through software assurance helps you retain the value of your existing server license investments by extending their use to the cloud when you assign eligible server licenses to an authorized hosting partnerno need to buy additional licenses. In responding to these customer needs, microsoft offers license mobility through software assurance which gives microsoft volume. Aug 27, 2019 the biggest gotcha in this change is that software assurance for windows server doesnt include license mobility rights. Described as a volume licensing software assurance benefit, the conditions for employing microsoft license mobility are complicated and differ depending on where your exchange server is hosted software assurance must be maintained on all software licenses, even server licenses, processor licenses, and cals. License mobility through software assurance guide microsoft volume licensing 1 chapter 1. Refer to this section only if your microsoft license is listed in an active software assurance contract. All microsoft server application products migrated to aws via the license mobility through software assurance program must be covered with active software assurance sa. License mobility through software assurance gives microsoft volume licensing customers the flexibility to deploy eligible server applications with active software.
If you are a microsoft volume licensing customer with eligible application. License mobility through software assurance lets you take advantage of existing licensing investments by giving you increased flexibility to deploy workloads in a variety of cloudhosting environments. This topic explains how to apply for license mobility through microsoft software assurance. One of those cases describes a license reassignment rule called license mobility. Microsoft uses the completed form to verify that the licenses for the workloads you deploy to the cloud are eligible per the terms of your license mobility through software assurance benefit, and confirms this information to both you and your authorized mobility partner. The biggest gotcha in this change is that software assurance for windows server doesnt include license mobility rights. Software assurance by product microsoft volume licensing. Microsoft upping software assurance and cloud licensing. Mar 18, 2019 key requirement to leverage ahb or license mobility offers is an active software assurance for the server product or an active server product subscription. License mobility is a benefit available to microsoft volume licensing customers with eligible server applications covered by active microsoft software assurance sa.
Aug 05, 2019 exchange and sharepoint will require software assurance with license mobility. If you are a microsoft volume licensing customer with eligible1 application server licenses that are covered by active software assurance, you can elect to use. Microsoft assurance software is a program that was introduced in 2002 to help users deploy and support microsoft windows, microsoft office and related server desktop applications. New products and unique license rights for example, new version rights and windows virtual desktop access rights deployment resources and tools for example, license mobility through software assurance and planning services. Microsoft software assurance sa is a microsoft maintenance program aimed at business users who use microsoft windows, microsoft office, and other server and desktop applications. A sql server vm using byol only charges for the cost of running the vm, not for sql server licensing, given that you have already acquired licenses and software. Eliminating sa on some products can lead to savings of 20, 30 or 40 percent of your annual maintenance spend. Software assurance benefits microsoft volume licensing. Bringing your own sql server license through license mobility, also referred to as byol, means using an existing sql server volume license with software assurance in an azure vm. Software assurance must ramin active on your own licenses used in microsofts license mobility through software assurance. Windows server operating systems, desktop client operating systems, and desktop applications such as microsoft office are not eligible under license. Software assurance planning services in partner center.
License mobility through microsoft software assurance. On the following pages is a current list of partners who are authorized to assist microsoft volume licensing customers to deploy their dedicated application server workloads using license mobility through software assurance. Microsoft assurance software is a program that was introduced in 2002 to help users deploy and support microsoft windows, microsoft office and. This benefit allows a licensed device to access a virtual desktop infrastructure. Aug, 2019 microsoft officials note that beginning october 1 onpremises licenses purchased without software assurance and mobility rights cannot be deployed with dedicated hosted cloud services offered by. Licensing programmes eligibility requirements microsoft azure.
License mobility through microsoft software assurance gives microsoft volume licensing customers the flexibility to deploy certain server applications with active software assurance onpremises or in the cloud, without having to buy additional licenses. Licensing programs eligibility requirements microsoft azure. Apr 20, 2020 if you are using license mobility through software assurance, you must complete a license verification process and microsoft will ensure that you have the eligible licenses with active software assurance. Microsoft officials note that beginning october 1 onpremises licenses purchased without software assurance and mobility rights cannot be deployed with. New licensing rules favor azure over competing cloud. License mobility through software assurance gives you the flexibility to deploy certain server applications onpremises or in the cloud in an authorized mobility partners datacenter, without having to buy additional licenses. With this software assurance benefit, there is no need to purchase new licenses and no associated mobility fees so, you can easily deploy existing licenses on the. We offer multiple agreement options to help partners license microsoft cloud services and onpremises software. These include enterprise agreement and open value, where software assurance is included, and other volume licensing programs where software assurance. Microsoft license mobility and limitations miro consulting. Microsoft license mobility amazon web services aws. Using existing microsoft app licenses compute engine.
License mobility through software assurance for windows. All products that are currently eligible for license mobility within server farms and covered by software assurance are eligible for license mobility through software assurance. To help verify your companys eligibility to enroll in a specific planning services engagement. With license mobility through microsoft software assurance, you can deploy certain server application licenses purchased under your volume licensing agreement to microsoft azure or in an authorized mobility partners datacenter. Whether you want to deploy server applications in a traditional customer on. License mobility through microsoft software assurance through license mobility overview and verification guide overview organizations around the world are benefitting from the power, flexibility, and efficiency of cloud computing.
Any microsoft volume licensing customer who has eligible application server licenses covered with active software assurance may elect to use license mobility. That did confuse me a little bit, why do we need to have software assurance. The server applications must be on the list of eligible products. This benefit is available to microsoft volume licensing customers with eligible server applications covered by active microsoft software assurance sa contracts. Licensing guide for customers license mobility through. License mobility through software assurance gives microsoft volume licensing customers the flexibility to deploy eligible server applications with active software assurance on azure. Skip this section if you want to use ecs dedicated host or purchase a licenseincluded service from us.
What microsofts upcoming outsourcing licensing changes. For more information, contact your microsoft account manager or preferred reseller. Is foregoing software assurance a viable option for your company. Skip this section if you want to use ecs dedicated host or purchase a license included service from us. Microsoft license mobility through software assurance. Oct 10, 2015 great news for service providers, microsoft announced this week that rds will have software assurance sa mobility rights. License mobility for sql server amazon web services aws. Application server products eligible for license mobility through software assurance, including microsoft exchange server, microsoft sharepoint server, and microsoft sql server, are identified in the microsoft product terms. Primarily this applies to application servers lync, exchange, sharepoint, and crm. License mobility self reporting when using license mobility through software assurance, you must complete a license verification process with microsoft to confirm that you have the eligible licenses with active software assurance. Who is eligible to use license mobility through software assurance. On the following pages is a current list of partners who are authorized to assist microsoft volume licensing customers to deploy their dedicated application server workloads using license mobility. From the 1st july, license mobility through microsoft software assurance extends the use of listed application server licenses to the cloud. License mobility through software assurance gives you the ability to deploy certain server applications with active software assurance onpremises or in the cloud, without having to buy additional licenses.
The microsoft forums moderator and retailer guy told me about license mobility because the windows server is running on aws environment. For more information, see license mobility through software assurance. Microsoft software assurance big risk for a small reward. Microsoft hikes cost of licensing its software on rival. License mobility within server farms and server repartitioning. License mobility through sa september 27, 2019 a sa software assurance benefit, offered for most server applications, that allows serverside licenses to be reassigned to cover workloads running on a service providers multitenant servers, including microsoft s own azure. For information on using this benefit, visit license mobility through software assurance. Software assurance license mobility through sa parter.
With microsoft license mobility through software assurance, you can deploy certain server application licenses purchased under your volume licensing agreement in an authorized mobility partners datacenter. With license mobility through software assurance, you can deploy certain application server licenses onpremises or in the cloud in a shared hardware environment and assign your existing licenses to an authorized mobility partner. May 15, 2019 license mobility self reporting when using license mobility through software assurance, you must complete a license verification process with microsoft to confirm that you have the eligible licenses with active software assurance. Software assurance for volume licensing includes a range of benefits that span microsoft software and services. Microsoft license mobility through software assurance license. Gcp enables you to meet your licensing reporting obligations to microsoft. After redeeming planning services vouchers, you must invoice microsoft for payment. To host application server licenses using license mobility through software assurance, you must be an authorized license mobility partner. Additionally, software assurance is not as robust of a technical support offering.
To enroll in microsoft license mobility through software assurance, you must be a microsoft volume license customer with eligible server application products. This guide will take you through the process of verifying your licenses are eligible for license mobility with microsoft. This years biggest microsoft licensing change so far what you. Sql server licensing mobility without software assurance pica. Great news for service providers, microsoft announced this week that rds will have software assurance sa mobility rights. To find out which server products are eligible, search for the phrase license mobility within server farms. Software assurance benefits included with microsoft donations. Software assurance website to complete the microsoft license mobility partner authorization process. All customers using license mobility through software assurance must complete a license verification process and microsoft will ensure that you have eligible. With license mobility through software assurance, you can deploy certain server application licenses purchased under your volume licensing agreement in an. Microsoft client access licenses cals, and no associated mobility.
Software assurance sa benefits, including rights to transfer licenses to service providers, maintain secondary instances for disaster recovery, and stepup licenses to higher product editions. License mobility through software assurance only applies to eligible products as per the product use rights pur document. Purchase the license with software assurance sa to get license mobility rights. Software assurance license mobility through sa parter faq.
Jun 24, 2014 license mobility, in its simplest terms, is a software assurance benefit that allows customers to migrate their existing licenses to a thirdparty data center. License mobility with software assurance the facts. Sql server license requirements are set out in the microsoft product terms, which can be found on the microsoft volume licensing website you are responsible for obtaining the licenses required for eligible microsoft applications running in the aws cloud using the license mobility through software assurance benefit, and for complying with all applicable microsoft licensing requirements. Aug 27, 20 any microsoft volume license customer who has eligible application server licenses that are covered by active software assurance may elect to leverage license mobility through software assurance. Microsoft volume licensing microsoft software assurance. Not every microsoft customer needs software assurance on all of the vendors offerings. Software assurance has an annual cost of 29% of the license price for desktop products e. To submit an invoice to microsoft through savb, follow the instructions in step 8 of the workflow. If you are using license mobility through software assurance, you must complete a license verification process and microsoft will ensure that you have the eligible licenses with active software assurance. To find out which server products are eligible, search for the phrase license mobility in the product terms document. A downloadable microsoft licensing guide detailing the application of microsoft license mobility and when valid software assurance comes. Introduction to cloud services this guide gives you an overview of microsoft license mobility through software assurance, which is available as a software assurance benefit, and outlines the detailed requirements and steps to use this benefit.
Software assurance by benefit microsoft volume licensing. Any microsoft volume license customer who has eligible application server licenses that are covered by active software assurance may elect to leverage license mobility through software assurance. License mobility through sa september 27, 2019 a sa software assurance benefit, offered for most server applications, that allows serverside licenses to be reassigned to cover workloads running on a service providers multitenant servers, including microsofts own azure. Businesses using microsoft apps under volume licensing agreements have the flexibility to deploy application server software onpremise or host it with authorized mobility partners like aisn. Microsoft restricts reassigning a license from one server to another or from one device to another more frequently than every 90 days this is often referred to as microsofts reassignment rule. You will see a green check mark next to any requirements or competencies you have already. License mobility allows customers to move eligible microsoft software to third party cloud providers. This license mobility, known as license mobility through microsoft software assurance, covers microsoft sql server, microsoft exchange server, microsoft. Sign into the partner center dashboard select mpn from the menu, then select programs select software assurance enrollment select the planning services program enrollment tab at the top of the page. Sql server licensing mobility without software assurance. The core premise behind sa is to give users the ability to spread payments over several years, while offering free upgrades to newer versions during that time period. License mobility through sa directions on microsoft. Microsoft software assurance and licensing ais network. Software assurance license mobility the license mobility option for volume licensing customers with sa will be extended to the following microsoft application server products.
Do microsoft customers really need software assurance. Windows server is not permitted with or without software assurance, except on azure via azure hybrid benefit. Because of this new software assurance benefit, customers do not need to purchase new. As this paragraph says, reassignment is permitted in some cases. A service provider is an organization that provides software services, such as hosting services, to other organizations. But in order to properly manage the software licensing on virtual machines, an understanding of microsoft license mobility through microsoft software assurance is essential. The tables below summarize the key difference between ahb and licenses mobility for sql server and windows server. Key requirement to leverage ahb or license mobility offers is an active software assurance for the server product or an active server product subscription. Mar 24, 2017 license mobility through software assurance. With license mobility through software assurance, as a microsoft volume licensing customer with active software assurance, you can deploy certain application servers in a service providers shared hardware infrastructure. Licensing programs eligibility requirements microsoft. Software assurance benefits include free upgrades to the latest programs, office suites for free use on your home computer, elearning courses to help get your staff uptospeed on how to use their software, cold backups, availability to install windows 7 or windows 8 enterprise, license mobility, windows virtual desktop access, roaming use.