Microsoft Online Services Licensing Guide_December 2012
What are Microsoft Online Services?
Microsoft Online Services are subscription-based services that can help you incorporate cloud-based computing into your business.
Delivered via a subscription and offered over the Web, Online Services complement your existing Microsoft on-premise solutions for users with rich desktop PCs and for users accessing applications via a Web browser.
☙ Subscription terms vary by offer, ranging from month-to-month, 12-month and 3 year subscription terms.
☙ A critical portion of the software resides outside the customer’s IT environment.
☙ Applications are hosted primarily at Microsoft data centers.
☙ Microsoft or the partner, not the customer, manages the operation, upkeep, and maintenance of the software.
☙ The version of software running is the most current so that customers benefit from the latest software functionality without complex IT management.
☙ Services are priced monthly and billed either up front or annually for the term of the subscription
Online Services Licensed and Sold
When most people think about acquiring software, they think about installing it on a PC and then running it for as long as the software is useful. We call this a perpetual license. And although purchasing a perpetual license is still the most common way of obtaining software, cloud computing is catching up. It is really a whole new way of thinking about how you obtaining software. With Microsoft Online Services, the software is licensed under a subscription model, much like a subscription to a newspaper. For example, if you subscribe to an online newspaper for a year, you must pay a subscription fee each month of that year. In return, you receive access to the online newspaper’s content during your subscription term. At the end of your term, you can either continue your subscription for another term or let it expire. If you do not renew your subscription, you no longer have to pay the monthly fee. But you also no longer have access to the online newspaper’s content. Similar to a perpetual license, you do not own the software, but you have the right to use it. The subscription model has some real benefits. For instance, you do not have to worry about maintenance; the software is located in Microsoft data centers. You do not have to purchase licenses for and deploy the upgrades; we take care of that for you for as long as your subscription is active. Customers of all sizes are adopting hosted services today. We see small and midsize businesses using these services to get products and capabilities that they could not afford to deploy and manage on-premise. We also see enterprise customers who use services to help own their total cost of ownership (TCO) and to focus internal IT resources on more business-critical projects. Regardless of size,
customers are shifting toward a services approach, whether it is Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), on-demand delivery through virtualization, or services running out in the cloud. Microsoft offers these Online Services through existing Microsoft Volume Licensing programs so that you can acquire both Microsoft software and Online Services under the same agreement. The descriptions and examples in this Online Services guide do not apply to non-commercial programs such as the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Royalty programs.
Program Business Policies
Microsoft Online Subscription Program (MOSP)
MOSP is a subscription-based Microsoft Volume Licensing program for organizations with five or more users that want to subscribe to, activate, provision, and maintain services seamlessly and affordably. The services currently available in this program include Office 365, Windows Azure, Windows Intune, and CRM Online. NOTE: We advise existing EA and CASA customers to place orders for Office 365 through their account managers.
Benefits of This Program
Try Before You Buy
☙ Trial offer of 30 days is available and includes 20 users
Note: The trial offers are also available to Enterprise Agreement and Campus and School Agreement customers
Easy to Purchase
☙ Subscribe quickly using an online shopping cart experience
☙ Use low threshold to entry beginning with only one use
☙ Take advantage of credit card and invoice options
☙ Access with simple and easy digital signature to the online agreement
Add Users and Services
☙ Purchase and deploy more services or users at any time, providing flexibility as your company grows
☙ Manage your IT investment by licensing only what you need
Pricing Is Affordable for Volume Seat Purchases
☙ Guaranteed price during the 12-month subscription term provides predictable cost management
Customer Experience: MOSP
Scenario: A small company with 15 to 20 users wants to invest in technology infrastructure, but does not have the IT staff to deploy or manage the technology. They want to move to Microsoft communications infrastructure but believe the up-front investment is too high.
The company also stores data in several different places and wants to centralize and allow employees to edit and share based on permissions. The company contacted its advisor who recommended it purchase Office 365 online at . The following is why the company subscribed to these services under the MOSP:
☙ Services based on respected and powerful Microsoft products
☙ Desire to buy online
☙ Need for rapid deployment
☙ Simple online administration and management of assets
☙ Affordable price
☙ The customer is not an EA or CASA enrollee
Enterprise Agreement
The premium Microsoft Volume Licensing program is for organizations with 250 desktop PCs or more. For government/public sector partners internationally, the preferred method is via an EA.
Benefits of This Program
☙ Add services with the price advantage an EA offers.
☙ No platform commitment required (additional product).
☙ Additional savings off Office 365 when the organization has a Core Client Access License (CAL) or Enterprise CAL (ECAL) (Device).
☙ Consolidated reporting is available for all licensed software and services through the EA Enrollment.
☙ Microsoft Financing options are available through EA and EA Subscription option.
Customer Experience: Enterprise Agreement
Scenario: An organization with 500 desktop PCs and offices spread across the United States and three global offices has an EA. A project came up that requires 150 users across the globe to have Microsoft Exchange Online. The organization called its trusted partner and discussed its business needs. With the current economic conditions, the IT budget was reduced, and so the organization needed to do more with less. It also needed a solution that would help it save money and free up IT resources. That solution is the Business Productivity Online Suite. So the organization subscribed to the needed Office 365 services through its existing EA to do the following:
☙ Take advantage of the lower pricing under its existing Enterprise Agreement.
☙ Eliminate the need for a separate agreement.
☙ View software licenses and services in one report.
☙ Subscribe through its standard procurement process. Take advantage of Microsoft Financing options.
Campus and School Agreement
Licensing programs specifically for qualified academic institutions such as schools, colleges, universities, including research facilities, interested in purchasing five or more licenses.
Benefits of This Program
☙ Take advantage of academic pricing through your existing Campus and School Agreement.
☙ With user-based licensing, no institution-wide commitment is required.
☙ Flexibility to deploy staged rollout by counting actual users, not full-time equivalent (FTEs) or devices.
☙ Ability to purchase individual components as well as full suite.
☙ Online Services licenses are coterminous with your underlying CASA Enrollment (1-year or 3-year).
Windows Azure Platform
Windows Azure is a cloud platform that customers can use to deploy Internet applications and Web services in Microsoft data centers. A component of the Microsoft Online Services portfolio, the platform includes Windows Azure: an operating system as a service; SQL Azure: a fully relational database in the cloud; and AppFabric: consumable Web-based services that provide both secure connectivity and federated access control for applications. With Windows Azure, customers pay only for their actual use of the platform instead of paying for fixed data-center costs up front. This means costs can scale as use grows and revenue is realized. When the platform is no longer needed, customers’ costs end, eliminating the issues of sunk licensing costs and hardware depreciation.
Activating Online Services through Volume Licensing
A key difference between Online Services and standard Microsoft products is that Online Services reside remotely with a service provider and must be “activated” before they can be used.
Through Microsoft Online Subscription Program
☙ Customer activates and manages through Microsoft Online Portal (MOP).
☙ Notification is sent to customer confirming service has been activated
Through an Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Campus and School Agreement (CASA)
☙ Once your order is processed, the Online Customer Portal (OCP) sends you an activation email. The Activation email is sent to your Online Services Administrator e-mail address (same address as on customer enrollment within the EA). When activating a trial account, use the Windows Live ID associated to your organization (rather than a personal Live ID).
☙ Once you receive the activation email, activate the account using a Windows Live ID. The Live ID MUST be the same email address that received the activation mail (Online Services Administrator address).
☙ Processing and generating an activation email should take approximately 48 hours. If you do not get the activation email, contact your reseller or the local Microsoft Regional Operations Center (ROC).
☙ You can begin using the service at any time after you have activated.
Public Sector
The same business rules apply to CASA customers as EA customers, with the following exceptions:
☙ CASA customers can also purchase licenses for the Office 365 components (for example, SharePoint Deskless Worker) as well as the full suite.
☙ CASA customers can also purchase licenses for the Office 365 suite components (for example, Exchange Online) as well as the full suite.
☙ CASA customers can purchase licenses for a full version of Office 365 Suite and components that do not require an existing component CAL, Core CAL, or ECAL.
☙ Rather than estimated full-time equivalent (FTE) user counts used for software and CAL licensing in CASA, Office 365 subscriptions must match the actual number of users whether they are full-time or part-time users.
☙ Enterprise Subscription Agreement (ESA) License: Licenses for Office 365 can also be purchased through an EAS. The key business
policy difference between purchasing licenses for the suite through an EA versus an EAS is that the EAS allows for license quantity adjustments on an annual basis. For example, the number of licenses can be reduced or increased at every agreement anniversary date. The EA does not allow for decreases in licenses quantity at the agreement anniversary.
☙ Campus and School Agreement: Customers purchasing through their CASA are advised to purchase the Office 365through their existing Volume Licensing programs. The same business rules apply to CASA customers as for EA customers (above).
☙ Rather than estimated FTE user counts used for software and CAL licensing in CASA, Office 365subscriptions must match the actual number of users whether they are full-time or part-time users. NOTE: Activation steps can vary from one service to another.
☙ A limited number of Online Services also support auto-activation, the ability of a service to activate with minimal manual intervention. In this case, you do not need to take any additional steps to activate the online service.
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