SPLA Update
Can SPLA licenses be installed on end user’s own servers?
• New Agreements signed after 1 October 2013 were amended to say:
“Customers may locate servers (“Servers”) containing Products on an End User’s premises (“End User Facility”)
solely to provide Software Services to the End User, provided that the Servers remain under the day to day
management and control of the Customer”
• This gives partners flexibility to offer SPLA licensing for end users that wish to continue using
their own servers
• It also opens up options for hybrid licensing ie. customer already owns
Windows Server/CALs via Open License so continue using that and SPLA the Exchange Server
SALs
Can I mix-match SPLA and Volume Licenses?
• Yes as long as you don’t mix-match within a single product group
• For instance
 Windows Server/CALs can be licensed through Open Value and Exchange through SPLA
 Windows Server/RDS SALs can be licensed through SPLA and Office through O365
 Windows Server can be licensed through SPLA and SQL through Open License
Can end user’s licenses be installed in datacentres?
• Customers with active SA on certain Server Applications (ie. RDS SALs,
Exchange Server/CALs, SQL Server) can “give” these to a SPLA partner to run in a
dedicated VM on their shared server platform.
• This is called “License Mobility through Software Assurance”
• Windows Server/Office licenses do not have LM through SA rights
Can customers bring their own Office licenses into the hosted environment?
No. Office does not have License Mobility rights.
Therefore the only type of Office license that can be installed on a shared server
environment is SPLA Office. Customers that wish to use their own Volume License
or Office 365 Pro Plus/E3/E4 licenses on a Remote Desktop Server must have a server that is
physically dedicated to them (not just a dedicated virtual server).
The only shared environment that Office 365 Pro Plus/E3/E4 can be run in is Azure.
Can Office SALs be installed on the local desktop?
There is no "SPLA way" to provide the customer with a local installation unless:
a) you own the PCs +
b) you sign a Rental Addendum +
c) you charge customer 2 x Office SPLA licenses per month (if they want this
local installation as well as remote desktop access to your servers for Office)
Scenarios
Customer migrating from SBS 2003 (50 users)
• Option 1 – Open Value
 Windows Server + Exchange Server + 50 CALs
 =$27k over 6 years
• Option 2 – SPLA (their own hardware)
 2 x Windows Server PL + 50 x Exchange SALs
 =$14k over 6 years
• Option 3 – Open Value + SPLA
 Windows Server (customer already has Windows CALs) + 50 x Exchange SALs
 = $14k
• Other Options – your datacentre, Azure or O365
Customer upgrading RDS and Office
• Option 1 – Open Value
 Windows Server + 50 Windows/RDS CALs + 50 Office Pro Plus
 =$139k over 6 years
• Option 2 – SPLA (their own hardware)
 2 x Windows Server PL + 50 x RDS & Office Pro Plus SALs
 =$95k over 6 years
• Option 3 – SPLA + O365
 2 x Windows Server PL + 50 x RDS + 50 x O365 Pro Plus
 = $89k over 6 years
Customer needing SQL Server
• Option 1 – Open License “License Only”
 Windows Server + 50 Windows CALs + 2 x SQL Per Core
 =$15k (one payment)
• Option 2 – SPLA (their own hardware)
 2 x Windows Server PL + 2 x SQL Per Core
 =$22k over 4 years
• Option 3– SPLA + Open License
 2 x Windows Server PL + 2 x SQL Per Core
 = $12k over 3 years (no SQL upgrade)
FAQs
Can I get discounted pricing for my academic, charity or government customer?
Yes - Microsoft offers SPLA discounted pricing for:
• Government – 14.5% discount. Need to apply to Microsoft for approval
• Education – significant discount.
Unfortunately there is no SPLA charity price. Customers can buy some products through
Open Charity and using License Mobility through SA can bring the licenses into your shared
environment (dedicated VMs) though.
Can you run free customer evaluations or demos?
• End user evaluations – for up to 60 days as long as no fee is received
• End user demonstrations – up to 50 user IDs can be created for this purpose
• Records must be kept
Internal use rights? Evaluation/Testing? Admin?
• The partner may use the software for internal use as long as they a) report this usage and b)
use less than 50% of the total use of each product
• The partner is permitted to have up to 20 individuals per datacentre accessing the software
for testing, maintenance and administration purposes
• Partners can install and use the software for internal evaluation and testing for up to 90 days
Do O365 plans allow customers to access your datacentre?
• E1, E3, E4 plans allow customers to access dedicated on-premise servers
(Exchange, SharePoint and Lync) without needing CALs for those products.
• E3 also allows customers to access hosted servers for Lync Enterprise – only a
.40c per user/month “Lync Enterprise SAL for SA” is required
• E4 also allows customers to access hosted servers for Lync Plus – only a .40c per
user/month “Lync Enterprise SAL for SA” is required
What licenses can be used in Azure?
• SPLA
 All SALs can be used in Azure – ie. Office, RDS, SQL, Exchange SALs
 Windows Server and SQL Server Per Core can not be used in Azure
• Office 365
 “Office Pro Plus” from Office 365 Pro Plus, E3 and E4 can be used in Azure
 “Lync” from E3/E4 (if Lync SALs for SA are also added)
• Volume License
 Server Applications covered with active SA and “verified” by Microsoft through License Mobility
through SA process
 RDS User CALs – as above (Extended Rights)
Other Q’s
• Is there any particular commitment period?
• How often do prices change?
• If a customer is being audited do they need to note what SPLA licenses are being hosted?
• Can you bring regular licenses back and forth to hosted environments in case of a disaster?
Common Service Provider Errors
• Misunderstanding where Volume licenses & MPN license entitlements can be used in a SPLA
production environment
• Not reporting underlying Products, i.e. SQL with SharePoint, Lync, CRM, RDS for Office
• Not keeping records for Customer Demo & Customer Evaluations
• Not communicating within their business to update their monthly use report when taking on
new clients
• Not having in place end user agreements, License mobility verification process
• Misunderstanding or misreading the SPUR related to DR, Passive rights, SALs …
Don’t forget!
• Customers that only need software on a short-term basis can now look at SPLA
(again as long as you have day-to-day management and control of the servers)
 Short-term project
 Short-term staff
 Trialling software
 Development software (rather than MSDN)
 Transition period (ie. until they migrate to O365)
More Questions? Contact the DD Team!
0800 DD SALES
• Christchurch Based
 Leah Cleave (Microsoft BDM)
• Auckland Based
 Jo Livingston (Microsoft BDM)
 Customer Response Team (Mark, Corey, Jonathon, Jess, Belinda, Mike)
 Royden Burt (Microsoft Office 365 BDM)
• Wellington Based
 Michelle Hayton
Licensing Models
SPLA Licensing Models
• Licenses acquired under SPLA are monthly, non-perpetual licenses
• The Microsoft products have one of two licensing models:
 Subscriber Access License (SAL)
 Per Processor/Per Core
Note: Only SQL Server is available in both license models.
Subscriber Access License (SAL)
• A SAL is required for each unique individual user that is authorized to access or
otherwise use the software
• When using the SAL option a separate Server License is not needed
• Benefits of the Per Subscriber model include:
 Subscribers can access any number of servers
 Service providers have minimal start-up costs
Per Processor/Per Core License
• Each Per Processor or Per Core License allows an unlimited number of users to access the
software that is installed on that processor/core
• Not all products are available to be licensed in this mode.
• Benefits of this License Model include:
 Processor/core licenses are easier to monitor and count
 Processor/core Licenses don’t require SALs for internal/external users
 Processor/core licenses are economical across a variety of business scenarios where the use of the
software can vary
How is Windows Server licensed in SPLA?
• Windows Server Standard - Each time you license each physical processor in the host
you may run 1 VM. Each host must be licensed for the maximum number of instances it
will run in a month. Example: a 2CPU host that ran 3 VMs = 6 licenses
• Windows Server Datacenter - Each time you license each physical processor in the host you
may run unlimited VMs on that host. Example: a 2CPU host that ran 12 VMs = 2 licenses.
Breakeven = 7 x VMs on a 2 CPU host (ie. 14 x Std = 2 x D/C)
Exchange Server
• Are Outlook licenses included with SALs?
Yes if you purchase the Exchange Standard Plus or Exchange Enterprise Plus SALs.
Users need to provide their own Outlook licenses (or use OWA) if they do not buy the
“Plus” licenses
• Are SALs required for Exchange Server Mailboxes?
No, SALs are only required for the named users that are authorized to access your
instances of the Exchange server each month. Therefore it is likely that there’ll be
a higher number of mailboxes than User SALs.
SQL Server
SQL Server has two licensing options:
• Per user – assign a SQL SAL to each named user that will access your SQL Server(s) OR
• Per core - license all virtual cores assigned to each virtual instance (min of 4 cores per instance)
OR if it is a physical server license all physical cores in the server
The “break-even” is 19 SALs = 2 x 2 Core Packs