What is CSP? A Deeper Look into Microsoft’s Cloud Service Provider Program

Posted on August 27, 2020June 23, 2023 by Ben Tight

If you’re in the market for purchasing licenses or subscriptions from Microsoft, you may have stumbled across Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. But what is CSP?

Released in 2015, it’s been steadily growing in popularity, especially with the recent push for businesses to reside on the cloud, mainly in hybrid solutions. But what exactly is the CSP program and how does it affect you and your organization, as a consumer of Microsoft products?

At MetrixData 360, we’ve been going up against Microsoft for decades now, defending their customers against outrageous software audit claims, heated contract negotiations, and unnecessary software spending. We like to stay on top of Microsoft’s most recent developments, so in this blog post, we’ll go into detail about Microsoft’s CSP: what it is, why it exists, and what advantages it poses to its buyers.

What is the Microsoft CSP Program?

Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program is a reseller program that is broken up into Direct CSP Distributors and Indirect CSP Resellers. These CSP partners will sell and support Cloud-based licenses for Office 365, Microsoft 365, and Azure, all on behalf of Microsoft with a margin of profit available to both Distributors and Resellers.

Distributors support (typically smaller) Resellers with the resources and service infrastructure they will need in order to provide support services to Cloud customers. In this way, Resellers and Distributors will be able to build and maintain a strong relationship with customers while in return customers will receive a full managed cloud solution.

The opportunity to be a part of the program as a Distributor or Reseller is open to all Microsoft’s partners regardless of their size or location with the two types of members (Direct and Indirect) bearing different responsibilities.

Want to know the difference between Indirect and Direct CSP partners and what Microsoft expects of them? We have an article discussing just that!

Why Does the CSP Program Exist?

The workplace is on its way to becoming Cloud-based with hybrid solutions, and nowhere is this more apparent in than in the three budding as-a-Service industries: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Of all these new industries, SaaS is becoming the most popular and for good reason; it offers a completely hands-off experience with the customers. The SaaS provider supports their customers by providing maintenance, hosting, and security.

Microsoft’s CSP program is their answer to the growing popularity of SaaS. However, the problem is that Microsoft doesn’t have the service infrastructure in place to support the dream of becoming a SaaS provider giant.

Instead, they’re outsourcing this task to partners, who will be able to provide better value to the Microsoft customer experience.

Buying from CSP Partners

There are a few ways Microsoft’s CSP program has altered the customer experience, so if you are thinking of buying from a CSP partner, consider the following:

It’s Only for Cloud Products

As the name would suggest, the CSP program only sells and deals with Cloud products. Of course, if you have on-prem licenses, your CSP partner will help you to transition into the Cloud.

Flexibility

One of the main appeals to customers when it comes to Microsoft’s CSP program is the ability to only pay for what you use and you will be billed on a month to month basis, no upfront payments or long-term commitments.

Unlike with the EA, which requires you to make bulk orders annually (meaning if you don’t use everything you’re paying for during the entire year before your next True-up, that’s wasted money), with CSP you can change quantity and types of licenses whenever you need to. This set up makes things immensely scalable and is great for customers with seasonal businesses.

Local Support

If you’ve ever tried to get Microsoft’s attention, especially if you’re a smaller company, you will understand the pains of feeling like Microsoft isn’t listening.

With the CSP program, your CSP partner’s job is to provide you with easily accessible service. They will act as your point of contact in the case of a problem.

Your CSP partner will also be able to bundle their offerings and offer discounts with more consideration into your business’s individual goals.

Licensing Support

Everyone who has ever had to deal with a Microsoft license before understands how complex they can be. In the past, understanding Microsoft licenses was a full-time profession.

However, moving to the Cloud has made Microsoft reconsider their hyper complex licensing a little, and now the CSP program offers the potential of your CSP partner to assist you in your Microsoft licensing to maximize the benefits of your investment.

Migrating from Existing Services to CSP

If purchasing the CSP platform has caught your attention, you might be wondering how you’ll be able to migrate from your existing service. The main factor to consider is what your current agreements entail and where they reside:

From an EA

If you are moving from your EA to the CSP model, you will need to fulfill the terms of your original arrangement, but if you want to move you will first need to get a CSP Direct bill partner to request your transfer to Azure subscriptions (you’ll need to purchase an Azure plan in order to transfer successfully). You’ll also only be allowed to move to the CSP model if you accept a Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA).

Other

When transferring to CSP from any other location than the EA, you will have to adhere to a few guidelines in order to get the results you want:

You need to work with a CSP partner to create your Azure CSP subscriptions. No solo acts allowed.
Ensure that your Azure resources can move from their host subscriptions to its destination and that all subscription services use the Azure Resource Manager model. Make sure you check this before you begin the process.
You will need RBAC owner access on the user account that will be used to do the transfer, ensuring access to both subscriptions.
Make sure that the source and the target CSP subscriptions are housed in the same Azure Active Directory tenant. You can’t switch your Azure AD tenant for an Azure CSP subscription, you can only add or associate the subscriptions to your CSP Azure AD tenant.

Getting Started with Microsoft’s CSP Program

The world of technology is constantly evolving. With this new transition to the Cloud, it’s important that businesses everywhere learn to adapt to these changes for fear of being left behind.

Microsoft’s CSP program is an excellent source of purchasing these new cloud-based services but it’s important that you understand exactly what you are signing up for so that you can make informed decisions for your organization.

At MetrixData 360, we are happily helping our customers through this process of moving to the cloud platform. For information, you can check our cloud services page.

How to Move From an EA to CSP

Posted on July 31, 2020June 23, 2023 by Ben Tight

Preparing to Migrate to CSP

You’ve come to the conclusion that Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program is something that you’re on board with, and now it’s time to get your data packed and ready for the big move from the popular and traditional Enterprise Agreement (EA) to your CSP.Before you get excited about this transition, you’ll need to ensure this next step is a smooth one, or else you might find your software budget blown in unforeseen spending spikes.At MetrixData 360, we have helped many of our clients move effectively to new cloud platforms, and we’ve seen several elements all successful migrations have in common. Don’t forget to check out our CSP Switching course to if you’re looking to take a deeper dive into the nuances of moving your licensing into the CSP.

Preparation

Preparation is always key, especially when it comes to something like moving to your new CSP platform. You wouldn’t start building a house without a blueprint and a plan, and the same premise applies here.

Make sure you have a business plan; something that outlines the resources you’ll need. If you are signing up for Direct CSP, consider the following:

How much are you planning to sell and the marketing strategy you’ll be using to sell?
Consider if you can meet the requirements to first obtain and maintain your status as a Direct CSP partner. You will need to sell a minimum of 5,000 Microsoft 365 seats per year and will have at least one Microsoft Gold Productivity Competency.
Will you be able to provide top quality customer support and maintenance?
What sort of automatic billing system will you sign up for? It may be tempting to go with manual billing but you can easily lose control of this billing method as your business grows.

Signs It’s Time

One key element of switching from EA to CSP is timing, and there are some telling signs that you can rely on to indicate when it is a good time to move:

Your Size:

The best time to move is when your organization is still smaller than 500 users, since the EA requires a minimum 500 seats, so even if you have less than 500 employees, you’ll still be stuck paying for those extra seats. Moving to the CSP will ensure you only pay for what you’re going to use.
Your Support Calls to Microsoft Are Lacking:

Support is an important element in ensuring the health of your environment but if Microsoft’s 1-800 tech support number is providing you with little assistance besides the occasional ‘your call is important to us, please hold’, then leaving might be best for your company. In the CSP program, if you decide to become an Indirect CSP Reseller, your CSP Distributor will directly deal with your needs so you won’t be struggling to get Microsoft’s attention.
Your Business Sees Fluctuations:

Does your business have a trackable busy season? Do you hire seasonal workers and is the number of staff shifting up and down to meet the demand of the workload? Then it might be time to consider moving to CSP since the EA doesn’t provide nearly the same level of flexibility to accommodate these changes to your business. With the EA, you would simply be stuck paying for the maximum number of seats all year.

Indirect CSP or Direct CSP

There are two models of CSP that you can pick from: Direct and Indirect. It’s important you pick between the two models carefully, so that it can best serve your business’s needs.

Direct CSP:

A Direct CSP Partner means that you’ll purchase from Microsoft and sell to your customers. Becoming a Direct CSP Partner means meeting certain requirements. The whole onboarding process will take about 4 months.
Indirect CSP:

Overall a much faster way to purchase CSP, since you aren’t working directly with Microsoft. Instead, you’ll be purchasing your tools and platforms from your provider. This arrangement has many appealing benefits, including giving you access to the support of your Distributor and minimal expectations with major reward potential.

Picking Your Partner

If you’ve decided to work with a Direct CSP partner, your next step will be picking which Direct CSP provider is right for you. While each CSP partner will bring their own personal touch to their platform, here are some general topics of consideration when picking your CSP partner:

What is the size of the organization you’re considering?

Larger companies will often provide you with more options when it comes to the types of products and can prove more stable. They will also be better at getting Microsoft’s attention. However, smaller companies may be able to respond to your requests faster and may be more eager to keep your business.
How Future Proof is Your Provider?

Is the provider equipped to handle the latest and greatest technology or are they able to deal with older versions of certain products that your company and customers may still be running?
Is the Partner Willing to Hash Out Pre-sales Details like Design and Pricing?

Knowing that you can work with your partner to provide the service you or your customers need is a key component to a successful CSP.
What Support does the Provider Offer?

Good support is crucial to maintaining a positive relationship with your distributor and customers. Knowing that there is a working support system in place helps to provide confidence in your product and peace of mind during unforeseen issues and requests.

Your New Home on the Cloud Awaits!

It’s an exciting time, moving to the Cloud where you can shake off the restriction of the EA, but it’s important that you don’t make the move too hastily -- you don’t want to be stuck in a bad business arrangement that will only make you long for the days of your EA.

At MetrixData 360, we know how confusing this time can be. We have helped many of our clients transition to a Cloud Platform safely and at a low and reasonable cost.

Now that you’re prepared for the move, the next step is to find out if an Indirect or Direct CSP partnership with Microsoft is right for you, you can learn more by checking out our article: Direct vs. Indirect CSP: Which Plan is Right for You?

Direct vs. Indirect CSP: Which Plan is Right for You?

Posted on July 27, 2020June 19, 2023 by Ben Tight

With so many businesses partially, if not fully, running on the Cloud, Microsoft’s new Cloud Service Provider (CSP) Program is an enticing offer, even for Microsoft’s most loyal Enterprise Agreement customers. Microsoft offers two CSP options for Microsoft partners who want to get on board, Indirect and Direct. But which of the choices is right for you? Today we’re pitting the two head to head. It’s Direct vs. Indirect CSP.

At MetrixData 360, we want you to transition to your new CSP situation as smoothly as possible and have helped our clients adjust to this new life in the clouds. So today we thought we’d share some of the differences between each of the platforms to help you determine which best fits with your organization.

Direct vs. Indirect CSP

What is Indirect CSP?

With Indirect CSP, the requirements are simple: you will be a reseller of Microsoft products to customers while maintaining a relationship with your indirect provider or distributor. The provider, in turn, will deal with Microsoft.

It is likely to be the far more popular option, as Microsoft expects somewhere between 80% to 90% of its CSP subscribers to become Indirect Partners. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of being an Indirect CSP Reseller.

Added Services and Support from the Distributor

As a Reseller, your Distributor will provide you with a number of services and support, including:

Technical training and assistance.
Marketing products and services.
Financial and credit terms.
Microsoft’s API integration to help place incoming orders for Cloud licenses.
Help transitioning into a cloud model or, if you already are cloud-engaged, your distributor will help you grow your value with your customers such as having a pre-sales consultant joining you on complicated deals.

This arrangement will prove most ideal for smaller organizations who will be able to reap the benefits of having their larger distributor’s resources at their disposal.

Profit Margin

As an Indirect CSP, you will buy your SKU from the distributor and you will be allowed to sell your products to your customers with a margin of profit of your choosing. It should also be taken into consideration that Indirect Resellers can expect recurring revenue as Microsoft moves its market exclusively to the Cloud. While Cloud-only products are their inevitable business plan, Microsoft doesn’t have the staff to fully support this kind of infrastructure, which is where this CSP has come from. It will be the foundation of a budding cloud reselling ecosystem and this is your chance to be a part of that.

Quick and Yet Controlled Process

You can get started quickly with the Indirect CSP partner program and once you’re there, you can evolve your business at a controlled pace, allowing you to focus primarily on your investments. The indirect CSP model will allow you to team up with a larger and more experienced provider while at the same time owning the customer relationship and experience. Considering the few qualifications you need to get started, this represents a relatively low investment for a high return.

Status

Through being an Indirect Reseller, you will begin to earn incentives straight from Microsoft. You will also receive the Partner of Record Status (POR), and you’ll also receive revenue recognition to be put towards your Microsoft Partner Status. This status and recognition will be on par with that of the Direct CSP model.

What Is a Direct CSP?

Unlike with Indirect CSP, in this model you will act as a Distributor, who will deal directly with Microsoft while also maintaining a relationship with your Resellers. This model is best suited for larger and more mature companies who have expertise in customer service. Below are some of the things you’ll have to consider if being a Direct CSP seems like a good fit for you.

Margin and Investment

Distributors can create a margin of profit for Microsoft’s product, sometimes as high as 20%. However, becoming a Direct Partner will require some level of investment, ranging anywhere from $50K to over $1M in investments.

Complicated Process

If you are going solo as a Direct CSP partner, the process can be quite rigorous and complicated, often taking as long as four months. In order to qualify for being a Direct CSP partner, you need to meet the following requirements:

You need to be an active Microsoft Partner with a Network ID.
You will need to be capable of providing your customers with 24-hour service.
You’ll need to purchase a Microsoft support plan and you’ll need to be able to pass a credit check before you can purchase the plan.
You’ll need to have at least one managed service already, an IP service, or a customer solution application.
You need to have a solid customer billing structure in place. Manual billing will not cut it.
You’ll need to maintain at least one Microsoft Gold Productivity Competency.
As a Direct CSP Distributor, you’ll be expected to manually manage your licenses through the Microsoft Partner Network Center.

Proactive Reductions

Before you begin the long process of applying to Direct CSP, it’s important to note that in most markets Microsoft is actively striving to reduce their number of existing Direct Partners instead of approving more. Although Microsoft recognizes both partner models and provides revenue recognition that is weighted the same, it may be very difficult to become a Direct CSP partner with Microsoft.

Looking for an opportunity to save roughly 20 to30% of your current spend on software licensing? Learn how software asset management can help in our article: Getting Started: Implementing Software Asset Management.

Choose the Right Solution for Your Business

Signing up for Microsoft’s CSP Partner Program can represent a new chapter in the growth of your business. Picking which one is right for you will prevent you from biting off more than you can chew and will allow you to benefit from this new solution.

At MetrixData 360, we have helped our clients through the trickiest of positions in regards to their software licensing when it comes to Microsoft and we can help you transition to this new CSP platform smoothly. If you’d like more information, you can contact us and a Client Success Manager will be in contact with you in under 24 hours.

Pros and Cons of Power BI

Posted on July 17, 2020January 23, 2023 by Ben Tight

Microsoft’s budding new thought child is Power BI and although Microsoft is quick to sing its praises, what sort of tangible benefits does it hold for you and your company? There’s no point jumping on this Power BI band wagon if it doesn’t match your business goals and needs. At MetrixData360, we believe in educating our customers and making sure that they are only buying the software licenses that they need, and not what the sales rep says they want. So today, we’ll go over everything you need to know to make sure Power BI is the right investment for your company.

What is Power BI?

Officially released in 2015, Power BI is an umbrella term used to describe a number of data collection apps that is offered by Microsoft for the purpose of analyzing and visualizing raw data. Praised by Gartner for its exceptional analytics and business intelligent platforms, Power BI has come to be known as a business essential tool for customers of all sizes and every industry, from construction to finance to insurance. The apps that comprise the interwoven matrix of Power BI include:

Power Pivot: Allows you to import data from a variety of sources
Power Query: Allows you to transform data
Power View: Helps you to visualize the data that has been compiled
Power Map: A nice 3D feature that can create a better visualization of the data
Power Q&A: An engine for question/answer style interactions with your data

Together, with all these interweaving parts, Power BI customers can perform such demanding tasks like examining what-if scenarios, conveying business models in an easy to read format, and forecasting business requirements.

Pros of Power BI

Affordable

You don’t have to worry about breaking the bank when you sign up for Power BI, as Power BI even has free alternatives such as the Power BI Desktop which can be downloaded to create interactive reports. However, these free versions are quite simplistic and limited when compared to Power BI’s true processing potential, that performance capability is saved for the paid versions. Pricier models like Power BI Pro allow users to share data and dashboards and Power BI premium allows for much deeper and meaningful insights, as well as on-prem reporting. If you already have an Office 365 plan, you may have Power BI as an added feature at no additional cost. Want to know how Power BI relates to SQL Server Licensing? Check out our article: SQL Server Licensing Explained for more information.

Customizable

If you have a very specific look you’d like to achieve, then Power BI can make it happen, offering a variety of custom visualizations, available in the Microsoft marketplace in addition to general visualizations used for polishing up reports and dashboards.

Excel-User Friendly

You have the option of uploading and viewing your data in Excel if that’s your thing. Power BI is built using the same interface as Excel, so if you know your way around an Excel spreadsheet, then you’ll find using Power BI to be both easy and familiar. Even if you aren’t exactly an Excel wizard, Microsoft has a wide array of tutorials, blog posts, and other available learning resources to assist you up this learning curve. There’s also a budding community of Power BI experts you can turn to if you need an extra helping hand.

Cons of Power BI

Difficult to Use

Despite the wide array of resources available, Microsoft is known for its hyper complexity when it comes to their software and Power BI is no exception. Since Power BI is merely a collection of apps, that means to properly maintain Power BI and get it to create the reports your looking for, it will require learning what each item in Power BI’s ensemble does and how it relates to the rest of the structure. This also means if Power BI isn’t working, you’ll have to go through the task of figuring out which app is broken and why.

Not Very Versatile

The expression language that Power BI uses is DAX , which is not known for being the easiest language to work with or master, once again adding to the learning curve. When compared to its competitor Tableau, Power BI is often viewed by customers as less flexible due to the fact that at the end of the day it is designed mainly for visualization purposes. Customers need to be careful to account for unique fields that can create inaccurate graphics and tables.

Large Data Sets Cause Lags

There is a cap for the digestible material that Power BI can handle at any given time, especially if you only have the free version at your disposal. If your business is on the smaller side, this limited space may not be an issue, and even such problems may be counteracted with a few space saving techniques such as writing simpler queries or splitting the queries into several different components. If you want to expand your Power BI capacity, you’ll have to upgrade to a pricier model.

Conclusion

Power BI has become an excellent and essential tool for many companies but just because it is the popular option doesn’t mean its necessarily the option that will best suit your business needs. At MetrixData 360, we teach that you should buy based on the data, based on what you know you need and not on what you think you want. Which of course, is where software asset management comes in. SAM is an excellent way of gaining control over your delicate software infrastructure by knowing what you have, what you need to license, and whether you are using your software in accordance to the licenses that you have. If you’d like to know more about what SAM is and how it can save you money, you can check out our article: Software Asset Management: Its Importance, Purpose, and How it Saves Money.

Tips for Surviving a Microsoft EA True Up

Posted on July 13, 2020June 19, 2023 by Ben Tight

Tricks for your Microsoft EA True Up

If you have an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft, then you are probably familiar with the EA’s annual True-Up. It’s a straightforward way of condensing a year’s worth of headaches and frustrations around purchasing software licenses into a short period of only 90 days (although hopefully, you’re preparing earlier than that!).

Since these true ups amount to such a large investment for enterprises, it is important that you remain in control of the situation and know what you can and can’t do. Often companies can feel trapped or chained to their chairs in these agreements but with MetrixData 360, we have helped many clients truly harness the potential of their EA. We’ve helped our enterprise clients cut down wastage in their EAs (sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars have been removed from EA agreements), and we know how to dance this dance with Microsoft.
So in this blog post, we will share some tricks from our experts.

And don’t forget. At any point in reading this article, you would like some further explanation, check out our downloadable EA True Up Guide below:

Tricks for your Microsoft EA True Up

And don’t forget. At any point in reading this article, you would like some further explanation, check out our downloadable EA True Up guide below:

You Don’t Need to Fill Out Every True-Up Form that Comes Your Way

If you have a reseller supporting you with your EA, then you may receive True-Up forms quite frequently — some of our clients report that they receive them on a monthly basis. You might feel compelled to fill each one of them out, either because your reseller encourages you to do so, and they know best, or because you’d rather not go up against Microsoft. However, unlike your annual True-Up, which will require a mandatory Update Statement (even if you haven’t added to your counts this year), these monthly True-Up forms are completely optional features that you don’t have to fill out.

You Can True-Down to your Original Count…Or Zero!

If this is not your first True-Up, you likely noticed that adding counts to your EA is easy – encouraged even – however, it can be very difficult to true-down or reduce your counts in any way. While it may be difficult, it is not impossible if you are following these steps:

Know Your Data

The first step of Truing-Down is to know what you are truing down to.
There are many ways to check your counts:

in your Active Directory;
in your SCCM or your SAM Tool (only useful if you’re trying to find your Qualified Device Count); or
in your HR Systems and Email Accounts (only useful for finding your Qualified User Counts).

You can also guess based on your number of employees, but while this is something most companies are forced to resort to, this is not something MetrixData 360 advises.

Create a Value Gap

Knowing your data will also allow you to create a Value Gap, and build your argument for truing down based upon cold, hard data. At MetrixData 360, we have built our tools for this task, which can significantly cut down your workload and your guessing.

Start Preparing for Your Microsoft EA True Up Early

You can True-Up pretty much up to the last second, but if you want to True Down, you will have to be prepared well ahead of time and adhere to the deadlines outlined in your agreement. Microsoft will only let you reduce your counts up until 30 days before your True-Up date, so you will have to be ready with your data and your arguments for Truing Down long before then.

Check Your Original Counts

When you are trying to reduce your counts in your EA, there are two things that really prove to be determining factors on how low you can go: if the product is an enterprise-wide purchase and if it is a subscription or a perpetual license.

If you have an enterprise-wide purchase, the only way Microsoft will allow you to reduce your counts is by scaling back online service subscriptions down to their original number that you started with. For example, if your original EA asked for 500 subscriptions and the following year you grew to 1,000, the lowest you can reduce your count to is 500. However, if your purchase is not enterprise-wide, it is possible to reduce the counts, so long as the minimum requirements are maintained.

Check Additional Products that are Available as Subscription Licenses

There are a few different products which are included in the EA, such as Enterprise Products, Enterprise Online Services, Additional Products, Additional Products Online Services. Additional Products that have subscriptions can be reduced to a count of zero! We’ve pulled such a move before at MetrixData 360, which resulted in our client saving $800,000!

Watch Out for Complicated Products

While Microsoft may have products that are easy to use, there are, of course, the challenging ones that are difficult to wrap your head around, let alone manage. Make sure to pay close attention to your deployment data around these products, ensuring that you have a strong understanding of your contract’s language and deployment data. Some of Microsoft’s more complicated products include:

SQL Servers
Office 365

At MetrixData 360, we put extensive effort into understanding both products and have a wide collection of material to read and tools to assist you in gaining a strong handle on these two products in your software environment.

Need Help Getting Ready for Your True-Up?

With your True-Up approaching, it’s important to have a few tricks up your sleeve. Closing such deals could mean the difference between optimizing your spending and spending copious amounts of money that you don’t need to.

The Microsoft reps may be nice, but there is only so much that they will be willing to help you save when their job is to make sure you do exactly the opposite. That is why you need someone who can support you and have your back during this engagement.

MetrixData 360 is here for you. We have many Fortune 500 customers who we have helped to minimize the impact of their EA on their software budget.

If you would like to learn more about getting ready for your Microsoft True-Up, you can download our free booklet, Preparing for a Microsoft True-Up.

Properly Sizing Azure for Your Organization

Posted on July 9, 2020June 23, 2023 by Ben Tight

The Many Complexities of Azure Cloud Sizing

Moving to Microsoft’s Azure can be an exciting experience, with so many services including File Storage and Machine Learning Analytics, SQL Databases, and Data Transfer, to name just a few. With so many infrastructure options in one place, moving to the cloud is becoming the obvious option for IT departments. Correctly sizing Azure is a vital first step to maintaining your IT budget. It’s like getting a new pair of shoes; you don’t want to waddle around in clown shoes, but you also will need something that doesn’t pinch your toes.

Unfortunately, Azure is a large and complex system, meaning correctly sizing for your organization’s needs is no simple task. At MetrixData 360, we have provided our expert advice to many companies hoping to gain insights into how best to size their Azure environment. As a result, we have helped them maximize value from their Azure purchase. In this article, we’ll go through everything you need to think about when purchasing the right Azure size for you.

Different Azure Sizes for Your Virtual Machines

Microsoft has 11 different Azure Series available, from the entry-level A-Series to the far more robust N-Series. Within each series, there are also multiple sizes of virtual machines (VMs) available, pushing the number of offered virtual machine options into the hundreds. Some of these options types include:

General purpose (ideal for testing and development)
Compute Optimized (great high CPU-to-memory ratio, only available in Fsv2)
Memory Optimized
Storage optimized (only available in Lsv2)
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) Optimized
High Performance Compute

Each option comes with a variety of different sizes and different pricing metrics. In such a complex environment, how are you supposed to know how to properly size your organization’s needs when moving to Azure?

That is where we come into the picture. We understand the complex nature of Azure and their licensing structure. With our custom-built tool set, we can accurately determine your sizing and computing needs, ensuring your IT department avoids over-licensing fees, costly true-ups, or being under-equipped. By collecting the most accurate data we can from your environment, our specialists are able to make well informed decisions regarding your needs. Microsoft has provided a basic Azure Pricing calculator of their own, though it is a convoluted tool to use.

Provisioning Virtual Machines

While finding the perfect Azure size is critical for your cost saving efforts, Microsoft’s unique way of calculating cost can make it difficult to size correctly, thanks to a little something Microsoft calls ‘provisioning’. Provisioning refers to a payment method where you pay based on a fixed capacity. This capacity could refer to memory capacity, bandwidth capacity or any other type of capacity. This capacity doesn’t reflect actual usage but instead is merely a fixed amount of space that you are paying for at any given moment, provisioning for less than you actually use could lead to your VMs struggling to cope with their tasks. This fixed capacity also doesn’t account for the changes in demand over a given year. However, it is more likely that you will pay for more than you use, which means you are wasting money on things you don’t use.

Determining When to Puchase Reserved Instances

Strategic purchases of Microsoft’s Azure Reserved Instances (RI) can provide you with great discounts compared to the pay-as-you-go model – 36-47% cheaper for a one-year term; 60-72% cheaper if you sign up for a three year term; and potentially up to 80% cheaper if you combined it with the Hybrid Benefit. The fact that you can pay either a single upfront payment or monthly payments also offers a simpler solution when you are trying to budget your IT expenses. The process of purchasing your RI is as easy as selecting your Azure region, the virtual machine type, or how long you’d like your term to be (one year or three years) and you’re good to go. It is easy to exchange and cancel your reserved instances as you choose. However, it is important to note that a Reserved Instance is not an actual instance, it’s more like a coupon you can use when your instances are billed. Microsoft gets a guarantee in your business, and you get a discount. There are, however, still some drawbacks to purchasing reserved instances:

You’re locked in with the payment system once you’re signed up for it, and a lot of the costs, if not all of them, are upfront.
It’s not as easy to scale up or down compared to the Pay-as-You-Go system.

Thinking about your Move to Azure?

While significant changes to any department can cause a struggle, the same goes for the transition into Azure’s environment. Employees will have to be trained on managing the new platform and there needs to be management of both your on-prem and Azure assets. It may even be a smart idea to hire someone to look after your Azure platform.

At MetrixData 360, we provide our clients with the knowledge and the tools they need to manage their transition to the Azure’s platform successfully, which is why we have made a whole guidebook around the subject. If you would like to learn more about Azure, you can download our guide to Azure Licensing here.

SQL Server Licensing Explained

Posted on June 29, 2020September 28, 2023 by Ben Tight

SQL Server Licensing Explained

SQL Servers are the most complicated, most expensive, and most critical element of an organization’s software infrastructure and it can be confusing to think about how it works, let alone how to license them. It is easy to get overwhelmed and to simply let your SQL Server sales rep handle it and tell you what you need to purchase and how many. Of course, just because they know their way around their CALs, cores, and sockets does not mean they know what is best for your business. Only you can answer that question.

At MetrixData 360, we strongly believe in educating our clients to improve their understanding of software asset management and software licenses in order to lead to strong, long-term SAM practices after our engagement has concluded. So, today we’re hoping to answer some of your more pressing questions around how to license your SQL servers.

What Are SQL Servers? A Brief Overview

Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, the main job of SQL Servers are to store data and retrieve it upon the request of other software applications, sort of like a company’s personal Google. SQL servers are made of many varied sizes and targeted towards different workloads and different types of workforces. Some exist in the Cloud with thousands of concurrent users and others exist in small to medium size on-prem businesses.

SQL servers are also designed to process different types of data, including primitive types like Char, Varchar, binary, and text, just to name a few. SQL Server licensing can be staggeringly overwhelming due to its sheer size and the number of other applications that interact with it.
Before we get into how a SQL Server works, here are some terms that you may need to know:

Physical Server: the actual wires-and-bolts physical hardware system.
Physical Processor: the physical chip that is housed in a socket within the physical server that contains one or more cores.
Physical Core: Something like a mini server inside the server, a physical core is a smaller processing unit within the physical processor of the server, and are found in groups of two.

How Do You Buy a SQL Server License?

Microsoft sells their SQL Server Licenses in a variety of ways, including:

Retail (although you cannot buy an enterprise license through this means)
Volume licensing programs (including the MPSA, the EA, the EAS, the SCA, OPEN)
A third party through either Independent Software Vendor Royalty (ISVR) or Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA). Web edition purchases can only be made through a SPLA

Free downloads for some editions (sees SQL Server editions section of this document to learn more about free editions of SQL Servers).
SQL Servers come with different licensing types and different editions, all of which we will break down. First, let’s look at licensing types, of which there are two: Core Based Licensing, and Server + CAL Licensing.

Core Based Licensing

This license allows for an unlimited number of users and devices to be connected to a server. If you want to install your SQL servers under a Core Based License, make sure you can follow these rules:

You need to license every physical operating system environment (OSE) that is running SQL server software. You will need a core license for every core in the processor.
You need at least four core licenses for each physical processor on the server (core licenses are sold in packs of two).
The SQL Server or any of its components needs to be licensed. What this means is that you can’t separate products of the SQL server over different machines. If the SQL Server Agent is running exclusively on one SQL server and the SQL server reporting services is being run exclusively on another machine, you’ll run into problems if you try to license that all under a single license. You would need two separate licenses for that scenario.
Anything that is installed on the physical machine you need to have a license for. You don’t necessarily need it to be running to require a license for it.
The same logic is applied when using virtual cores in virtual environments.

A math problem: Let’s say I have a single physical server. On the physical server, there are two processors, each with six physical cores with a total of twelve cores. In addition to the license for the operating system, I would need 6 core licenses (since they come in packs of two) in order to be properly licensed.

Benefits of Core-Based Licensing

Core-based licensing is typically the only option you have at your disposal when the SQL server in question is being accessed by devices and users outside your company’s network, since Server + CAL licenses would require you to purchase a license for every external person/device, which would not only be expensive, it would also be impossible to keep track of.
Ideal for larger companies, since it is easy to manage. Imagine having an international corporation with tens of thousands of employees, keeping track of who needed what CAL would be exhausting.
It also can prove cheaper for larger organizations, especially if your users far outnumber the cores you have.

What Are SQL Servers? A Brief Overview

Physical Server: the actual wires-and-bolts physical hardware system.
Physical Processor: the physical chip that is housed in a socket within the physical server that contains one or more cores.
Physical Core: Something like a mini server inside the server, a physical core is a smaller processing unit within the physical processor of the server, and are found in groups of two.

How Do You Buy a SQL Server License?

Microsoft sells their SQL Server Licenses in a variety of ways, including:

Retail (although you cannot buy an enterprise license through this means)
Volume licensing programs (including the MPSA, the EA, the EAS, the SCA, OPEN)
A third party through either Independent Software Vendor Royalty (ISVR) or Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA). Web edition purchases can only be made through a SPLA

Core Based Licensing

This license allows for an unlimited number of users and devices to be connected to a server. If you want to install your SQL servers under a Core Based License, make sure you can follow these rules:

You need to license every physical operating system environment (OSE) that is running SQL server software. You will need a core license for every core in the processor.
You need at least four core licenses for each physical processor on the server (core licenses are sold in packs of two).
The SQL Server or any of its components needs to be licensed. What this means is that you can’t separate products of the SQL server over different machines. If the SQL Server Agent is running exclusively on one SQL server and the SQL server reporting services is being run exclusively on another machine, you’ll run into problems if you try to license that all under a single license. You would need two separate licenses for that scenario.
Anything that is installed on the physical machine you need to have a license for. You don’t necessarily need it to be running to require a license for it.
The same logic is applied when using virtual cores in virtual environments.

Benefits of Core-Based Licensing

Core-based licensing is typically the only option you have at your disposal when the SQL server in question is being accessed by devices and users outside your company’s network, since Server + CAL licenses would require you to purchase a license for every external person/device, which would not only be expensive, it would also be impossible to keep track of.
Ideal for larger companies, since it is easy to manage. Imagine having an international corporation with tens of thousands of employees, keeping track of who needed what CAL would be exhausting.
It also can prove cheaper for larger organizations, especially if your users far outnumber the cores you have.

Server + CAL Based Licensing

There are instances where a Server + CAL license arrangement may suit your business’s needs better, although it will involve a lot more mixing and matching. You have to fulfill a certain number of guidelines in order to use a Server + CAL license successfully:

Just like with the core-based licenses, any physical operating system running SQL server software or any of SQL server’s components will need a SQL server license assigned to the physical server hosting OSE.
In addition to the license for the OSE, you will also need to purchase a license for each device and/or user that has access. Think of the OSE license like purchasing the lock on your door, the CALs are the keys, you need both to gain access.

Client Access Licenses (CAL)

Client Access Licenses (CAL), is a license that grants access to specific Microsoft server software, usually in conjunction with other Microsoft server software licenses. Basically, while the server license allows for the installation of the software on an operating system, the CAL allows for people or devices to access the services that the operating system is hosting. There are two different types of CALs, depending primarily on what your company’s needs the server software you intend to use your CAL for.

User CAL: Allows for a single unique physical user to access the Microsoft software from many different devices. This includes work devices, personal devices, Internet kiosk or a personal digital assistant without the need to purchase a CAL for every device. However, you are licensed per physical person, not log-in usernames, so all the John Smiths in your company can breathe easy.

Device CAL: Allows a large number of users to access the server software through a single device.

Be very careful with the version number your CAL has when you purchase it (IE. Windows Server 2010 CAL). The CAL must be of the same version or be a more recent version than the version of the Server software you are pairing it with. For instance, a Windows Server 2010 CAL can be paired with a Windows 2010 or 2008 server but not a 2012 Server.

Each server product will require the associated CAL. For instance, if you have a Windows Server and an Exchange Server, which both access the Active Directory, then you will need a Window Servers CAL and an Exchange CAL. A CAL can also give you access to multiple servers of the same kind throughout your domain.

As you can imagine the pairing of your CALs to your servers can get extremely confusing and complex, especially if you try to mix and match. So, it is always a good idea to consult your Microsoft Rep or your third-party rep, give them a clear picture about what your software environment looks like and then they can tell you about the CALs you need.

Benefits of the Server + CAL Licenses

A bit more complex but easy to manage if you have a small business with a countable number of employees
Usually can prove cheaper for smaller businesses
A cheaper option if your processors have less than four cores, since four cores is the minimum licensing number.

Optimize Your SQL Server Software Contract Before and After the Purchase and Save Money

How IT Departments Can Navigate the Complexities of Windows and SQL Server Licensing with Microsoft True Up Support

How Do You License SQL Server?

Optimize Your SQL Server Software Contract Before and After the Purchase and Save Money

How IT Departments Can Navigate the Complexities of Windows and SQL Server Licensing with Microsoft True Up Support

How Do You License SQL Server?

Types of SQL Server Edition

Now that we have our SQL server licensing models laid out, we can move onto the next level of complication: Editions. Microsoft first deploy SQL Server Express to see if it is sufficient for their specific applications and will only move to the fee-based editions when they can confirm that Express will not meet their requirements.

Developer: This edition allows you to build, test, and demonstrate applications in a non-production environment. It is important that the ‘non-production’ element is upheld in this edition, since using the developer edition on anything that is full production can result in heavy fines. A piece of software will be considered in production if individuals, either inside or outside of the organization, use the software for any reason beyond development, including evaluation acceptance testing such as a review of the application before it is put into general use.

A SQL server will also be considered in production if it is connected to another database that is in production or runs as a backup or to provide disaster-recovery to a SQL server in production. As you can probably imagine, mixing production and non-production environments is a recipe for disaster, as this can cause hyper complexity and compliance issues, especially if access controls are not established that prohibits use outside of development and testing. There are a few ways to counteract this problem:

Use naming conventions for SQL Server instances to explicitly state if a Server is in development or in testing.
Install the SQL server on a separate network segment or cloud environment to lower the chance of unauthorized interaction.
Require that installs be developer-specific editions.

The main challenge with these editions is proving which edition you have. For example, if you are in a software audit, unless provided with evidence that proves otherwise, the software auditors will assume that you only have Enterprise editions, which are the most expensive. Proving which editions, you have could mean the difference between owing hundreds of thousands of dollars and owing nothing.

Licensing for Development Environments

While Development and Express environments can be great in saving you money, in testing and demonstrating your software before deployment, it is important that these scenarios are licensed properly and that you understand their limitations. There are two types of SQL Server Development licenses:

Developer-Specific Licenses: Used primarily for debugging, designing, development, testing and demonstrating purposes. This license is for non-production use only and is often purchased when programmers, professional testers, technical writers, database professionals, or IT administrators are involved. Developer specific licenses are assigned on a per-user basis, in which Users can install and access an unlimited number of SQL Server instances and share those instances only with other users who have been assigned the same type of developer-specific user licenses.

That means, for this licensing model, if anyone wishing to access a development environment requires a developer-specific license, even for tasks as hands-off as administrative purposes. The only exception to this is user acceptance testing. Installations can be set up and taken down at any time and can be placed on desktops, dedicated servers, shared servers, and cloud environments. Some potentially less expensive alternatives to this license include the following:

Purchasing new production licenses
Cloud-based services like Windows Azure, which are usually based on a monthly subscription model (if you have an MSDN subscription, it includes Windows Azure credits, discounted rates and the ability to use MSDN software at no additional charge)
Free editions like SQL Server Express and the SQL Server Compact (a free embedded edition of SQL specifically for developers)

</div class=”listbox”>Evaluation Licenses: Used to assess the software for potential business use. Again, only used for non-production environments but it is not often used in development and test environments. Usually comes with an expiration date (60-180 days to evaluate the use of the software) when obtained through volume license contracts.

Licensing Virtualized Environments

It is possible and necessary to license virtualized environments, and you have the ability to cover your VMs under your Enterprise + Software Assurance addition licensing model if you have one. This will cover all the VMs that your software environment will ever see, which comes in handy since VMs are so easily and quickly cloned and installed.

However, it is terribly important to consult with your Microsoft Rep to ask if virtualized environments can be properly covered by your software assurance as you don’t want to run the risk of facing any compliance issues with Microsoft. You will need a license for every virtual core that you have.

Licensing your Virtual Environment all depends on the licensing model you choose, with the per core model proving much more cost-effective for many clients. If you aim to license the Virtual Cores on Virtual Operating System Environments (OSE), then you will need a minimum of four licenses per processor if you have more than four cores on each of your virtual processors, then you’ll need to calculate what you’ll need based on the number of cores. If your OSE is mapped to different pieces of hardware, you’ll need additional licenses for anything the OSE is touching.

Power BI and SQL Server

Power BI is one of the most popular services for large businesses, and it can quickly become the most complicated due to its robust environment and its complicated, although critical, relationship with SQL servers. You can obtain Power BI either through purchasing one of the Power BI plans or through having SQL Server Enterprise Edition + Software Assurance. SQL Server Enterprise Edition + Software Assurance will give you access to the Power BI Server, this will allow for on-prem sharing of Power BI Content through the Power BI report server.

Although you will still need to have a Power BI account for content creation. If your organization already has an Enterprise SQL Server edition and intends to use Power BI strictly for On-prem sharing of content, simply getting Software Assurance will be the more cost-effective option as opposed to buying a Power BI plan.

It is also important to note that Power BI Desktop has access to SQL Server, but not Power BI Service. Although Power BI Service can provide a connection to Azure SQL Database and SQL Data Warehouse, it can’t do the same with SQL Server. With the Desktop, however, you can retrieve SQL Server data from tables and run queries that can retrieve a subset of the data from multiple tables.

Licensing for Disaster Recovery and High Availability

Making sure that your SQL server can properly store information and making sure you can access it at any time is a critical element for SQL servers’ customers and one of the most popular features in their software assurance benefits. Which is why Microsoft, as of November 1st, 2019, has three enhanced benefits to offer to software assurance customers, which can be applied to any SQL Server that is still supported by Microsoft, including failover servers for high availability, disaster recovery, and disaster recovery in Azure. What this means is that you can run passive SQL Server instances on separate operating system environments (OSE) or servers for high-availability on-prem or in Azure to cover any sort of failover event.

If you have a secondary server that is only used as failover support, then you do not need to license that server separately from the SQL server it is supporting, as long as the server remains truly passive and the primary SQL Server is covered by your Software Assurance.

If the passive server is providing data, such as reports, to clients or performing any other ‘work’ including additional backups, then it will be considered active and will require its own license. It is most important that you have a means of proving when your servers are passive, since during a software audit, the software auditors will assume that all your servers are active if given the chance to assume so.

If you are licensed using the Server + CAL model, then any user or device that is indirectly accessing your SQL server data through another hardware device or software application will require their own SQL Server CALs.

Upgrading your SQL Server

If your SQL Server Edition reaches a certain age (Server 2005, for example) Microsoft could eventually announce that they are no longer supporting your particular brand of SQL Server (Microsoft announced in 2016 that support for SQL Server 2005 would end that April).
This means no more security or feature updates, no more help from Microsoft to keep your environment healthy and protected. Even if your license is perpetual and legally speaking you are allowed to keep the product forever, it may still be within your best interest to upgrade your license anyway to one that Microsoft supports.

However, it will not be easy since a SQL Server upgrade will take months and you should plan accordingly. When you are considering updating from one Server to the next, the first thing you need to do is make a to-do list containing everything you have to do, such as:

Making sure you have all the Window Updates
Do you have .NET Framework installed correctly?
Do you have KB2919355 installed (if you are using Server 2012 with SQL 2014 installation)
Insure that you have enough free space to allow for the upgrade (at least 100GB). After all such preparations are ready you can begin the whole upgrading process

If you have Software Assurance, then you are covered to upgrade your SQL Server edition, if not then you will have to purchase more licenses. Check to make sure what sort of changes have occurred since you last updated SQL Server, since depending on how old your SQL Server is, you may find yourself confronted with new features, new definitions, and new licensing metrics.

Do some research into the new SQL Server model you are planning on upgrading to and familiarize yourself on any differences the new edition has compared to your old model. If you are purchasing brand new licenses, consider which new SQL Server Edition will best suit your company’s needs and budget. Lastly, decide whether, this time around with your new SQL Server, if Software Assurance is something that interests your company.

Want to Learn More?

SQL Server licensing should not be a mystery, it’s important that you have a strong understanding of your software environment, including the backbone of the whole infrastructure. SQL Servers are so thoroughly implemented throughout the software environments of organizations that a simple mistake could easily be scaled up to mean millions of dollars in software auditing fines.

At MetrixData 360, we understand the importance of making sure that your SQL Server licensing is understood and maintained. Our expertise in software licenses has led to clients saving 20%-30% of spending on your software environment. If you’d like to find out how you can put money back into your IT department, you can contact us using the information below.

Book an Appointment with a SQL Server Licensing Expert Today

What Are SQL Servers?

How to Buy a SQL Server License

Core Based Licensing

Server + CAL Licensing

Types of SQL Server Editions

Power BI and SQL Server

Licensing for Disaster Recovery and High Availability

Upgrading Your SQL Server

Learn More

What Are SQL Servers? A Brief Overview

- Physical Server: the actual wires-and-bolts physical hardware system.
- Physical Processor: the physical chip that is housed in a socket within the physical server that contains one or more cores.
- Physical Core: Something like a mini server inside the server, a physical core is a smaller processing unit within the physical processor of the server, and are found in groups of two.

How Do You Buy a SQL Server License?

Microsoft sells their SQL Server Licenses in a variety of ways, including:

Retail (although you cannot buy an enterprise license through this means)
Volume licensing programs (including the MPSA, the EA, the EAS, the SCA, OPEN)
A third party through either Independent Software Vendor Royalty (ISVR) or Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA). Web edition purchases can only be made through a SPLA

Core Based Licensing

This license allows for an unlimited number of users and devices to be connected to a server. If you want to install your SQL servers under a Core Based License, make sure you can follow these rules:

You need to license every physical operating system environment (OSE) that is running SQL server software. You will need a core license for every core in the processor.
You need at least four core licenses for each physical processor on the server (core licenses are sold in packs of two).
The SQL Server or any of its components needs to be licensed. What this means is that you can’t separate products of the SQL server over different machines. If the SQL Server Agent is running exclusively on one SQL server and the SQL server reporting services is being run exclusively on another machine, you’ll run into problems if you try to license that all under a single license. You would need two separate licenses for that scenario.
Anything that is installed on the physical machine you need to have a license for. You don’t necessarily need it to be running to require a license for it.
The same logic is applied when using virtual cores in virtual environments.

Benefits of Core-Based Licensing

Core-based licensing is typically the only option you have at your disposal when the SQL server in question is being accessed by devices and users outside your company’s network, since Server + CAL licenses would require you to purchase a license for every external person/device, which would not only be expensive, it would also be impossible to keep track of.
Ideal for larger companies, since it is easy to manage. Imagine having an international corporation with tens of thousands of employees, keeping track of who needed what CAL would be exhausting.
It also can prove cheaper for larger organizations, especially if your users far outnumber the cores you have.

Server + CAL Based Licensing

Just like with the core-based licenses, any physical operating system running SQL server software or any of SQL server’s components will need a SQL server license assigned to the physical server hosting OSE.
In addition to the license for the OSE, you will also need to purchase a license for each device and/or user that has access. Think of the OSE license like purchasing the lock on your door, the CALs are the keys, you need both to gain access.

Client Access Licenses (CAL)

Device CAL: Allows a large number of users to access the server software through a single device.

Benefits of the Server + CAL Licenses

A bit more complex but easy to manage if you have a small business with a countable number of employees
Usually can prove cheaper for smaller businesses
A cheaper option if your processors have less than four cores, since four cores is the minimum licensing number.

Types of SQL Server Edition

Use naming conventions for SQL Server instances to explicitly state if a Server is in development or in testing.
Install the SQL server on a separate network segment or cloud environment to lower the chance of unauthorized interaction.
Require that installs be developer-specific editions.

Licensing for Development Environments

Purchasing new production licenses
Cloud-based services like Windows Azure, which are usually based on a monthly subscription model (if you have an MSDN subscription, it includes Windows Azure credits, discounted rates and the ability to use MSDN software at no additional charge)
Free editions like SQL Server Express and the SQL Server Compact (a free embedded edition of SQL specifically for developers)

Licensing Virtualized Environments

Power BI and SQL Server

Licensing for Disaster Recovery and High Availability

Upgrading your SQL Server

Making sure you have all the Window Updates
Do you have .NET Framework installed correctly?
Do you have KB2919355 installed (if you are using Server 2012 with SQL 2014 installation)
Insure that you have enough free space to allow for the upgrade (at least 100GB). After all such preparations are ready you can begin the whole upgrading process

Want to Learn More?

Book an Appointment with a SQL Server Licensing Expert Today

Microsoft SPLA Contracts Explained

Posted on May 15, 2020March 8, 2024 by Ben Tight

Microsoft SPLA Contracts

Oh, the joys of software licensing, empowering you with the technology your company needs to grow. Of the software licenses out there, at MetrixData360, we have seen many people come to us asking for help regarding their Microsoft SPLA licensing, a delightful jewel in Microsoft’s licensing crown. Is investing in an SPLA license a smart move for your company? What will happen if you are audited on your SPLA? In this article we’ll tackle some of your most pressing questions regarding SPLAs, so that you can make an informed decision that drives your company’s future development instead of hindering it.

What is an SPLA

Microsoft’s Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) gives you the ability to play Microsoft’s middleman if your business involves some element of hosting applications, data, or websites. It is the most common license that they offer to their customers who are service providers. When you’re given an SPLA license, you can provide the software you’ve purchased to your end-users and charge them monthly for your software as a service (SaaS).

In turn, Microsoft charges you monthly as well based on your license consumption rate, as opposed to simply paying an upfront fee like perpetual licenses. Unlike other forms of licensing, such as MSPA, where the license merely is transferred through you (Microsoft gives it to you, you give it to your customer and the customer becomes the licensee), with a Microsoft SPLA your name remains on the licenses for the products that your clients use and you report the usage of your licenses back to Microsoft. Being a reseller of Microsoft can be a wonderful business opportunity, creating for you a fruitful income and the option of having a uniquely packaged solution for your customers.

Do I need an SPLA?

Here are the three most common scenarios where an SPLA is required:

You host a third-party application with Microsoft’s Infrastructure?
You are Hosting as a Service (HaaS), which includes website hosting, data hosting, and file-sharing?
You have a Multi-Tenant Cloud platform or have a multi-tenant Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)?

Benefits of an SPLA

There are many benefits to purchasing a Services Provider License Agreement:

The services you provide to your customers are tailored to their needs.
You pay-as-you-go, no start up fees, no long-term commitments, it can prove ideal if many of your customers have seasonal work that needs to be adjusted throughout the year.
Microsoft will give you and your clients the latest software products.
Your services can be offered to anyone in any country that you are legally allowed to sell Microsoft to.
You can sample the products yourself before they are offered to your customers and, in return, you can offer sample products to up to 50 of your clients to test the software for a free 60 day trial period.
You can sell to academic institutions at specific pricing.
You can leverage data center providers for IaaS or outsourcing capabilities.
Your Microsoft Business and Service Agreement (MSBA) needs only to be signed once. After that, all smaller and simpler SPLA licensed can be filed under it, which you need to sign every three years.

The VSA and the SPLA Audit

An SPLA audit reveals the treacherous complexity of the software contract that you’ve signed up for. The reason why Microsoft conducts these audits are to both ensure compliance and to confirm that the MBSA (Microsoft Business and Services Agreement) provides them with the right to audit their customers. You may incur the wrath of either Microsoft’s verified self-assessment (VSA) or an SPLA audit.

It can often be tricky to initially tell if you’ve been notified for either a VSA or a SPLA. VSA notifications are done usually through email (make sure to verify its authenticity before handing over sensitive data or clicking any links, there are scammers out there sending emails disguised as legitimate SAM reviews). A full SPLA audit will usually be sent through a formal letter and will usually disclose whether it is an audit or a VSA. You can expect a SPLA audit or VSA to arrive sooner rather than later if you and your company have experienced any of the following recently:

You have gone through a merger or acquisition
You have missed an SPLA report
Your SPLA reporting has increased or decreased
Providing a Microsoft Solution to your customers without the SPLA to back it up
Your reports only display minimum usage while your business shows signs of growth

A Microsoft SPLA Full Audit

Once you have determined the ifs, whys, and hows, the process is pretty similar for VSAs and SPLAs. You will be asked to retrieve data either at the auditors’ beck and call (in a full audit) or using your own internal resources (VSA). A Microsoft SPLA audit runs a similar course to a regular audit and a more in-depth look of the audit procedure can be found in our articles, Software Audits: The Fundamentals, and Software Audit Preparation. There are a few differences between an SPLA audit and regular audit, including:

An SPLA audit will involve looking at data that goes back much farther compared to the data examined in a regular audit, sometimes looking as far back as three years. For this reason, it’s important to maintain a pristine long-term record of your monthly reports, since a lack of this data will mean that the auditors will assume the worst-case (and most expensive case for you) is the reality.
Auditors will be interested in data that involves user access to products as opposed to actual usage, since an SPLA has different product use rights compared to perpetual licenses.
BYOLs and License Mobility will prove a focal point of the audit, since many hosts will allow end users to bring in licenses from their own EAs, and as such, it is important that you verify compliance in regard to these scenarios.

The Self-Certification Audit or Verified Self-Assessment(VSA)

The latest version of Microsoft’s audit, the self-certification audit or verified self-assessment (VSA), runs a little differently from regular audits since you’ll be able to prove your compliance without having to supply your deployment data, as has been the tradition of to this point. Instead, Microsoft will give you the choice of doing your own internal review. From there, you will affirm that you either have no missing licenses, or that you are missing licenses and will purchase the licenses that are required to make up for any unlicensed usage. You will also likely be required to present a corrective strategy that will decrease the likelihood of this happening again in the future. The process can be concluded quickly since there is no need to present evidence or negotiate over a settlement.

Getting Ready for an SPLA Audit

Sadly, audits are inevitable. While you can lower your risk of an SPLA audit by paying attention to the factors that might incur an audit, it’s difficult to avoid them entirely. So, the best thing you can do is to be prepared (an SPLA audit should be expected once every three years). Here are some tips for how you can prepare for your software audit:

Have all the hosted offers that either directly or indirectly deal with Microsoft products organized and ensure they are appropriately licensed, most often through your SPLA.
Have a tool that effectively captures the status of your software profile.
Keep historical records in order, going back many years. Include information such as the machines and users which contributed to each monthly report.
Be prepared to defend any BYOL scenarios since, as the host, you will be responsible.
Perform internal audits frequently to assess the health of your software profile and to address any issues before they are brought up in an audit.
Have an effective software asset management strategy in place to ensure that your software environment is not only compliant but maximizing value from your software licenses.

For More Information

SPLA’s can prove a fantastic asset for your company if used correctly. Software licensing may be a maze (Microsoft in particular is known for their confusing licensing and merciless auditing), but you can learn to navigate these treacherous waters with the right tool kit at your disposal. At MetrixData360, we have dealt with Microsoft for many, many years now. We know how to maximize the value of your SPLA ,so if you would like more information on how you can partner with MetrixData360 for the benefit of your business, click the link below to learn more about how MetrixData360 can help you negotiate your next SPLA agreement.

How To Increase Value and Lower Cost with Microsoft Office 365

Posted on May 14, 2020April 11, 2024 by Ben Tight

Microsoft 365 and Office 365 are wonderful, although potentially expensive, tools that can boost production and connectivity in your business. Especially with the current situation in which we are living, where businesses are forced to either work from home or temporarily shut down entirely, Office 365 may be critical to your business. But for roughly 44% of businesses with Office 365, their subscriptions are underutilized, or they are buying a more expensive product than they need. At MetrixData 360, we are experts when it comes to the proper management of licenses and subscriptions, so here is a list of tips on how to get the most out of your Office 365 Licenses.

Optimization Through Education

Companies are built through the efforts of a wide variety of people, all with different educations, experience, and expertise. While your company may hold some tech-savvy people who fully harness all their Office 365 license may offer, there may still be employees who only open Office to check an email simply because they don’t know about Office’s amazing features. Accessing the video training that Microsoft offers is a great way to catch everyone up on the value of their own licenses; you can also set mandatory lesson plans and training sessions to encourage participation. What’s the point of having great licenses if no one knows how to use them?

Create a Value Gap

While there may be employees who only open Office to check an email because they don’t know about the value Office offers, other employees might rarely use Office simply because of the type of job they have. Doctors who are on their feet all day and who all share a desktop, or manual laborers who only interact with technology to clock their working hours, are just two examples of workers who don’t need a top-of-the-line Office 365 subscription to get their jobs done. Yet, when companies buy their Office subscriptions, they purchase only thinking about the members of their company who need five screens to get their work done. Those users will rely heavily on the subscription and so will require the most expensive one. It would make no sense to buy an expensive, top-of-the-line license for every employee if not every employee will use it to the same extent, therefore it’s important to make unique profiles with consideration to each employee’s workload and their needs. Perhaps employees who are extreme tech users will need an E5 license, but those who only use their Office 365 to check their emails will only require an E1.

Consider if You Honestly Need an E5 license

The E5 licenses is the most expensive but also offers the most expansive package, including all of Office’s services and products. However, among companies who have purchased the E5 license, 38% have the possibility of downsizing all the way down to the E1, which while it is more basic, it is also far cheaper. They have this possibility simply because they are barely using all the features that come with the E5 license. If you aren’t using it, why have it? Especially when it comes to subscription licenses. Before this current age of subscription licenses in the Cloud, it was considered a smart business move to purchase a software license that was a little bigger than necessary to leave room for any expected growth in the immediate future. As companies are making the transition to the Cloud, that knee-jerk reaction of buying more than you need remains. It’s important that you only buy what you are intending to use, since it is easy to upgrade with Microsoft at any time but far more difficult to downsize.

Track Your Spend and Usage

Knowledge will be your most important tool at your disposal when trying to cut back on your Office 365 spend. You’ll need data and visibility into how much of their subscription your staff actually use on a daily basis or if your employees are allowed to use everything they are using. Many companies have difficulty keeping track or making sense of the data collection that Microsoft offers. This is why at MetrixData 360, we have SLIM 360 our proprietary Office 365 Licensing Tool. Our tool’s prized features include (although not limited to):

Track Your Spend and Usage

Detecting Multiple Subscriptions: Multiple subscriptions for Office 365 can be accidentally repurchased over time and can prove to be a quiet drain on the IT budget.
Tracking Consumption of Subscriptions Over Time: You can track how much you owe and what sort of value your company is getting out of these subscriptions.
Detecting Blocked Users: Sometimes having a blocked user is intentional, but other times the customer is unaware of these subscribed users, and the user themselves will be unaware since they can’t access the account. By removing their subscriptions, you can save a lot of money.
Detecting Last Usage: If an account has not been active in 90 days or longer, it usually means one of two things: either the account has been retired (or at least attempted to be), or it simply belongs to a user who doesn’t need the subscription. Either case justifies the removal of the license.

Download our free PDF on the usage and licensing capabilities of SLIM 360

Start Saving Now!

For More Information

Saving money doesn’t always mean lessening the quality of the product. At MetrixData 360, our goal is cutting away waste, so you get the most out of what you pay for. Given the current global situation, now is not the time to be wasting money on things that your business doesn’t need. If you’d like to learn how you can save on your Office 365 license, or elsewhere in your software environment, feel free to contact us, and our director of client success will get back to you within 24 hours.

Getting Ready for a Microsoft True-Up

Posted on May 6, 2020June 23, 2023 by Ben Tight

Your annual Microsoft true-up is approaching. You’ve used Microsoft products throughout the year and now the anniversary of your purchase is drawing near and it’s time to pay for anything that is net-new or to accommodate for any growth that your company has seen. Time to dust off your Microsoft true-up process once again. You do have one of those, right?

Your Microsoft True-Up Process

If you’re one of the many businesses with a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, then you will need to have everything organized at least 30 to 60 days before your true-up date. But how do you go about gathering all the information you need?

How do you even begin to get ready for your Microsoft True-Up?

At MetrixData 360, we have helped our clients get through countless Microsoft True-ups in one piece and want to share with you what to expect and how to prepare.

Don’t forget to fill out the form to download our free Microsoft True-Up guide:

Microsoft Enterprise Agreements: The Basics

Having an Enterprise Agreement (EA) comes with many delightful advantages, namely it provides tempting pricing, discounts, and added benefits for your IT infrastructure.

The agreement also provides flexibility. Instead of grinding your business’s growth to a screeching halt every time you need to buy new licenses, you simply add any changes to your technological landscape to your tab, so to speak, and your true-up is then adjusted to account for any software you’ve used over the previous year.

However, the agreement is not without its faults. For instance, EAs are one of the more complex agreements Microsoft offers. They require high up-front payments and, while it is easy to scale up, you’ll find it will be quite painful to reduce any of your subscriptions.

The EA’s New Look

Recent changes to EA licensing have made things a little bit more difficult for customers who already have an EA in place.

As we covered in our article, Microsoft Changes Minimum Enterprise Agreement Qualified User/Device Count, in 2016 Microsoft changed the minimum number of user/device count customers required in order to qualify for an EA license. The change expanded to a 500 device minimum, with a breathing period for customers with less than 500 devices/users who already had an EA in place prior to July of 2016. For those “breathing room” clients, they could renew their licenses after an additional 36 months.

July 2019 saw the end of that grace period, with customers who had an EA in place but less than 500 users/devices being forced to either pay for 500 licenses (even if they didn‘t need them) in order to meet the minimum or consider alternative licensing options with this upcoming renewal.

Microsoft also announced in October 2018 that the programmatic discounts that were once offered to Level A EA customers (customers with anywhere from 250–2,399 devices/users) have been removed.

Without these discounts in place, the EA no longer offers the most appealing pricing model compared with other volume licenses. Unless, of course, you care to get into a contract negotiation with Microsoft.

What Type of Products are Part of Your Microsoft True-Up?

There are four different types of products that are a part of your EA true-ups. The type of product you have determines your rights and limitations during the true-up.

Enterprise

If the sum of the products in your true-up can be classified as Enterprise, it means that the products fall under the definition for Qualified Device (in the case of Enterprise Products) or Qualified User (In the case of Enterprise Online Services).

For this reason, you need to license all of your Enterprise Products by devices or all your Enterprise Online Services by users as Microsoft defines Qualified Device or Qualified User.

The only way you can get out of licensing your enterprise products this way is by exempting them in a legally sound way. The Enterprise Agreement allows you to purchase products that are counted only at the time that the true-up order is placed, which can be worked to your advantage.

On your Customer Price Sheet (CSP), which is a list of the products that are in your EA along with your discounted prices, if you have any, the Enterprise products will be listed at the top, followed by the Enterprise Online Services.

Enterprise Products: More traditional products, such as Office Pro, Core CAL, Windows Desktop OS.
Enterprise Online Services: Online services such as Office 365 E1, E3, E5, SCE E3/5, SPE E3/5

Additional Products

This is Microsoft’s little wild card that we have seen clients struggle to compensate for.

The nature of the EA is that you can add additional licenses to your agreement quickly and easily, and you will simply have to pay for any additional licenses that you have acquired over the year at your true-up.

This kind of setup encourages a mindset where you only need to worry about your licensing count when your true-up date approaches. However, when it comes to additional products, you must pay for the maximum number of licenses you have had since the last true-up.

Such a requirement means that to have additional products means that you need to be constantly monitoring them. Even though this only applies to the Additional Products, Microsoft will often play it off as though the true-up for the Enterprise products needs to be paid according to this rule as well, where you pay for the maximum number of products you possessed throughout the year, despite the fact that there is no evidence that you need to do so outlined in your EA.

Your additional products can be found on the second half of your CSP, usually buried down at the bottom, after your Enterprise Products and your Enterprise Online Services.

Additional Products: Products that aren’t classified as Enterprise, such as Windows/SQL Server, Project Visio

Online Services

Online services are only slightly more difficult than the additional products to understand. According to your EA, online services provide you with the option to defer payment for your monthly fee up until the point where you’ve installed the product. If you have only been running it for three months upon the approach of the true-up, then you’ll be paying only for those three months and you’ll only see an invoice on the anniversary date if you have a reservation.

How do you know what your reservation is? You can find your reservation report on your Office 365 portal. This will tell you what kind of licenses you have reserved and how many.

Additional Products Online Services: Online products that do not classify as Enterprise, such as Power BI and Lock Box

Where Do I Find My Counts?

After you have established how you will be expected to license your products, now there is the hurdle of finding the numbers you need to give an accurate report on your usage. To find these numbers, you have a few methods at your disposal:

Your Active Directory:

This should be the first place you check on your way to compliance. However, many organizations do not look here. Looking elsewhere will make it difficult to determine things like line or work. By just going off of the raw data that other inventory systems can provide to you, it will be very difficult to draw any sort of meaningful conclusions.
Your SCCM or Your SAM Tool (Use for your Qualified Device Count only):

Whatever tool you have implemented is a great way to monitor and subsequently count what you have in your software environment. However, it is important to ensure that these are accurate numbers that your tools are reporting, as faulty numbers will undermine your whole SAM process and it will fail to provide you with a true reflection of your data.
HR Systems and Email Accounts (Use for your Qualified User Count only):

While it may not be as defendable in a software audit as the count in your Active Directory, the numbers pulled from either your HR systems or simply your email accounts may be enough for your true-up.
Guess-timation:

We have often seen with our customers, when they do not have access to the data, they are forced to simply make a rough guess. If you have 1,000 employees and you know each employee has a desktop, that means you need 1,000 licenses and the job is done, right? Obviously, at MetrixData 360, we do not advocate for such a method.

What Will Happen During a Microsoft True-Up?

There are a few things that you can expect from Microsoft leading up to your True-up.

90 Days Before: You can expect to hear from your reseller or your Microsoft Account Team concerning your upcoming true-up. They’ll ask for an update as to how many software licenses you’ve added to your software architecture.

60 Days Before: Microsoft has given you the assignment and now they’re going to check back in with you, asking what you’ve discovered concerning your licensing changes.

30 Days Before: Microsoft’s team will get back to you with a true-up order which reflects changes to your EA. If you complete your true-up past this date, Microsoft will not allow you to do subscription reductions. They will simply bill you automatically based on what your bill was the year before. If you owe them more, Microsoft will never say no to more money, but any reductions will be out of the question at this point.

Immediately Before: You’ll get another call from your account rep to check in on your True-Up process

15 Days After Your True-Up: Your reseller or account rep will review your True-up order and place it with Microsoft.

Consider Your Options: The Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program

Microsoft has been extremely aggressive in recent years with pushing both its Cloud Platform (Azure) and its many cloud offerings, including its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program onto its customer-base.

In fact, there’s a good chance that the recent removal of the EA discounts and the increase of its minimum seating has been Microsoft’s attempts to make their Cloud-based solutions more appealing to their customers.

So, what is CSP? Compared to the EA, which is more concerned with standardizing the licenses throughout a company with one large upfront payment, a CSP is the pay-as-you-go, monthly fee model that we’ve seen become the industry standard with Cloud platforms.

Thinking of Reducing Your Subscription?

It’s easy to scale up with Microsoft, they love it; but as you’ll quickly discover, the real challenge comes when you want to reduce your subscriptions or even keep them the same. However, if you look at your EA, you’ll find that there is actually a section that allows for a reduction in subscriptions.

If you have an enterprise-wide purchase, when they say “reduce,” what Microsoft means is that you are allowed to scale your online service subscriptions back to the original number that you started with. So, if I purchased a subscription of a hundred users, regardless of my purchases throughout the year, the lowest number I could ever reduce that subscription to is a hundred users, the original number I purchased.

If the subscription was not a part of an enterprise-wide purchase, you’re free to reduce but only if the initial order minimum requirements are maintained.

With Additional Products that are available as Subscription Licenses, you are allowed to reduce the license count to zero. By utilizing this clause, MetrixData 360 saved one of our past clients $800,000 by reducing two of their Additional Product subscriptions that they weren’t using down to zero!

How to Get Ready for Your Microsoft True-Up

You never want to be left scrambling for things at the last minute, being prepared when it comes to your software is a great rule to live by, whether you are getting ready for an audit, a contract negotiation, or your EA renewal.

So here are some tips that can help you get ready for your EA renewal long before your anniversary date.

Don’t guess your count. Guessing will either leave your numbers too high, which will be a waste of money, or too low, which will leave you exposed to auditing penalties. You need accuracy to get useful results.
Have a clear Asset Life Cycle for licenses and devices that are a part of your EA, including processes around both the deployment and retiring of old assets.
Have all the proper and updated documentation in place for everything (devices, servers, and users) that is applied to your EA. Monitor your EA products once a quarter or at least every six months.
Make sure you have a full understanding of your enrollment terms (especially regarding the new license changes).
Unexpected SQL server consumption fluctuation often proves to be especially troublesome when creating your True-Up Declaration, so make sure that you have a strategy in place to effectively capture this data.
Utilize perpetual licenses whenever possible.
Have your True-up Declaration or your Zero True-up ready at least 60 days before your anniversary. Don’t put it off until the last minute, now is definitely not the time to procrastinate.
Make sure that your Active Directory is cleaned up with a clear count for your users and devices.
Repurpose your licenses when you aren’t using them. It beats buying yet another license.
Know the language of your contracts.

Getting Ahead of Your Microsoft Enterprise Agreement True-Up

Having a strong sense of your licensing position will give you the ability to ensure that your EA contract renewal goes as smoothly as possible.

At MetrixData360, we have helped hundreds of our clients successfully navigate a Microsoft true-up so that what they pay actually reflects their usage. If you’d like to learn more about how MetrixData 360 can represent your interests in your next EA renewal, you can check out our contract negotiation page by clicking the link below.

What is the Microsoft CSP Program?

Why Does the CSP Program Exist?

Buying from CSP Partners

It’s Only for Cloud Products

Flexibility

Local Support

Licensing Support

Migrating from Existing Services to CSP

From an EA

Other

Getting Started with Microsoft’s CSP Program

Preparing to Migrate to CSP

Preparation

Signs It’s Time

Your Size:

Your Support Calls to Microsoft Are Lacking:

Your Business Sees Fluctuations:

Indirect CSP or Direct CSP

Direct CSP:

Indirect CSP:

Picking Your Partner

What is the size of the organization you’re considering?

How Future Proof is Your Provider?

Is the Partner Willing to Hash Out Pre-sales Details like Design and Pricing?

What Support does the Provider Offer?

Your New Home on the Cloud Awaits!

Direct vs. Indirect CSP

What is Indirect CSP?

Added Services and Support from the Distributor

Profit Margin

Quick and Yet Controlled Process

Status

What Is a Direct CSP?

Margin and Investment

Complicated Process

Proactive Reductions

Choose the Right Solution for Your Business

What is Power BI?

Pros of Power BI

Affordable

Customizable

Excel-User Friendly

Cons of Power BI

Difficult to Use

Not Very Versatile

Large Data Sets Cause Lags

Conclusion

Tricks for your Microsoft EA True Up

Tricks for your Microsoft EA True Up

You Don’t Need to Fill Out Every True-Up Form that Comes Your Way

You Can True-Down to your Original Count…Or Zero!

Know Your Data

Create a Value Gap

Start Preparing for Your Microsoft EA True Up Early

Check Your Original Counts

Check Additional Products that are Available as Subscription Licenses

Watch Out for Complicated Products

Need Help Getting Ready for Your True-Up?

The Many Complexities of Azure Cloud Sizing

Different Azure Sizes for Your Virtual Machines

Provisioning Virtual Machines

Determining When to Puchase Reserved Instances

Thinking about your Move to Azure?

SQL Server Licensing Explained

What Are SQL Servers? A Brief Overview

How Do You Buy a SQL Server License?

Core Based Licensing

Benefits of Core-Based Licensing

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

What Are SQL Servers? A Brief Overview

How Do You Buy a SQL Server License?

Core Based Licensing

Benefits of Core-Based Licensing

Server + CAL Based Licensing

Client Access Licenses (CAL)

Benefits of the Server + CAL Licenses

Optimize Your SQL Server Software Contract Before and After the Purchase and Save Money

How IT Departments Can Navigate the Complexities of Windows and SQL Server Licensing with Microsoft True Up Support

How Do You License SQL Server?