Microsoft is pushing you to move to their cloud offering yet Microsoft’s offering can be confusing. It’s more important than ever to understand how to efficiently negotiate a winning cloud deal.
Join Mike Austin as he shares his insights and cuts through the confusing jargon with straight talk! Mike Austin has been involved in countless Microsoft negotiations and audits and has negotiated over $1B in software cost reductions.
If you have ever negotiated an Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft you will know that if you hear they are offering something for “Free”, it’s time to start budgeting for future costs.
That’s why when Microsoft recently announced that some customers will be offered a year of FREE Azure support, the first question that came to mind for us was “So, what’s the catch?” You know what they say about something that sounds too good to be true. So, what’s in it for Microsoft?
To take advantage of the free support offer, you’ll need to include Azure Services under an Enterprise Agreement (EA), purchase between May 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. Or have an active EA during that period.
If you choose not to include support with your Enterprise Agreement, you’ll automatically qualify to receive Azure Standard support at no additional charge. Azure standard support usually carries a price of $300 USD per month. This level of support is recommended for those with “Limited business-critical dependence on Azure” and promises a two-hour response time. This is a seemingly great incentive for organizations looking to perhaps move a few workloads to the cloud but, not ready to move systems critical to business continuity.
If your organization has already made Azure commitments and decided to include standard support (purchased separately from your EA), Microsoft will be bumping you up to the Professional Direct level. Professional Direct support is touted as the “must-have” for those companies that have already made a major Azure commitment and most likely have or project to have a high level of dependence on Azure. Have you moved applications or workloads that are critical for day-to-day business operations? Professional Direct support is a big deal. This support tier usually carries a $1000 USD monthly cost which includes one-hour response times and some included advisory services. For those who signed up for that level, you will get six “App Consulting Services Sessions” in which Microsoft folks will offer “customized one-on-one consultation with a technical expert on a variety of Azure-related topics, such as architecting cloud environments, design and implementation of apps on Azure, and workload deployment.”
Did you see what Microsoft just did there? By offering free support or increased levels of support to organizations at every level of the cloud adoption lifecycle Microsoft is enticing their EA customers to consume more.
For those who might have opted to include Azure in their Enterprise agreements with no intention to deploy but, perhaps received some other benefits or discounts elsewhere in their EA negotiation, they now have a support team to stand behind them as an incentive to just give Azure a try. Similarly, companies that have decided to test or move non-critical workloads to Azure can now move more and include systems with perceived higher risk to Azure feeling secure that they have access to the Top Tier of support should something go wrong. Finally, the inclusion of the App consulting services and customized one on one consultation for those companies that have already formed a dependence on Azure have just given Microsoft’s sales organization a reason to initiate discussions to help you consume more, spend more, become further dependent and entrenched.
There you have it. “The catch” you knew was there but, perhaps couldn’t quite put your finger on it. If your organization is in a position to receive this “free” support offering, by all means, take it and by all means, use it. Just keep in mind the true motives behind this promotion. It’s empowering Microsoft to push just a little bit harder. They will be telling you it’s okay to move forward with cloud initiatives just a little bit quicker. The end game however falls into their favor with rapidly increasing consumption and of course the monetary gains that will undoubtedly go with it.
This is a complex issue and our licensing experts would be happy to have a free consultation with you to see how we can help you.
Licensing Microsoft software for contractors and Non Employees is confusing. Mike Austin from MetrixData360 explains how Microsoft licensing works in these situations. This is a very detailed session which digs into these complex licensing scenarios.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure licensing can be convoluted and confusing! Often organizations believe they are licensed correctly only to discover that they are out of compliance.
Join Mike Austin as he shares his insights and cuts through the confusing jargon with straight talk! Mike Austin has been involved in countless Microsoft negotiations and audits and has negotiated over $1B in software cost reductions.
Trusted globally by some of the world’s most well-known enterprise companies, MetrixData360 is the leading provider of expertise and negotiation services around Enterprise software contracts. Combining an unparalleled knowledge of the DNA that make up software agreements with the ability to understand company’s individual requirements, MetrixData360 is able to drive out significant costs and align agreements to business priorities NOT to those of software vendors and their programmatic objectives. Using technology, process and knowledge derived from the analysis and negotiation of more than a thousand contracts, we help put explanation around the unknowns that create compliance gaps and control spiraling costs associated with Enterprise software agreements.
Okay, did I catch your attention with that title? Let me set the record straight. No, I don’t think Microsoft will fail anytime soon. Sometimes, as I’m thinking about the business or deals that I am working on, I often wonder what is going on behind the scenes at Microsoft and why they make certain decisions? In this post I’m going to try and answer some of the top questions that people ask me around why Microsoft makes some of the decisions that they do.
On the surface the answer to this question seems simple. Microsoft wants to control your infrastructure; they want to make sure you are hooked… but I really don’t think it was this simple internally at Microsoft. My guess is, there was a massive amount of real debate about a push to Office 365 (and I’m guessing it was not always a polite conversation).
Office 365 to me, was an answer to a problem Microsoft has had since the invention of Software Assurance, it was a way to force customers to upgrade. The biggest threat Microsoft has to its traditional recurring (ie. Software Assurance) revenue stream, is clients that do not renew (all or part) of the Enterprise Agreement (EA).
If you really think about it, Exchange as an online service – makes sense. SharePoint as an online service – only sort of make sense (think of all the customization that may not be easily achieved in a multi-tenant type deployment), Skype in the cloud – not sure it makes sense (ok I will give IM and presence, but Voice? I’m still not sure VOIP quality comes close to the landline) but Office in the cloud – huh? Yes they have the Office Apps but are they really much more than a glorified viewer (which were free?).
I think just looking at Office pretty much provides the full picture here. People were dropping the SA on Office, as they only deploy the product every 6 or so years. Microsoft realized this and the natural answer – push people to Office365 and make it dependent on a new version of Office. Now at this point I can see someone in the product team in Seattle going AND OH if we make a new version of Office we can force those updates on people.
Upgrades have always been the nemesis of Microsoft. It started with Windows XP (no I don’t want to get into arguments about how bad Vista really was). No one wanted to move. Microsoft of course never understood this. I always love the comments you hear from sales reps, this customer moved in 90 days why can’t you?
Taking the clients view on this, I truly see it. Honestly, what value can they add into Windows or Office for that matter to provide business value to do the upgrade. I sometimes wonder how many people would still be running Windows XP if it was still supported, which by the way is the number one reason people upgrade these two products – end of life support! Not a good reason in my opinion (completely off topic but, if anyone from Rimini or Spinnaker reads this, please, please, PLEASE!! take on Microsoft support).
I think Microsoft’s issue has always been that, they do not see the clients’ world. Their view is so myopic of their own desires they can’t see it. The reason people can’t move (beyond finding business value) is the cost to do all the application compatibility is so cost prohibitive. End of story. Microsoft’s first attempt at address this – App-V. Virtualize guys, contain the old apps in an image and your good to go. When that didn’t work, they came up with plan B. Force it on them with Office 365.
Not a bad plan if you are a shareholder of Microsoft’s. Get them and keep them forever. The problem is, I don’t believe this plan will work. As much as Microsoft technology is important to people, I do think some unforeseen force will catch them (maybe it’s Google or Amazon or someone we haven’t seen yet) The problem for Microsoft and why I think they will fail is….. They are upsetting all their clients. Organizations are tired of the Microsoft games (Pushing products that aren’t needed into bundles and increasing prices, not negotiating in good faith, auditing and pushing unfair findings on them, etc). Eventually when someone catches them, I think the exodus could be fast. Just ask Novell (remember Netware), IBM (bye, bye Lotus Notes), Corel (WordPerfect) Perhaps someone should ask the crew from Netscape or Blackberry what happens when you take clients and your dominance for granted.
On July 1st 2016 Microsoft announced a new licensing program called Enterprise Advantage and Richard Smith who is the General Manager, Microsoft Worldwide Licensing & Pricing had this to say:
“In 2017, we will introduce Enterprise Advantage as a new way for commercial customers to buy organization-wide on the Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA). Enterprise Advantage brings traditional Enterprise Agreement benefits to the MPSA and provides the best value for a three-year, organization-wide and optional platform-wide purchase:
More easily manage your assets, including true-up and true-down of subscriptions and services, to meet ever-changing businessneeds. https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/volume-licensing/2016/07/01/introducing-enterprise-advantage-on-mpsa/
Microsoft’s Mark Nowlan added that:
“With MPSA, Microsoft’s goal is to streamline its multiple licensing/purchase agreements down to a single agreement and two options to buy (transactional/buy as you need or organizational-wide), Nowlan said. As part of this consolidation, the Perpetual Desktop Enrollment, Subscription Desktop Enrollment, and Server and Cloud Enrollments will go away.” http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-to-add-enterprise-advantage-to-mpsa-licensing-in-early-2017/
But Why is Microsoft Suddenly Making these licensing changes?
With the new Enterprise Advantage program Microsoft is making licensing much more programmatic for these smaller to mid-sized organizations. This means there will be less room for negotiation. Our sense is that with the new agreement the MPSA price is the price and there is little to no room for negotiation.
With the elimination of the traditional contract stack and its “simplification” there will be less room to negotiate specific terms and conditions which are important to the client’s business. With the MPSA program the terms and conditions are basically a take it or leave it proposition.
There are administrative costs associated with these licensing programs. Over the last decade Microsoft has become more and more hands on with all their enterprise class agreements and there are costs associated with this. Organizations with less than 500 users will find themselves pushed to a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). The Microsoft Cloud Agreement (MCA) program’s lack of complexity in terms of customization will help Microsoft push the workload to their CPS Partners. These partners will wind up assuming more and more of the support and administration costs is our guess.
At first glance it looks like an organization in the 500 to 2,400 user space retains a lot of the options they always have enjoyed with the MSP, EA or CSP. The problem is that the only space in which there will likely be any customization is in the EA.
We’re not sure this makes Microsoft licensing any less complex. In fact, it potentially adds to the complexity. What it does is make it easier for Microsoft to make clients in the 250 to 2400 user space very programmatic and removes any ability to negotiate T&C’s and pricing. Microsoft will then use the CSP program to drive these clients to the cloud.
If you have questions or concerns about the impact of this change, we encourage you to contact one of our unbiased licensing experts for a free initial consultation.
Our overall analysis of more than 17,000 Windows servers is that the actual price increase in Windows Server Licensing Changes is in excess of 24%
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 will be moving to a core licensing model. MetrixData360’s Mike Austin presented via webinar on the impact this will have for organizations. This event was well attended and we have had numerous requests for the content to be made available for on demand viewing. Click below to watch the presentation.
Our overall analysis of more than 17,000 Windows servers is that the actual price increase in Windows Server Licensing Changes is in excess of 24%
The plunge in oil prices has put any IT spending under unprecedented scrutiny and IT departments under the gun to deliver more with less. All organizations involved in the petroleum industry have been faced with major project delays/cancellations and significant layoffs/downsizing. During this downturn every dollar saved is important and MetrixData360 helps save our clients millions. MetrixData360 specializes in to controlling and reducing Microsoft licensing costs.
Mike Austin, Vice President of Service Delivery at MetrixData360 will share his knowledge and insights from over 15 years of Microsoft licensing including over 8 years of employment by Microsoft in a variety of licensing related roles.
You will learn: Can you really downsize your Microsoft licensing footprint due to layoffs? Can you change your Microsoft contact mid-term or do you need to wait for the renewal date? What are the risks of dropping Software Assurance and not renewing an EA? If you are at risk of a software audit due to the Petroleum downturn!
This presentation will provide you with key insights to: Avoid overbuying Microsoft licenses, reduce your Microsoft licensing costs and ensure software licensing compliance.
If you still have questions regarding controlling and reducing licensing costs, reach out to us and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
Microsoft removed “transitions” from the February 2016 Product Terms document. Upon the addition of Online Services in the Enterprise Agreement (EA) these transitions were used when a client wished to convert a traditional on premise license into an Online Services User Subscription License (USL).
Last year Microsoft removed “transitions” from the EA language last year and has now closed the final loophole.
If you have questions or concerns about the impact of this change, we encourage you to contact one of our unbiased licensing experts for a free initial consultation.
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