Licensing Office for Server-Based Desktops

[Sept. 7, 2015 note: A more recent version of this report, updated to reflect licensing changes, can be found at www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/licensing/secured/2015/09/licensing-server-based-desktops-licensing-office-server-based-desktops.]

[This report was edited after initial publication. See notes in italics below.]

Many organizations install and run the Office suite of applications on servers for server-based desktops. Server-based desktops can reduce operating costs and improve security. However, Office in server-based desktops is typically one of the top areas for scrutiny during a software license compliance check. The two licensing options for Office, Per-Device and Per-User, have differing rules and different advantages and disadvantages, and a mix of both may be needed to maintain compliance while minimizing licensing costs.

This report covers options for licensing Office for use with server-based desktops. Organizations use a variety of terms to describe server-based desktops, including “virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)” and “Terminal Services.” (For a definition of server-based desktops, see the sidebar “Server-Based Desktops“; and for a brief description of the components of a server-based desktop, see the illustration “A Generic Server-Based Desktop Architecture“.) Although this report focuses on the Office suites, the same set of rules apply to the individual Office applications, as well as two related applications—Project and Visio. (See the sidebar “Project, Visio, and Server-Based Desktops“.) The licensing rules discussed in this report apply only to server-based desktops running on server hardware that is solely dedicated to a single customer or organization’s use. Multitenant hosting of server-based desktops by service providers is licensed under separate rules not discussed in this report. (An earlier version of this report appeared on page 20 of the Oct. 2014 Update.)