Microsoft licensing training for public sector
Your agencies buy off your framework. The renewal number is yours.
Five days of independent Microsoft licensing and negotiation training, built for the people in state and local government who have to defend the cost of an agreement somebody else negotiated.
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RegisterJan 11 to 15, 2027Virtual, 11:00am to 4:00pm ETFive days, virtual
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RegisterOct 26 to 30, 2026Virtual, 9:00am to 2:00pm ETCloses Oct 19
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More 2027 datesJul · Sep · Nov
Virtual sessions need no travel approval, and a purchase made now lands in this fiscal year.
One registration, two people from your organization
Register one seat and bring a colleague at no additional cost. Two registrations cover four. The second seat does not have to come from your team, only from your organization, so it can go to whoever does the true up, answers procurement’s questions, or is going to inherit the agreement. A pair comes back arguing the same position.
What your team leaves with
The curriculum runs the full width of Microsoft licensing and then spends the back half of the week on negotiation. Two modules deal specifically with how government agreements and government cloud differ from commercial.
Licensing
- How government Enterprise Agreements differ from commercial Public sector
- How US Government Cloud differs from commercial Public sector
- Microsoft 365 suite levels, and why mixing levels in one tenant creates compliance exposure
- Copilot licensing, what a user license actually adds, and the capabilities that cost extra
- Windows Server and SQL Server on premises and in Azure, including where hybrid benefit helps and where it creates risk
- Power BI and the forced move from Premium to Fabric, and how to make it cost neutral
Negotiation
- The timetable for the Microsoft Customer Agreement displacing the EA, and what that means for organizations pushed onto MCA
- Building a negotiation team with the skills and the decision authority to finish
- Every document in the contract stack, and which exceptions are actually negotiable
- The ten or more roles on Microsoft’s negotiating team, how they are compensated, and what each one can approve
- Microsoft’s negotiation playbook, including the standard timeline and how information gets routed around obstacles
- Where counter proposals commonly contain errors, and how to track steps so nothing is lost
Topics are kept current, so coverage evolves session to session. See every topic covered.
Topics covered
Every product and contract area the week works through. Open any topic to see what it covers. Topics marked Public sector include how government agreements and government cloud differ from commercial.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 ecosystem overview Public sector
- Available suite levels, and choosing by individual or organizational need
- “Batteries not included” capabilities that need extra licensing: per user, per device, per instance or consumption
- Constraints on mixing suite levels in the same tenant
- How US Government Cloud differs from commercial
Windows OS Azure
- OS capabilities and rights by suite level
- Extended Security Updates for legacy versions
- Per-device licensing for kiosks
- VDI licensing rules by hosting location, and extra costs on Amazon
- Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, and how their licensing differs
Office client applications
- PC and Mac, browser and mobile capabilities in Microsoft 365 suites
- Per-device licensing scenarios
- Licensing Office apps without human users
- Office Professional Plus legacy licensing
Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Teams
- Suite-level capabilities and add-ons
- On-premises rights (CALs) and server software included with Microsoft 365
- Teams capabilities included: AI, events, management, PBX, audio conferencing, scheduling and hardware
- Which Teams features need add-on licenses
Power Apps, Power Automate and more
- What the suites include versus what needs an add-on
- Visio, Planner, Viva and other suite or add-on capabilities
Security and management
- Entra, Intune and Defender features by suite level and add-on
- Security Copilot, Sentinel and Defender Experts licensing
- How Conditional Access components are structured
Legal and regulatory compliance
- eDiscovery and audit logging by suite level
- Retention, data loss prevention and information governance
- Communication compliance and insider risk management
AI, data and servers
Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents
- How AI licensing and pricing are evolving, with usage and spend reporting
- Pre-buy options and discount levels
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Basic versus Premium user SKUs
- Copilot Cowork capabilities and consumption costs
- Agent authoring environments and runtime costs
- Agent governance and Agent 365 purchasing
- Other Copilot products beyond Microsoft 365
Power BI and Fabric
- Component architecture
- Licensing by back-end platform type and size
- Per-user versus capacity licensing
- Mapping Power BI Premium P to Fabric SKUs, and tactics for the mandatory migration
- Fabric sizing and capacity options that save money
- Copilot in Power BI and Fabric under capacity licensing
- Power BI Report Server dual-use rights, and content creator license requirements
Windows & SQL Server Azure
Windows Server
- What drives cost: virtualization, core count, edition and client count
- Allocating licenses to physical servers or VMs, and how to choose
- Microsoft 365 client-side rights and outside contractor obligations
- Extended Security Updates and Remote Desktop Services CALs
- Azure VM licensing with reservations and savings plans, and handling Azure capacity shortages
- Azure Hybrid Benefit: the savings and the risks
- Dev/test VM licensing, and AWS’s stricter rules
SQL Server
- Per-core rules that drive edition choice and whether you need SA
- Three common on-premises deployment scenarios, and cutting cost through VM consolidation
- Passive failover rights, Server + CAL, and dev/test licensing
- Azure VM and database service licensing with reservations and savings plans
- Applying Azure Hybrid Benefit, and its risks
- AWS licensing restrictions for SQL Server
Contracts and negotiation
EA and MCA overview Public sector
- EA eligibility, and its major advantages and disadvantages
- The timeline for MCA displacing the EA, and what it means for you
- EA versus MCA compared, and how to offset EA drawbacks
- Microsoft 365 benefits unique to the EA
- EA basics: price levels and true-ups
- How government EAs differ
Contract stack terms and concessions Azure
- A deep dive into the EA and MCA contract documents
- Which exceptions and concessions are negotiable
- Using your Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) as leverage
- Product-specific concessions for Microsoft 365, Azure, Windows Server and more
- How Unified Support relates to your EA or MCA
- Financial scenario modeling and impact analysis
Contract negotiation best practices
Preparing to negotiate
- Recent Microsoft changes that affect contracts
- The stages of a negotiation, and what success looks like: terms, relationship and career
- Building the negotiation team, and best practices
- Why discovery matters, and how to gather information
- Collecting contract documents and license data
At the table
- Microsoft’s negotiating team: 10+ roles, how they are paid, and what each can approve
- Microsoft’s negotiation playbook and timelines
- Framing concession and discount requests
- When and how to escalate
- Common mistakes in Microsoft counter-proposals, and how to track them
- Closing the project and debriefing stakeholders
Where is Azure? Everywhere. Azure licensing is covered across multiple boot camp sessions, because Azure-based charges run through the whole Microsoft product portfolio, from virtual desktops and Windows Server to SQL Server, Copilot and your contract commitments. Topics marked Azure include it.
Topics are refreshed every session as Microsoft’s rules change.
Who to send
Most public sector organizations cannot justify a full time Microsoft licensing specialist. The training is how the people who already hold the work get current.
CIO and CTO
You own the countywide or statewide framework, so you own the number. The negotiation half of the week is about what you can actually ask for and who inside Microsoft can grant it.
ITAM and SAM
Entitlement accuracy is the whole job, and the rules changed again this year. This is the training that makes a true up defensible instead of a negotiation you lose in advance.
IT procurement
You are asked to evaluate proposals written by people who are paid on what you buy. The contract stack module goes document by document through what is standard and what is concession.
We have never sold a Microsoft license
That is not a positioning statement. It is the business model, and it is the reason the training says things a reseller course will not.
No stake in what you buy
We are not Microsoft and not a Large Account Reseller, so we have no margin on your spend and no quota attached to your renewal. We are not a software asset management vendor either, so there is no platform waiting at the end of the week.
Backed by published research
The training rests on the same licensing guides, reference material and monthly licensing updates our analysts write for Atlas, our online Microsoft intelligence platform. You leave with a reference to consult, not just notes.
Focus and depth
An independent firm working on Microsoft and nothing else since 1992. Not a one person shop, and not a side business of a larger consultancy.
Our competitors attend
Consultants and resellers send their own people to this class. That is the clearest signal available about where the intelligence sits.
What public sector graduates say
Selected from published attendee feedback.
Gave me an action plan for both compliance and strategic licensing decisions.Mike W.IT Analyst, County of Sonoma
Highly enlightening and delivers invaluable information.Marvin P.Director of IT, County of San Diego
Exactly what we needed to prepare for our EA renewal.Bill P.IT Supervisor, City of Arlington, TX
Built a solid foundation for a complete beginner. Exactly what I needed.Judith V.Enterprise License Agreement Team Lead, Dept. of the Air Force
As I am sure you have heard before: I had no idea.Robert M.Information Technology Manager, City of Saskatoon
The knowledge gained on Microsoft licensing justified the cost.Mike KleinChief Information Officer, BC Housing
Renewals negotiated for county and municipal government
Large, centralized agreements where one office owns the framework and every department buys off it.
We were on their side of the table. We do not sell Microsoft licenses, take no margin on software, and carry no quota tied to anyone’s renewal.
Leave the parka at home
In early March most of our attendees are still scraping windshields. Orlando is in the high 70s. You will spend the days indoors working on your agreement, but the evenings are yours. In person also means time with the instructors on questions about your own agreement.
Average March high, °F
Monthly averages from Current Results, based on NOAA climate normals.
Venue
Hyatt Regency Orlando
9801 International Drive, Orlando, Florida 32819, United States
Schedule
Tuesday to Thursday, March 9 to 11, 2027. Sessions run 8:00am to 5:00pm ET each day, so fly in Monday and out Thursday evening or Friday.
Getting there
Orlando International Airport (MCO) has nonstop service from most major North American cities and is about 12 miles from the hotel, roughly 15 to 20 minutes by car. The hotel does not run an airport shuttle, so taxi or rideshare is the easiest option.
Meals
Breakfast, lunch and snacks throughout the day are included.
Hyatt Regency OrlandoBoot camp venue
Discounted room block
We hold a block of rooms at the event hotel at a group rate for boot camp attendees. The group rate is good for up to five nights, so you can arrive early or stay on to enjoy Orlando’s parks, golf and dining. March is peak season in Orlando, and the block usually sells out about three weeks before the event, so book early.
- Hotel
- Hyatt Regency Orlando
- Address
- 9801 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819 - Group rate
- $329 per night plus tax
- Length of stay
- Up to five nights at the group rate
- Availability
- First come, first served. Usually sells out about three weeks prior.
- Group code
- G-DOM7
Register for Orlando$3,495 covers two seats from your organization. Registration closes March 2, 2027.
Getting it funded
Q4 is the middle of the fiscal year for most state and local organizations, which is the useful part. Allocated training money that is not spent gets swept.
- Registration is a training line, not a consulting line, and at $3,495 for two seats it sits below the purchase threshold in most departments.
- Buy in this fiscal year and attend January 11 to 15, so the purchase and the delivery stay in the same budget period.
- Virtual sessions remove travel approval entirely, which is usually the slower of the two approvals.
Make the ask
We keep two ready to send messages: one that justifies the training to your director, and one that recommends a legal review of your agreement.
Questions we get from government buyers
Is this training relevant to state and local government, or is it built for commercial enterprises?
It is highly relevant and actionable for enterprise size organizations in both the private and government sectors. Two modules deal specifically with how government EAs and US Government Cloud differ from commercial, and the licensing rules underneath are the same either way.
It is less relevant for the education sector, because Microsoft’s programs and rules for EDU customers diverge materially from what this training covers.
Does the second seat have to be someone on my team?
No. It has to come from the same organization, not the same team. For a county or a state agency that usually means central IT plus whoever else touches the agreement, which can be procurement, a department IT lead, or the person who runs the true up.
We already have a reseller who handles our Microsoft licensing.
They should. A reseller carries a quota from Microsoft and margin on what you buy, which is arithmetic rather than a criticism. Those are different jobs from this one, and most of the organizations we work with keep both.
Our team already knows Microsoft licensing.
Most people in the room think that on day one. The rules changed again this year, and almost nobody publishing about the changes is neutral. If your team is genuinely current on the licensing half, the value is the negotiation half.
What do we actually walk out with?
At least one tip that by itself more than covers the cost of the course, a to do list of action items, a reference guide to consult afterward, and peer contacts at other organizations working on the same problems.
How to purchase
Two paths, depending on what you are buying.
Boot camp seats
Purchased directly from Directions on Microsoft. The two seat registration is available on direct purchases only and cannot be quoted on a federal schedule.
Atlas and advisory
Available on the GSA schedule through Planet Technologies, our strategic public sector reseller. Useful when a purchasing vehicle is required or when the amount is above your direct purchase threshold.
Vendor documentation
Tell us what your purchasing office needs and we will send it. If a specific vehicle is easier for your organization, ask and we will confirm whether we are on it.
Register for a session
$3,495 covers two seats from your organization, on any session through November 2027. Choose a session to register.
- Virtual sessions need no travel and no travel approval
- A purchase made now lands in this fiscal year, whichever session you attend
- The second seat can come from any department in your organization
- In Orlando, the room block rate at the Hyatt Regency is good for up to five nights, boot camp nights included, so you can arrive early or stay on. Venue, weather and room block details
Prefer to talk it through first? Call +1 (425) 739-4669 or email service@directionsonmicrosoft.com.
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RegisterJan 11 to 15, 2027Virtual, 11:00am to 4:00pm ETFive days, virtual
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RegisterOct 26 to 30, 2026Virtual, 9:00am to 2:00pm ETCloses Oct 19
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RegisterMar 9 to 11, 2027Orlando, FL, 8:00am to 5:00pm ETIn person, three days
More 2027 datesJul · Sep · Nov
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