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EA to MCA and CSP: Costs and Risks May 8, 2026 Midsize customers are being forced out of Enterprise Agreements and steered toward Microsoft Customer Agreements...more Transitioning Microsoft 365 from an EA to an MCA Updated: April 24, 2026 Enterprise Agreement customers transitioning to Microsoft Customer Agreements will have to reassess how they license...more Transitioning Microsoft 365 from an EA to an MCA Updated: April 24, 2026 Enterprise Agreement customers transitioning to Microsoft Customer Agreements will have to reassess how they license...more Microsoft 365 Government: What’s in the Box? Updated: April 12, 2026 Microsoft 365 Government offers U.S. governmental organizations more regulatory compliance capabilities than Microsoft 365 commercial...more Azure: Know Reservations Updated: April 10, 2026 Azure reservations allow customers to reduce Azure costs in exchange for a one- or three-year...more EA to MCA: Spot Legal Traps Updated: March 18, 2026 Finding the Most Common Pain Points Comparing the EA contract stack (fig. 1) and the...more Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) Brings Discounts, Negotiation Leverage Updated: October 23, 2025 Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment is an agreement to spend a specified amount on Azure, typically...more Trust but Verify Your Data in Microsoft’s AI Services July 10, 2025 The Microsoft Generative AI Services clause explains Microsoft’s terms for customers using its AI services,...more Understanding Pricing: Consumption Versus Capacity April 10, 2025 For customers accustomed to on-premises licensing, aspects of Microsoft’s cloud pricing models can feel unfamiliar....more New License Rule for Contractor Access Updated: August 27, 2024 Contractors and other nonemployees who access an organization’s Microsoft systems face new licensing rules in...more Executive Focus: Negotiating Microsoft Licensing Agreements Updated: April 15, 2024 Licensing and negotiations favor Microsoft, but adopting the right approach allows customers to negotiate from...more Executive Focus: Understanding Microsoft Licensing Updated: January 22, 2024 Microsoft licensing challenges can increase business risk, impacting budgets, cash flow, and daily business activities....more Time to Walk Away from Some Microsoft Products Updated: June 2, 2023 Microsoft is dropping development, cutting support, and raising prices for many on-premises products. These dead-end...more Windows Client OS VDI Licensing Relaxed Updated: May 31, 2023 Windows 10 and 11 will cost less to license in some virtual desktop infrastructures. The...more Windows Server Licensing Head-to-Head for Azure Stack HCI Updated: May 31, 2023   Enterprise Agreement customers have four major options to license the Azure Stack HCI OS...more Software Assurance Support and Training Benefits Cut Updated: May 31, 2023 Some accrued Software Assurance benefits will be modified or eliminated starting in 2020. Planning and...more

Available Azure Reservations Updated: April 10, 2026

  Licensing Reference Tier Term sometimes used to distinguish between various levels of Azure branded services, with differences including...more   Licensing Reference Service tier Term sometimes used to distinguish between various levels of Azure branded services.   Licensing Reference Server farm A single data center or two data centers each physically located either in time zones...more   Licensing Reference Server A physical hardware device capable of running server OSs (operating systems) and applications such as...more   Licensing Reference VM An OS (operating system) instance and applications that exhibits the behavior of a separate computer...more   Licensing Reference Virtual Machine Software component that emulates the CPU, memory, and other hardware of a computer; see VM...more   Licensing Reference Service Description Frequently updated technical documents outlining features in Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Office 365 Enterprise suites...more   Licensing Reference Service Level Agreement A legal document that describe customers’ ability to seek financial credits if online services fall...more   Licensing Reference Internal User An employee of the licensed organization, or a contractor or agent who either works more...more   Licensing Reference Install To make a product ready to use by running the associated setup procedure or duplicating...more   Licensing Reference Instance Most often used to describe software that is loaded into memory and either executing or...more   Licensing Reference OS Software that manages computer hardware and provides the platform on which applications run.   Licensing Reference License Provides the legal right to install, run, access, or otherwise interact with a product.   Licensing Reference Running Instance Software loaded into memory and executing.   Licensing Reference Product Generally used to describe any software or online service offering sold to customers.   Licensing Reference Planning services A now expired SA (Software Assurance) benefit, completely phased out by Jan. 2022, that provided...more

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