Licensing for Dedicated Hosting

• Three different sets of rules apply to customers who bring their own licenses to run Microsoft software at a dedicated hosting firm.
• Which rule set applies depends on customer contracts, the hosting provider, and other factors.
• The newest rule set favors Azure over major cloud hosting competitors.

Microsoft uses the term “outsourcer” to refer to service providers who host Microsoft products on hardware that is fully dedicated to the customer’s use, rather than shared across customers (multitenant). Microsoft has three different sets of rules that dictate how customers can apply licenses purchased via volume licensing programs to scenarios involving outsourcers hosting dedicted workloads: general rules that apply to most third-party service providers, a set of rules applicable to Azure Dedicated Host that are only somewhat more restrictive than the general rule, and a harsher set of rules that apply to Microsoft’s major competitors (Amazon, Google, and Alibaba), who are referred to as “Listed Providers” in the Microsoft Volume Licensing Product Terms.