Microsoft announced on August 1, 2019 that it would tighten the use of on-premises software licenses on dedicated cloud servers from October 1. Purchasing teams cannot rely on a server being reserved for one customer to establish the right to run that customer’s Microsoft software. The company said existing software versions under licenses bought before October 1 would be unaffected. Buying more licenses or upgrading to a later version could lead to different terms. [S1]
The announced restriction covers on-premises licenses bought from October 1 without Software Assurance and mobility rights, when used on dedicated hosted cloud services from Microsoft, Alibaba, Amazon—including VMware Cloud on AWS—and Google. Microsoft calls these companies Listed Providers. It said the change did not apply to other providers, but did cover third-party offerings running on a Listed Provider’s dedicated cloud service. Buying from a reseller therefore does not settle the question; a purchasing team also needs to identify whose infrastructure supplies the service. [S1]
For an existing installation, the software version matters as well as the purchase date. Microsoft said renewing Software Assurance would not change perpetual use rights for existing versions. An upgrade to a version released on or after October 1, however, would have to follow the updated outsourcing terms. Keeping the existing version and moving to a new one are therefore separate licensing decisions, even if the server stays in the same place. [S1]
Microsoft listed several routes for continued use on the named providers. Eligible licenses with License Mobility through Software Assurance could be used with a Listed Provider that was also an Authorized Mobility Partner. Azure Hybrid Benefit offered another route on Microsoft’s cloud, while participating providers could supply Microsoft software through license-included services. These are conditional routes, not a statement that Software Assurance makes every product eligible at every host. Before ordering, buyers should check the particular product rights and their agreement rather than rely on a quote describing the hardware as dedicated. [S1]
The same day, Microsoft opened Azure Dedicated Host in preview in most Azure regions, allowing Linux and Windows virtual machines to run on single-tenant physical servers. Its licensing offer included Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance or qualifying subscriptions. For Windows Server Datacenter and SQL Server Enterprise editions, Microsoft described unlimited virtualization when the customer licensed the entire host and used that benefit. The server’s physical capacity still limited what could run; the entitlement did not supply unlimited computing resources. [S3]
Microsoft also invited customers to request access to a maintenance-control preview, allowing platform updates to be applied at a chosen time within a rolling 35-day window. For a retailer’s IT staff, that raises a practical question: does the window fit the operating schedule? Preview access still had to be requested, and the window did not allow updates to be postponed indefinitely. [S3]
Source documents
- Updated Microsoft licensing terms for dedicated hosted cloud serviceshttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/news/updated-licensing-rights-for-dedicated-cloud
- Introducing Azure Dedicated Hosthttps://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-azure-dedicated-host/