The Future of EA Licensing

Recently we had a major announcement regarding the future of EA licensing. For those of you who may not be aware, Microsoft is pushing this cloud thing very hard. The announcement of the new Enterprise Cloud Suite is a continuation of this trend. We specialists are literally still being trained on the specifics of the new offerings, but here’s what it looks like in a nutshell.

Got all that? Yeah, me neither. But here’s what we do know so far. Starting December 1:

1. VDA licensing will be ‘per user’ as well. We have been clamoring for user-based VDA licensing for years, and we finally have it. This means no worrying about companion subscription licenses or secondary devices anymore. One user-based license (either Windows or VDA subscription) will allow you to access your virtual desktop from unlimited devices. Yes!
2. New platform models for the EA. As referenced in the above chart, there are plenty of ways to fill out your Windows-Office-Core CAL requirement now. Office 365, Enterprise Cloud Suite, Bridge CALs, Add-ons, etc. are all going to be in play as you reconstruct your EAs moving forward.
3. Customers who already have a traditional on-premise EA and want to migrate to any of the cloud/subscription plans will get a get a significant discount over customer starting up a new cloud/subscription agreement.

In an earlier post I indicated that pricing was still under NDA. That NDA has since been lifted, and we can share pricing for the Enterprise Cloud Suite, Enterprise Mobility Suite, or any of the other new offering with our customers. If you would like to learn more about the cost of these services, an Account Manager or licensing specialist can help you out.