Microsoft to move out of the education market?

[Gibson335]

I'm not telling anyone until I have clearer information, don't want any knee-jerk reactions/decisions going on. A delay of a few days (or even weeks) isn't going to make any difference.

 

The problem at my place is if you give them too much time they end up taking it all and usually more...

 

I made my Broadband recommendation in December, telling them it had to be signed up to by the end of February...as yet it has still to go through either SLT or Governors, and we have 12 term days left this month!!!

[Sagima]

We were asked a few weeks ago to come up with some contingency planning for our department. One of the things we needed an answer for was "What would you do if you budget was suddenly halved?" - this little surprise from Microsoft may lead us to actually formulate an answer to that (it may also answer the "what would you do with a one off £250k donation?")

[smithson83]

I'm not telling anyone until I have clearer information, don't want any knee-jerk reactions/decisions going on. A delay of a few days (or even weeks) isn't going to make any difference.

 

Budgets are being decided atm, if (as in previous posts), we're looking at a increase of 14-19% on our OVS renewal due this Aug, then they need to know now, not after they've been set and allocated.

 

Its better they know what's going on, and what the ramifications could be. At least then they can't come back to you in a few weeks and ask why you didn't tell them sooner...

Edited February 3, 2016 by smithson83

[LeMarchand]

One of the things we needed an answer for was "What would you do if you budget was suddenly halved?"

 

 

Whatever you do, don't come up with a good answer to this.

[smithson83]

Whatever you do, don't come up with a good answer to this.

 

Answer = Sit back and watch as the network goes to hell...

 

edit: Proactively of course

Edited February 3, 2016 by smithson83

[Bezza49]

Unfortunately, our existing agreement expires at the end of July 2018 - 1 month too late to take advantage of a new 3 year agreement.

 

By the way - the pricing structure you quote...is that speculation or confirmed, please? So, am I reading that right and it could be as much as 57% more expensive from July 2018?

 

Hi Gibson335, it is confirmed as within that percentage bracket (14-19%). So you are correct - 57% more expensive in three years! We've seen this on Microsoft's projected plans they sent around all resellers at the end of January.

 

We don't know all that much about the Cloud Transition Agreement at this point, other than that is what Microsoft want schools to move onto. All a bit smoke and mirrors on that front currently!

[jmak]

Budgets are being decided atm, if (as in previous posts), we're looking at a increase of 14-19% on our OVS renewal due this Aug, then they need to know now, not after they've been set and allocated.

 

Its better they know what's going on, and what the ramifications could be. At least then they can't come back to you in a few weeks and ask why you didn't tell them sooner...

Price only increases this year if you're not an existing subscriber.

[localzuk]

Are the increases cumulative? If so, it'd be a total increase of 68.5% as compared with the pre-increase pricing.

[gshaw]

I think MS should be providing clear pricing examples e.g. show the exact figures for, say 100 FTEs renewing both 1-year and 3-year agreements until 2018. So much vague information around isn't helping anyone.

[Gibson335]

Hi Gibson335, it is confirmed as within that percentage bracket (14-19%). So you are correct - 57% more expensive in three years! We've seen this on Microsoft's projected plans they sent around all resellers at the end of January.

 

We don't know all that much about the Cloud Transition Agreement at this point, other than that is what Microsoft want schools to move onto. All a bit smoke and mirrors on that front currently!

 

Thanks - some resellers genuinely appear to still be confused about whether it is cumulative, however.

[sted]

Thanks - some resellers genuinely appear to still be confused about whether it is cumulative, however.

 

tbh you can ask 3 ms licensing experts the same question and get 3 different answers at the best of times

[Gibson335]

Are the increases cumulative? If so, it'd be a total increase of 68.5% as compared with the pre-increase pricing.

 

I guess that depends on whether the 2017 and 2018 percentage increases are an increase to today's prices or the then current price...I was basing it on an increase on today's pricing (again, based on 2 resellers' views) but of course that's not correct if the 2017 increase is based on the new 2016 July price...

[Bezza49]

Price only increases this year if you're not an existing subscriber.

 

Hi jmak,

 

Any new agreement is classed as new - i.e. say your 3-year agreement finishes in August 2016, you will have to sign a new one - it will be more expensive in August than in June 2016 due to the price increase on July 1st 2016.

[Gibson335]

tbh you can ask 3 ms licensing experts the same question and get 3 different answers at the best of times

 

This is precisely what I'm finding...

[CyberNerd]

Even the DfE advised getting three quotes. They probably got told three different things by MS at each meeting!

[mavhc]

You cut your cloth to suite your needs and your budget.

Its all very well running off on a honeymoon with linux but schools don't like lots of support staff and highly paid linux support staff.

Schools will end up paying the same either way. You want a 1 man IT team AND no licence costs>?

Good luck with that.

 

Not quite sure I understand. Licensing takes at least 0.5 IT staff, not even Microsoft understands Microsoft's licensing, then tracking serial numbers, install counts, renewals, activation, deactivation, site licence restrictions, change of name of school, upgrades, and budgeting.

[localzuk]

Hi jmak,

 

Any new agreement is classed as new - i.e. say your 3-year agreement finishes in August 2016, you will have to sign a new one - it will be more expensive in August than in June 2016 due to the price increase on July 1st 2016.

 

This isn't how the MoU letter presents it, with use of "renewal" in regards to a new 3 year agreement in 2018.

 

Excerpt:

 

a school with an OVS-ES agreement which expires in June 2018can renew their agreement (if they wish) with discounted pricing for a further 3 years.

[Sagima]

I thought that meant with the remaining discount that stood at that time. So not at today's prices but at the prices that it moved to in july 2017 but before the discount disappears completely in july 2018 but to be able to hold that little bit of remaining discount for a further 3 years

[sparkeh]

This isn't how the MoU letter presents it, with use of "renewal" in regards to a new 3 year agreement in 2018.

Remember the prices of OVS-ES go up every year. You may be getting the same discount but that discount is on a higher price.

[jmak]

Hi jmak,

 

Any new agreement is classed as new - i.e. say your 3-year agreement finishes in August 2016, you will have to sign a new one - it will be more expensive in August than in June 2016 due to the price increase on July 1st 2016.

 

The table in their document talks about "new customers" and "renewing customers", not agreements. Granted, MS like to make it as clear as the proverbial mud, but I take that to mean that that as long as I continue to be a customer, I can take out new agreements at the discount in the 2013 MoU.

 

This isn't how the MoU letter presents it, with use of "renewal" in regards to a new 3 year agreement in 2018.

 

Excerpt:

 

That's how I read it too.

 

I thought that meant with the remaining discount that stood at that time. So not at today's prices but at the prices that it moved to in july 2017 but before the discount disappears completely in july 2018 but to be able to hold that little bit of remaining discount for a further 3 years

 

You could be right, but that's not what I read it as. In the nicest possible way, I hope you're wrong

[dcwhitworth]

Not quite sure I understand. Licensing takes at least 0.5 IT staff, not even Microsoft understands Microsoft's licensing, then tracking serial numbers, install counts, renewals, activation, deactivation, site licence restrictions, change of name of school, upgrades, and budgeting.

 

But that's the whole point of an OVS licence, you don't need to worry about tracking individual licences. If licencing is taking up half of one IT person then you're doing it wrong.

[Geoff]

This appeared on the The Register today, seems Microsoft is giving an incentive to it's channel partners to push O365 over on premises solutions. I wonder if this will extend to Edu?

 

Microsoft showers Office 365 sellers with gold in Google snub • The Channel

Edited February 3, 2016 by Geoff

[Dos_Box]

I've just received the answers to your questions from Paul Harris the licensing expert from Microsoft and will post it up in a seperate thread shortly.

[mavhc]

But that's the whole point of an OVS licence, you don't need to worry about tracking individual licences. If licencing is taking up half of one IT person then you're doing it wrong.

 

Well, first you have to hire a lawyer to decide what all the versions mean, then compare costs, make sure you'll always have money in the future for a subscription licence, make sure you can not count machines that won't run Windows, wonder what kind of scam CALs are, set up KMS perhaps.

 

And now you have an OS installed, onto all the other pieces of software, all with random requirements.

 

I'd rather spend that time making a debian server auto install with a config file and switch to Linux, at least that's technical, not book keeping and lawyering.

 

Linux - Because you never want to type in another product key

 

Anyway, here's the document, let me know of any problems https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ueBo_nBfurgBniV6mf38xs_8Mn4tforYmpPV9mKNJuk/pub

Edited February 3, 2016 by mavhc
added link

[Arthur]

I've just received the answers to your questions from Paul Harris the licensing expert from Microsoft and will post it up in a seperate thread shortly.

Link to thread...

 

www.edugeek.net/forums/licensing-questions/165618-microsoft-reply-your-mou-questions.html