Understanding Educational MS Licensing

[Rob446]

I'm from a corporate background - my first job in education here, and zero handover.

 

Supplier has sent through a list of what we ordered last year. Some of it makes sense - SQL Server licences and CALs for SIMs, Server Standard for the servers etc., but a lot of it is in decipherable to me:

 

Microsoft - Desktop Edu ALNG Lic/SA Pk OLV EES Level F 1 Year Enterprise Offering

 

Even the supplier can't tell me what this is, only that we bought 80 of them last year at a cost of £4k. The only thing that we have close to 80 of is student-facing PCs in the PC suites - but we actually have 93, and have done for some years. Are we really paying for Windows on an annual subscription for a desktop PC? Surely not?

 

I'm still unsure as to what we get for free, what's discounted, and what we have to pay full price for as a school - is there a guide anywhere? Everything I've googled says "contact your supplier". Ours doesn't seem to know!

[Andycat]

I'm getting quotes at the mo, and I've 5 in front of me, all different, all saying they cover us.

 

It's an annual nightmare.

[mavhc]

It's an upgrade from Win 10 Pro to Win 10 Enterprise, plus CALs to connect to servers, so yes, you are paying for Win 10 Enterprise every year. Not really worth it to me now way more stuff is in Pro, but many people do pay it.

[DavR]

My understanding on that one is that it's licensed on your Full Time Equivalent staff numbers, and it gives you access current versions of Windows desktop and Office Pro. You license on the staff number, then get the children's access for free.

 

There is an equation somewhere for FTE, but given that it would require getting staff working hours out of personnel, I've never challenged our number.

[SpaceInvader83]

I'm from a corporate background - my first job in education here, and zero handover.

 

Supplier has sent through a list of what we ordered last year. Some of it makes sense - SQL Server licences and CALs for SIMs, Server Standard for the servers etc., but a lot of it is in decipherable to me:

 

 

 

Even the supplier can't tell me what this is, only that we bought 80 of them last year at a cost of £4k. The only thing that we have close to 80 of is student-facing PCs in the PC suites - but we actually have 93, and have done for some years. Are we really paying for Windows on an annual subscription for a desktop PC? Surely not?

 

I'm still unsure as to what we get for free, what's discounted, and what we have to pay full price for as a school - is there a guide anywhere? Everything I've googled says "contact your supplier". Ours doesn't seem to know!

 

Open Value Sub based on Full Time Equivalent employees I think!

[CyBeRkId2002]

It's an upgrade from Win 10 Pro to Win 10 Enterprise, plus CALs to connect to servers, so yes, you are paying for Win 10 Enterprise every year. Not really worth it to me now way more stuff is in Pro, but many people do pay it.

 

Can I be nosey and ask how you licence then MAVHC? Was my understanding that EES provides the most economical way for most educational establishments, not to mention most stable as you have a fair idea on what you need to budget year on year (vs. factoring in OS upgrades, Office upgrades etc.). Also, it is actually an upgrade from Home to Enterprise

 

We had an old 'Schools Agreement' back in the day... now that was a ripoff!

[Disease]

We have the EES agreement with a couple of additions such as SQL, intune and SCCM. the required licenses are based on the FTE staff so if they work Part time you don't include them. Includes all the CALs as well, Cheap as chips.

[Boredguy]

That looks to be your OVS-EES Desktop Cal pack based on the number of staff using a computer over 200 hours (which at the time hopefully was 80 people). Unit cost would have been around the £50-54 mark.

 

That includes your Windows 10 upgrade from Windows Home/Windows 7

Office (including the FoC Office 365 for staff/students)

Core Cal Suite entitles you to SCCM on to manage Endpoints SharePoint CAL, Skype for Business CAL, Exchange CAL & Windows Server CAL & Endpoint Protection

[Rob446]

My understanding on that one is that it's licensed on your Full Time Equivalent staff numbers, and it gives you access current versions of Windows desktop and Office Pro. You license on the staff number, then get the children's access for free.

 

There is an equation somewhere for FTE, but given that it would require getting staff working hours out of personnel, I've never challenged our number.

 

Wow. No wonder I had no idea what was going on then, never seen that in corporate! Many thanks for the explanation.

[Rob446]

That looks to be your OVS-EES Desktop Cal pack based on the number of staff using a computer over 200 hours (which at the time hopefully was 80 people). Unit cost would have been around the £50-54 mark.

 

That includes your Windows 10 upgrade from Windows Home/Windows 7

Office (including the FoC Office 365 for staff/students)

Core Cal Suite entitles you to SCCM on to manage Endpoints SharePoint CAL, Skype for Business CAL, Exchange CAL & Windows Server CAL & Endpoint Protection

 

You're right, £51.50 a go.

 

Makes sense - a lot of the machines were Windows XP when new (I'm not joking) and are now Windows 10.

 

Many thanks for the detailed reply - and to everyone else. Feeling confident that we do actually need these now, will get an accurate FTE staff number and go from there.

[Boredguy]

You're right, £51.50 a go.

 

Makes sense - a lot of the machines were Windows XP when new (I'm not joking) and are now Windows 10.

 

Many thanks for the detailed reply - and to everyone else. Feeling confident that we do actually need these now, will get an accurate FTE staff number and go from there.

 

Can highly recommend @johnlevis at Very PC if you need a quote or a chat regarding the licences, especially if your not in the middle of a renewal anniversary but rather getting ready to start a new 1 or 3 year agreement.

[mavhc]

Can I be nosey and ask how you licence then MAVHC? Was my understanding that EES provides the most economical way for most educational establishments, not to mention most stable as you have a fair idea on what you need to budget year on year (vs. factoring in OS upgrades, Office upgrades etc.). Also, it is actually an upgrade from Home to Enterprise

 

We had an old 'Schools Agreement' back in the day... now that was a ripoff!

 

I just use Windows 10 Pro, it's getting free upgrades forever after all.

 

I think there's an option for Education for Home to Education versions.

[localzuk]

I would 100% recommend speaking to a Microsoft licensing specialist to go over the current licensing options, as there are a few schemes these days.

 

I would also highly recommend using Education edition and not Pro, due to the data protection implications. As far as I know, you cannot fully turn off telemetry with Windows 10 Pro, but you can with Enterprise (and Education, as that is built on Enterprise). Basically, Pro will send telemetry to MS with or without you wanting it to. It also disables things like Cortana, tips & tricks and a number of other things out of the box.

[paulkerton]

as I've said on here a few times before, and as was said to me by someone working at Microsoft:

 

"Even Microsoft doesn't understand Microsoft Licensing, so why should anyone else?"

[mavhc]

If you don't trust MS then don't run their OS. Bit suspicious they offer to not gather it if you pay them, totally not a shakedown.

 

Could just block https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization these domains

 

Telemetry is a fact of life, it's built into every single app now, plus every website of course, which is 99% of what people use.

[localzuk]

If you don't trust MS then don't run their OS. Bit suspicious they offer to not gather it if you pay them, totally not a shakedown.

 

Could just block https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization these domains

 

Telemetry is a fact of life, it's built into every single app now, plus every website of course, which is 99% of what people use.

Data protection rules are not optional. We as data controllers need to ensure we're compliant, and the case in Germany has shown that Enterprise/Education editions can be made compliant, and Pro editions cannot. Those domains you listed specify for Enterprise editions and Server editions. They do not specify Pro editions.

[mrstrong]

when I renewed our licensing got contradicting info from different suppliers.

 

However does seem that if they work more than 200 hours a year (i.e. everyone!) and log on to the domain you need to count them as FTE

think we paid about £46 per FTE (windows, office and CAL)

You can also get office 365 A1 "free" and this is not based on FTE e.g. you can have more of these e.g. for staff who don't log

on to domain but need an email (and gives access to other apps like one drive, teams etc)

 

I think there was a thread on here about MS changing licensing for schools though

 

Actually just looking in office 365 admin we have unlimited Office 365 A1 plus

and in VLSC I have an option to activate a fixed number of

"O365 EDU A1 Open Fac" and the same number of "M365 Apps for enterprise Open Fac"

Not sure if I should activate these? should office 365 admin and vlsc match ? confused again !

Edited May 26, 2021 by mrstrong

[jmak]

Slightly concerned that we're going to overwhelm the op - but that reflects the complexity, so I'll have a go anyway!

 

The OVS licensing is generally good value - if you've already got it, stick with it for at least this year to give yourself a chance to properly investigate other options.

 

Although you pay an annual licence fee, it's often a three year agreement, which can fix the price. You are allowed to change supplier and numbers of licences at annual renewal even with a there year agreement. The unit cost went up significantly a couple of years ago, so it's definitely worth checking where you are in the cycle. Your supplier should be able to tell you and it's also possible to find in the VLSC (hopefully you did get the login details for that).

 

I'll second the recommendation to have a chat with John Levis at Very PC.