marksams

Microsoft just sent me this: Hi Mark, Thank you for contacting us. With regards to your query, I can confirm that your FTE count is made up of Faulty and Staff members where: Faculty are any employees, contractors and volunteers who teach or perform research for the intuition for more than 200hrs per annum and Staff are non-faculty employees, contractors and volunteers who perform work for the instruction for more than 200hrs per annum and use an institution qualified desktop. As per the attached Microsoft EES Guide employees such as maintenance, grounds keeping, and cafeteria staff may be excluded from the faculty/staff FTE employee count if they do not use institutional devices. In summary, for your school it will be as follows: Teachers – I will include all teaching staff - YES Admin – I will include all admin staff - YES Cleaners – cleaners work more than 200 hours per year but don’t have access to any PCs and never use then – do I need to include them? - NO Kitchen – kitchen assistants work more than 200 hours per year but don’t have access to any PCs and never use then – do I need to include them? - NO Cook – I will include the cook as she has access to a PC and her own staff username/log on. - YES Midday Assistants – some midday assistants work more than 200 hours per year but none of them have access to any PCs and never use then – do I need to include them? - NO Teaching Assistants – Teaching assistants work more than 200 hours per year but don’t have their own PC/Laptop or staff user name/log on – they just help the pupils using the computers – do I need to include them? - NO Hope this information is of help to you.

I stand corrected - thank localzuk - Another (UK) document I have that says "The simplicity of counting Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees just once per year. In the UK an FTE is someone who works 200+ hours per year." - apologies for the confusion.

Please see comments below.

Hi guys, The CALs bundled in the Core CAL Suite (with Edu Desktop - approx. £35) or the Enterprise CAL Suite (with Edu Desktop - approx. £40) do not provide any rights for VDI with VDI-in-a-Box/XenDesktop/VMview etc. The rights to connect to a Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop are granted from any institution-owned device that is covered with active Software Assurance (included with EES). For this to be valid for the Windows 7 Enterprise Upgrade included with EES, an original OEM license is required for the client hardware. If a Linux device or Thin Client (or a non-institution-owned device) is used, then a Microsoft VDA license is required. Microsoft Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Services (RDS) CALs (not included in the CAL suites) will only cover you for connections to 'hosted shared desktops' and virtual/remote applications using RDS or Citrix XenApp. I know that Citrix have done some integration work with XenDesktop and System Centre to manage pooled desktops with the personal vDisk option, but not sure how this compares to VDI-in-a-Box at this time. I'd just try and work out what makes the most sense for you - i.e. use SCCM for updates/FEP vs. the master VM image.

Hi Fiza, There is a special Microsoft formula(!) for calculating the FTE count as follows: Full-time Faculty + (Part-time Faculty / 3) + Full-time Staff + (Part-time Staff /2) = FTE Count. Employees such as maintenance, grounds keeping, and cafeteria staff may be excluded from the faculty/staff FTE employee count if they do not use institutional devices. The Education desktop with Core CAL Suite is around £35 - The Education desktop with Enterprise CAL Suite is around £40 If you have 3 years or more coverage with EES, and you don't wish to renew again or stop using the software, you do have the option of discounted 'buy out' perpetual licenses.

Hi, Microsoft updated the CAL Suites (in August 2011 I think) - there's an updated matrix at Microsoft EES - Core CAL Suite vs Enterprise CAL Suite | Education | SLA Performance Ltd

Hi CommodoreS, If subscribing with Microsoft EES you will be buying a Windows 7 (Enterprise) upgrade license, which requires the OEM license for the hardware. You might find it cheaper to buy an alternative edition of the operating system, e.g. home premium which still qualifies for the upgrade. There is a table at the bottom of this page about qualifying operating systems - Microsoft Volume Licensing - Product Licensing Search – look for the academic column. Although this is for Windows 7 Professional upgrades (and Microsoft EES provides a Windows 7 Enterprise upgrade) – the Microsoft partner FAQ for EES directs us to this location. Again, assuming an EES subscription, you will be provided with both MAK and KMS keys for multiple activation.

Hi DMcCoy - MS Office is quite straightforward as a device-based license and qualifying desktop platform product for the 'Student Option'. In this scenario (just the sixth formers with their own devices) you can define the organisation for the Student Option as the sixth form department. It can also be defined otherwise if needed, e.g. multiple departments or locations or the entire institution. However you define your student organisation, you must have an FTE Student count of 5 or more - using the formula 'Full Time Students' + 'Part Time Students divided by 3'. There are four part codes for MS Office with the student option - The cheapest applies a discount when licensing 3 desktop platform products for the students. There is the standard price for MS Office as the sole desktop platform product, and then there are two more part codes that also apply a year 1 discount for converting existing perpetual licenses into EES.

Well after a couple of emails and a long conversation with a Microsoft representative, we reached the following conclusion about RDS CALs: There are a couple of ways to be legally covered by Microsoft RDS CALs, and the EES program rules/available SKUs do not resolve the ambiguity. In the original post in the thread, glennda asks for the correct way to license RDS/remote desktop connections from sixth formers with their own laptops. It was assumed RDS was already an organisation-wide requirement. Option 1 – more expensive: Buy part code 6VC-01516 for your FTE Count – This is an enterprise-wide per device RDS CAL for organisations with less than 1000 user FTEs. Per device CALs assume that all shared PCs within the organisation are licensed for RDS connections. Because you purchased per-device CALs for all school PCs, you now need to purchase additional CALs for either your students (per user) or their student devices (per device). There is still a further decision about whether to choose ‘Additional Product’ CALs (i.e. department CALs) or Student CALs. As the students are extremely unlikely to share their own laptops, and may have more than one device, it makes sense to license the students per-user. At this point it’s important to note that the ‘Student Option’ under EES has qualifying requirements such as a ‘student FTE’ count of 5 or more, and that you must license a desktop platform product according to your ‘student FTE’ count. However, I double-checked with Microsoft that you do not need to meet these requirements in this example. The ‘Student Option’ is designed for desktop platform products that can be used at home and in school and is not a pre-requisite to purchasing a student-specific CAL for RDS. The detail is important because although per device/per user CALs are the same cost, the student-specific CALs (per device or per user) are approx. two thirds cheaper than ‘Additional Product’ CALs and nearly 50% cheaper than ‘Enterprise-wide’ CALs. Therefore (in this example) in addition to 6VC-01516 - enterprise-wide per device RDS CALs, it make sense to purchase 6VC-01521 - Student per user RDS CALs for the sixth formers. Option 2 – less expensive: Buy part code 6VC-01518 for your FTE Count – This is an enterprise-wide per user RDS CAL for organisations with less than 1000 user FTEs. Per user CALs assume that all users (including teachers and students) within the organisation are licensed for RDS connections. Note – there is no price difference between per user or per-device CALs. Further information: Here is excerpt from the EES program guide which may help guide your decision: Your students can also use the licensed product on institution-owned or leased devices located in classrooms or open access labs within your defined organization. To license your students to run products on a device the student either personally owns or is institution-owned and is assigned to an individual student for their exclusive use, you may enroll in the Student Option (see The Student Option). It seems to me that the above statement applies to device-based licensing, and assumes installation of desktop platform products onto student devices. There was no objection from the Microsoft representative I spoke to about the per-user option.

Hi all, I'm seeking further written clarification on this topic after being contacted by another Microsoft department, and I'll report back here with full details in the next day or two!

Here's some info from the EES Program Guide: "The EES Student Option provides a convenient and cost-effective way for you to license selected products for use by your students on a personally-owned device or an institution-owned device assigned to the student’s exclusive use (i.e., a device checked out to a student for the school year). If you choose the three-year subscription, each anniversary order must include at least the same number of student users as in the year 1 order." Note: re forum post on RDS CALs - these are excluded.

Hi Cache, yes (I checked with Microsoft some time ago), and I just checked with Microsoft again to be 110% sure. The FTE count of CALs assumes 'per user' CALs for the organisation, not 'per device', so it doesn't matter which devices, or how many devices, students and teachers use. More info: There are 8-10 different SKUs for RDS CALs depending on whether the CALs are purchased according to the FTE count ('enterprise-wide/Ent') or department (termed 'additional product/AP'), different price bands (+/- 1000 FTEs) and 'per user'/'per device'. Just make sure the CALs you purchase are enterprise-wide per user CALs! 'Ent' CALs are always cheaper then 'AP' CALs as you buy a larger amount re: FTE count. Note: It may make sense to purchase 'per device' 'AP' CALs if you are only licensing a department, and you have more users than devices within that department, e.g. they share a small number of PCs with access to RDS. There is of course the 'student option' under EES which you can take advantage of to provide software on student-owned laptops if you wish. I found in an old spreadsheet (Nov 2011) that is was possible to purchase RDS CALs as a student option - I challenged Microsoft on this, but they couldn't find the SKUs in their system, so we assumed they have been removed and agreed they were irrelevent anyway.

Hi glennda, the number of Terminal Services Client Access Licenses (now purchased as Remote Desktop Services CALs) will be aligned to the your FTE count and is valid for all students connecting from their personal devices. There is no need to purchase an external connector license. It is also perfectly valid to transition between per-device CALs to per-User CALs when Software Assurance comes up for renewal, and the transition to EES facilitates this. You can find confirmation that all connections to school systems by students (and parents) are now licensed by the FTE count of CALs that you have purchased at Microsoft UK Education - Software Licensing - Licences for Schools There are a couple of license grants that mean you don’t need any external connector licenses for parents, prospective students, alumni (student and faculty/staff) or collaborating academic or government institutions... "In support of the government’s Online Reporting policy and targets, Microsoft has extended the coverage of student licences in appropriate circumstances to cover their parents/guardians. Under Select Licence, Open Licence and School Agreement and Enrolment for Education Solutions a CAL is no longer required for the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of licensed student users." Download the free licence grant document "Additionally, for certain CAL options under the School Agreement and Enrolment for Education Solutions, External Connector Licences are now included for prospective students, alumni, and students and faculty of collaborating institutions." Download the free licence grant document

Hi, Here's some info on this topic from my blog (I couldn't link as I'm not a commercial sponsor): The work at home rights are a little confusing and there's definitely some improvements that could be made in the EES documentation, e.g. in the Microsoft EES FAQ it states: "For no additional license cost, you can take advantage of faculty and staff Work At Home (WAH) rights for any of the application, system, and CAL products you order for organization use." Whilst this maybe true for the actual license cost, the document doesn't provide specific guidance for the process to obtain the software or install applications for faculty and staff at home. You are definitely not allowed to use the Multiple Activation Key/MAK software distributed via the Volume Licensing Service Centre (VLSC)! In order to obtain the software for Work at Home Rights (WAH), the school licensing administrator must visit the web site of e-academy, a 3rd party that administers the process on Microsoft's behalf. Click here to visit the e-academy web site At the bottom of the form you will be asked to supply the LAR name with your Microsoft agreement and enrollment numbers. LAR just refers to the reseller name (in our case SLA Performance Ltd) and of course there is no enrollment number for EES. Just enter the agreement number which begins with 'V', e.g. V12345678. The e-academy will set up a private online store just for your school. Once they process your details from the form, they will contact you to suggest a verification method for your faculty and staff, e.g. only allow access to email addresses ending yourschool.org. Once the private online store is enabled, your faculty and staff will be able to purchase and download their software. Download is the only option for UK customers. When we enquired about Work at Home rights for Office 2010 we were told by the e-academy it would cost £6.15 per unit if each faculty/staff member pays individually. If the school/institution prepays they would sell each unit for £2-£2.50 per unit depending on the volume purchased. I guess these costs are to cover service/administration from the e-academy even though there is no additional license cost charged by Microsoft. If you have any issues you can call the e-academy on 0800 098 8436 for technical support. Stephen Hubbard is the UK sales representative. NOTE: Office 2010 is also available via the Home Use Program (HUP). Under HUP you can use the software for non-work purposes too. Office 2010 under the Home Use Program (HUP) is priced at £8.95 and can be ordered ad-hoc via Microsoft Home Use Program - Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. The software suite includes Word, Excel PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access and more! . Prior to ordering you will need to activate the HUP benefit on your Microsoft eAgreement and follow the instructions to receive the specific HUP code for your school, which your staff will need to enter when ordering. Be aware that in the EES FAQ it says ‘You are not permitted to provide licensed product with the same title to any individual faculty or staff member using both HUP and WAH’.

Under EES you have the option of MAK or KMS activation for some products e.g. Windows 7 and Office 2010. Microsoft recommend viewing your licenses via ‘Relationship Summary’ rather than ‘Downloads & Keys’ in the Volume Licensing Service Centre if you have trouble seeing your license keys. You might wish to use KMS instead of MAK (which requires a service installed on one of your servers) if your PCs do not have internet access or you wish to activate a large number of licenses automatically across your network, but otherwise use of the MAK is recommended. The MAK key is entered on a per-device basis and will activate using a Microsoft service via the internet.

Yep - there's no changes to the Windows Server OS licenses, but there's still options depending on the number of VMs you are hosting in your environment. The Datacentre CPU license (required per CPU) is relatively expensive so you'd really want to make sure you are value for money by running enough VMs.

If you exclude the considerations for any virtual infrastructure, it is true that under EES you only pay for desktop platform products, such as the Windows 7 upgrade and Microsoft Office according to your FTE count. You can then install these products on all your desktops/laptops/virtual desktops etc. It is assumed the number of FTEs is smaller than the number of devices....Microsoft hope you will re-invest the cost savings into other IT projects!

Hi, I recently called Microsoft about this. They told me that as long as you have the original OEM licenses for the old desktop hardware being repurposed as a thin client, and you are an EES subscriber with the Windows 7 upgrade license, then you are also licensed to run Windows 7 as virtual desktops. You might want to check out the software assurance benefit with EES called Windows Fundamentals for repurposing the old desktop hardware.