Announcing SPLA Essentials and an update to SPLA Licensing

Microsoft is invested in working together with partners to grow web share. Now, we are announcing several licensing changes to help hosting partners be more agile and grow their business.

The first is a new licensing offering under the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) called SPLA Essentials. SPLA Essentials is for small to medium size hosters and web developers that want to compete in the hosting environment. SPLA Essentials offers partners a simplified agreement that contains core program rights, with an easy online experience to enroll and manage software licenses. Both licensing offerings under the SPLA program (SPLA and SPLA Essentials) can help partners to grow their business through the millions of Microsoft.NET developers worldwide that are already using Windows Server, and those customers that are running both ASP.NET and PHP on the Windows platform. 

The second is a change to Windows Server use rights. Today, Windows Server SKUs are differentiated based on a technical distinction (authentication). To reduce the complexity and provide more value to partners, Microsoft is changing to a differentiation based on the type of service partners offer (scenario based), and are identifying SKUs specifically for “outsourcing.” This helps support more web scenarios at a lower price point, and makes it easier to understand which offering to license in a dynamic marketplace.

Finally, Microsoft is providing partners the ability to use prior versions of licensed software, providing more flexibility and bringing consistency and alignment with other Volume Licensing programs. This allows a partner to more easily transition their solution to a hosted business model, leveraging the version of Microsoft technology that best meets their business needs.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

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