We have been seeing more and more customers over the last year either put themselves into a compliance issue or lose their long term licensing flexibility because they do not understand their licensing rules & options regarding Windows Server licensing subscriptions and their use in the Public Cloud. Microsoft made some significant licensing changes that went into effect on October 1, 2019 (for complete details click here). At a high level, any Windows Server licenses purchased before October 1, 2019 have BYOL rights to AWS (or any other public cloud) on Dedicated hardware. Any Windows Server licenses purchased after October 1, 2019 do not have BYOL rights. There are two caveats to this rule:
1) If you are on an agreement that started prior to October 1, 2019 (perpetual or subscription) you have until the end of that agreement to add licenses and maintain your BYOL rights to the public cloud
2) Any versions of Windows Server that are released after October 1, 2019 (i.e. Windows Server 2022) will not have BYOL rights to the Public Cloud regardless of when they were purchased. You can still run the new releases of Windows Server, but using AWS as an example, it would have to be via Windows Server License Included.
As previously noted, we’ve seen a number of existing customers negatively impacted by this rule change in various ways. Here are some high level recommendations to keep in mind based on your scenario:
You own existing Windows Servers subscription licenses that haven’t renewed since October 1, 2019:
1) If you are currently BYOLing these subscription licenses to the Public Cloud, it’s imperative that you do a license buyout prior to your next renewal. This will give you the long term perpetual use rights to continue to BYOL those licenses to the Public Cloud for Windows Server 2019 or older. After the license buyout, you will not need to maintain Software Assurance on these licenses anymore as Microsoft eliminated your new version rights to the public cloud.
2) Even if you are not using these licenses in the Public Cloud currently, and do not have immediate plans to do so, it is still a good idea to protect your future BYOL rights. Leverage is important when negotiating new software licensing contracts. What incentive does Microsoft have to give you discounts if they hold all of the cards?
You own existing Windows Server perpetual licenses on your existing Microsoft licensing agreement and you haven’t renewed since October 1, 2019:
DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT let Microsoft talk you into converting these licenses to subscription agreements. You will lose your ability to BYOL those licenses to the public cloud which can limit your options and potentially increase costs significantly. For more details on some of the renewal games that we’ve seen played, click here.
If you are in need of third-party, unbiased licensing advice, please reach out to EVOLVE Cloud Services and we would be happy to assist:
info@evolvecloudservices.com or 480-770-6352
If you are interested in learning more about how you can receive an AWS funded Microsoft Licensing & Optimization assessment, click here