Articles on Licensing

A year of settlements, investigations, and unfinished business. Regulators on three continents took aim at Microsoft’s licensing practices. By December, most had missed.

From dongles and perpetual EULAs to AI-driven subscriptions and blockchain enforcement — software licensing became a $850B+ force reshaping enterprise IT.

The 90-day reassignment rule, Software Assurance Licence Mobility, and the Flexible Virtualisation Benefit each apply differently to VMware and Hyper-V. Which rights apply where and how to stay compliant when moving VMs.

Windows Server Core licensing is not difficult. You need to know a few simple rules. But how the licenses are sold is confusing and results in bad advice.

You are busy. And you need to get your head around Microsoft Licensing quickly. We got you covered: basics, concepts, fundamentals, models, and a little more.

Would you like to learn how Microsoft Licensing works? Start from the concept of a licence itself. Can you “buy” a licence? Why doesn’t licensing make sense?

A story of how I almost ruined a perfect family weekend. And a little bit about licensing Windows E3.

Microsoft 365 prices rise on 1 July 2026. Daryl Ullman reads the published numbers, shows why the headline per-SKU figures understate the real renewal hit, and sets out the steps to take before your renewal date.

Moving to Azure doesn’t eliminate Microsoft licensing. It often increases it. vCPU inflation, limited BYOL scenarios, and Azure-specific restrictions mean you may need more licences in the cloud than on-premises. Where costs hide and how to reduce them.

Is it still a good idea to switch some or all of your Microsoft licensing to CSP in 2062? Here’s a story you may relate to.

Agent 365 introduces licensed AI ‘users’ inside Microsoft 365, with no clear definition, unpredictable pricing, and blurred lines between bots, copilots, and agents.

SAM tools don’t protect you in Microsoft audits: mismatched methodologies, incomplete discovery, expired SA, and no expert validation. Audit defence requires ongoing discipline and expertise, not green dashboards.