SPLA Providers, Get Your AVD Fix While You Can

SPLA providers may use Windows Server-based Azure Virtual Desktop.

If you've been spending countless nights dreaming about providing your end customers with hosted AVD under your management, here's your chance for the next 17 months (it'll work only until October 2025).

What you'll need

• RDS SALs, reported normally, as any other SPLA licenses,

• A "separate contract" to pay for Azure services.

What's not needed

• Windows Server Core Licenses

We are not sure why Microsoft needed to say that Windows Server Core Licenses are not required. Regular AVD licensing doesn't require them anyway. It only requires BYOL Windows Server RDS CALs, user or device, with active Software Assurance.

How to start providing Azure Virtual Desktop

1. Procure AVD as if you were an end-client of Azure,

2. Deploy AVD for your end customers,

3. Count authorised users, i.e. members of the RDS security groups,

4. Add the resulting quantity as RDS SALs to your monthly SPLA report.

This too shall pass

Remember to set a timer for October 1st, 2025, when it will stop working, as will all your other Azure, AWS, GCP, and Alibaba-hosted solutions in which you use your SPLA SALs.

How exciting and business-critical is this update for you? Please let us know.