Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of the upcoming modifications.

Monthly Billing Flexibility with a Catch

Starting December 1st, Microsoft will offer a new monthly billing option for annual subscriptions, but it comes with a 5% price premium. This option will apply to several key product lines:

• Microsoft 365
• Office 365
• Enterprise Mobility + Security
• Windows 365
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Services
• Microsoft Power Platform

**Important Note**: While this offers more payment flexibility, users are still committed to the full annual term and cannot cancel mid-contract.

Significant Price Increases for Specific Microsoft Products

Teams Phone Licenses

• Teams Phone Standard will increase from $8 to $10 (25% increase)
• Teams Phone Frontline will rise from $4 to $5 (25% increase)
• Calling plans will increase by approximately $2 per user per month

Power BI Licenses

• Power BI Pro will jump from $9.99 to $14 (40% increase)
• Power BI Premium will increase from $20 to $24 (20% increase)

Microsoft justifies these increases by pointing to substantial improvements, noting over 1,500 enhancements to Power BI in the past six years.

Who’s Exempt?

• Annual and triennial subscriptions paid upfront are not affected
• Non-profit organizations maintain their 15% discount
• Consumer, education, and government customers have special considerations

Key Takeaways

• Changes will be fully implemented by April 1st, 2025
• Monthly billing offers more payment flexibility at a 5% premium
• Some product lines will see significant price increases
• Microsoft aims to standardize its pricing across different service segments

**Pro Tip**: Consider working with Miro to ensure your purchasing is your best option. Microsoft may change the annual billing terms and customers with expiring agreements may see large price increases. Miro can help you prepare for different scenarios so there are no surprise budget costs when renewing your Microsoft Agreement.

Contact us to learn more.

As a business owner or executive, you know the drill. You know that a company looking to increase its efficiency might have to invest in new equipment and procedures. But greater efficiency in the long term ends up saving more money than the company spends in the short term.

3 Reasons to Not Take Risks

As you already know, companies do not outright purchase Oracle software. They purchase licenses to use the software. Licenses are very specific in nature. They cover everything from how software is used to who uses it and how such use is managed. Needless to say, being noncompliant with license agreements is a serious issue. It can also be costly. Here are just three reasons to not take any risk:

1. Audits Can Be Expensive

If Oracle suspects a company might be out of compliance, it could require an audit. Audits can be expensive. Not only that, but companies can also incur additional expenses indirectly related to an audit. Add it all up and what began as a basic Oracle audit could eventually become a full-blown licensing crisis created by a very expensive audit.

2. Demands for Back Payments

It is very likely that findings of noncompliance will mean that a company must make back payments for the entire duration of the noted offenses. Let us say a company was found to have been using an Oracle product for a year without the right license. They may be forced to pay the full fee for that year.

3. Fines and Legal Expenses

Should Oracle decide to pursue litigation, there may be additional fines and legal expenses involved. Even without litigation, Oracle could choose to assess noncompliance penalties. Depending on the size of the company and the number of infractions discovered, the total cost for being out of compliance could reach millions of dollars.

Our Services Are Preventive

Comparing the total costs of noncompliance with the amount of money a company would spend on Oracle license reviews and audit defense brings clarity like nothing else. Comparing the costs makes it clear that our services are preventative in nature. Those services include:

• Managed services for Oracle licensing
• Oracle audit defense
• Oracle software license reviews
• Oracle support renewal management
• Advice for Oracle cloud migrations

Think of our services as being similar to a home inspection. Prior to purchase, buyers have an inspection done in hopes of finding nothing wrong with the house. If an inspection does reveal problems, buyers can either back out or demand that the issues be taken care of prior to closing. This mitigates the buyer’s risk of taking a huge financial hit later on.

It is understandable that companies might be reluctant to invest in Oracle license services. They might elect to manage their own license reviews and mock audits. But from our perspective, it makes more sense to spend a little money on professional services to save a lot more money down the road.

Here at Miro Consulting, we consider ourselves Oracle licensing experts. We offer a variety of Oracle-oriented services including Oracle license reviews, license management, and audit defense. Furthermore, we are confident that the cost savings our services reveal will be greater than our fees. We are so confident that we offer a performance guarantee to that effect.

A January piece from Forbes Council’s Member Scott Sellers suggests that this is a very real possibility. Sellers notes that 98% of all businesses use Java for both infrastructure and apps. More than half say that Java is the foundation of most of their software. Having to pay up to five times more to use it forces some of these companies to make a tough choice. They either find a way to cover the higher costs of Java licensing or they turn to an alternative.

Genuine Concern Over Higher Prices

Concerns over Java licensing are nothing new. We are used to hearing such concerns whenever we conduct a Java compliance or license review for one of our larger clients. The fact is that Java is expensive. And with the new pricing structure, a structure now based on the total number of a company’s employees and contractors, Java might prove cost-prohibitive to organizations that have depended on it for so long.

According to Sellers, more than 80% of the companies currently using Java report being concerned about the new pricing. Sellers explains that some of them are seriously considering moving to an alternative Java distribution. Solutions based on OpenJDK are among the most common.

The University of Sydney is a prime example. They moved away from Oracle Java in favor of Azul Platform Core. Not only did they spend 70% less, but the university also reported that doing business was easier for them.

If Switching Is Not an Option

More organizations are likely to do what the University of Sydney did. Saving such a huge amount of money is nothing to sneeze at. At the same time, Java is so pervasive in the software development world that there will be those users for which switching is not a viable option. These are the types of organizations that need services like Java license and compliance reviews.

Whether a company is looking to shore up Java compliance or migrate to an alternative, there are three things to pay close attention to:

1. Discovery – The starting point for either strategy is to identify every version of Java being used. Organizations need to know who works with Java, which applications utilize it, etc. Most importantly, organizations need to account for independent contractors.
2. Execution – Companies choosing to switch to an alternative must be careful to install the same version and then configure their software to work with it. Those choosing to stay with Oracle Java need to ensure that their current execution is in line with licensing requirements.
3. Review – Regardless of the product being used, software licenses are involved. And where there are licenses, there are compliance requirements. Organizations need to regularly review their licenses to ensure that everything is on the up and up.

Has your company taken a significant financial hit thanks to Oracle’s new pricing structure for Java? If so, we invite you to take advantage of our Java license and compliance review services. We can help you make sure that you are using the correct licenses and paying the right fees. We can also help you maintain compliance throughout.

If your company has chosen to switch to an alternative, please note that you will still likely have license issues to worry about. Do not take those issues lightly.

Let our expert analyst team complete a thorough license review of your organization’s Oracle Java licenses and more to assure that your organization remains in compliance with Oracle’s licensing policies.

Every IBM audit begins with a letter “invoking IBM’s right to audit, which is detailed in the verification clause” assigned to each software product. Audits are conducted by an IBM Licensing Representative and supported by a third-party auditing partner.

It has been our experience that most organizations subject to the IBM audit are out of compliance in at least one or two ways. In addition, most organizations are completely unaware that they are not in compliance.

Financial Penalties Apply

IBM has built into its licenses the legal right to insist on remedial action among organizations found out of compliance. It would be inappropriate for us to get into what those actions could be, but needless to say they can be very costly. The larger the organization, the higher the potential cost of being out of compliance.

It is our position that organizations spend far less on proactive measures then they would spend on obtaining additional licenses and other remedial actions. It is really a ‘pay me now or pay me later’ type of thing. Investing in license reviews and a product like our IBM Audit Defense is worth it.

When the Time Comes

Routine license reviews and subscription management keeps an organization on the right track heading into its next IBM audit. When the time for an audit actually comes, an organization receives that introductory letter. Not only does the letter inform of IBM’s right to audit, but it also outlines the scope, target, and auditor details.

The organization in question assembles a team of representatives from various departments. Typically, this means representatives from IT, purchasing, deployment, and legal. Every team member is qualified to contribute to the audit process. The team’s main function is to conduct an inventory and review that looks at, and records, all current IBM software installations and their licenses.

An IBM audit follows this basic six-step process:

1. IBM sends the notification letter.
2. An introductory call between the organization, IBM, and auditor is conducted.
3. Data is collected by the organization’s team and submitted for review.
4. IBM and its auditor analyze the data for compliance; testing is included.
5. An exit meeting takes place; findings are discussed along with next steps.
6. IBM and its auditor finalize the audit and issue a report.

A typical audit takes between three and five months to complete. From your organization’s point of view, the most critical aspect is selecting the right team and then collecting and recording the right data. Incomplete or incorrect data only slows down the process and increases the risks associated with noncompliance.

Resolving Shortfalls

IBM refers to being out of compliance as a shortfall. If a noncompliant issue is found during an audit, IBM will work out a satisfactory means of resolving the shortfall with the client. All shortfalls must be resolved in order for the audit to be officially closed.

It goes without saying that a typical IBM audit is an involved and thorough process. It doesn’t pay to cut corners. More importantly, it does not pay to not be prepared for an audit. We help organizations not only prepare, but also maintain preparedness in between audits. Contact us to learn more about our IBM services and their ability to protect your organization.

Salesforce is near the top in terms of the sheer number of licenses available to customers. As you know, a license allows your organization to legally use a software product for business purposes. A license does not grant ownership. When it comes to Salesforce, there are dozens of licenses for a variety of different needs.

Editions and Licenses: Not the Same Thing

The first thing to know about Salesforce licensing is that editions and licenses are not the same thing. Editions refer to the Salesforce products and features an organization chooses to purchase. Salesforce Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited are all editions.

Licensing refers to the legal right for individual users to access Salesforce and its products and features. Licenses are assigned to users rather than an organization as a whole. A single license pertains to a single user, with three exceptions: the Salesforce Experience Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Pardot licenses.

Licenses for Access and Features

When it comes to Salesforce license management, one of the things that we find is most confusing to our clients is the difference between access and feature licenses. The first-level licenses Salesforce offers are as follows:

• User License – The user license gives a single user access to a basic set of features within the platform. A single user may have only one user license.
• Feature License – Users may be given access to additional features with feature licenses added on. Marketing User and Flow User are examples of feature licenses.

User and feature licenses are baseline licenses. This is where licensing starts. From here, other licenses can be added as needed.

Additional Salesforce Licenses

It would require multiple blog posts for us to go through each and every Salesforce license in detail. So rather than doing so, we have put together a list of the remaining license categories. Note that each of these categories has multiple subcategories underneath.

• Platform Licenses.
• Identity Licenses.
• Einstein Licenses.
• Experience Cloud (Community) Licenses.
• Marketing Cloud Licenses.
• Pardot Licenses.

As a side note, Einstein licenses allow users access to AI features while the Pardot license is based on a per org model. It is often referred to as Salesforce’s bucket license. Both types of licenses have their own set of complex rules.

It’s Okay to Need Help

It is clear from the sheer number of licenses Salesforce offers that choosing the right one is not as easy as counting the number of users you have and making a selection. Different licenses and editions combine to do different things. If you find it all extremely complicated, we understand. We also want you to know that it is okay to need help.

We offer Salesforce license management services designed explicitly to help our clients make the most of Salesforce while maintaining compliance. We focus on cost optimization, improved user adoption, streamlining workflow and processes, and maintaining proper security.

Like nearly every other licensed product in business software, Salesforce is subject to audits. We recommend regular audits to ensure that you are using the right licenses and maintaining compliance with them.

If you would like to know more, or your organization is currently in need of assistance with Salesforce license management, Miro Consulting can help. We are ready to come alongside your organization to make sure you are getting the most from your Salesforce licenses.

1. Oracle no longer offers the older metrics of Processor (servers, with the core-factor applied) and Named User Plus (workstations). Even if you had originally licensed the older metrics (beginning in April 2019 and ending just prior to the adoption of the new metric), once that term ran its course (or will run its course), by default, Oracle will present only the new metric. The new metric is defined as (with Miro’s embellishment):

This has largely increased the price of the subscription. In the price list itself, the example is given for an organization with 28,000 employees. Though licensing is tiered – and there is 55% off of the “list” price of $180 per year – it would still cost $2,268,000 per year! That’s a far cry from just 500 employees (workstations) and just 100 processors which would run some $43,500 per year. Or double or even quadruple that $43,500 figure. It still pales in comparison!

2. Oracle is auditing both Oracle customers (and non-customers). For customers, this is despite Oracle Document ID 1557737.1 (login required) clearly stating that:

And (with Miro’s embellishment):

It even provides some examples!

3. And the third: Oracle is paving the way for alternatives. In a recent post, Gartner explained that:

Re-read that. Some 80% of Java applications will not be running Oracle Java in two (2) years or less!

There are many, many options out there for open-source Java. And if your IT security department or corporate policies dictate that open-source cannot be used, well, we have you covered as well.

Speaking of Oracle Java, many organizations have gone the route of updating to Oracle Java 17, which was introduced as a free-to-use (even for commercial applications) release. But did you know that this freedom currently only lasts through September 2024? That’s only five (5) months from now! And then you will have to upgrade to Java 21 – the new release that’s also free-to-use – or start paying.

You see, Oracle has committed to keep Java 17 free-to-use “… for at least one full year after the subsequent LTS version…” “LTS” means Long-Term Support whereby the support cycle is the familiar one whereas “non-LTS” releases live and die within just six (6) months. Both Java 17 and Java 21 (which became generally available in September 2023) are LTS releases.

The next LTS release will be Java 25 (which is due to become generally available in September 2025). And, if Java 21 follows in Java 17’s footsteps, it will be free-to-use until September 2026.

Contact Miro, your trusted software licensing advisor, for more information.

[1] Drawn directly from the price list dated February 1, 2024.

[2] Drawn directly from Oracle Document ID 1557737.1.

Microsoft audits are par for the course at Miro Consulting. Given that Microsoft is the most common software brand utilized by organizations worldwide, we make it our business to stay abreast with auditing policies, procedures, standards, etc. We assist our clients with license reviews and other services to guarantee audits go their way.

While you consider how our services could help your organization, here are the top five Microsoft license audit FAQs and their answers:

1. What is a Microsoft license audit?

Microsoft refers to its license audits as ‘compliance verification’. An audit is a formal and mandatory compliance review required under the terms and conditions of Microsoft’s standard software license. Organizations choosing to use Microsoft products agree to be audited when accepting licensed terms at installation.

In essence, a Microsoft audit is a thorough review designed to ensure that an organization is abiding by license terms and conditions. It does not have to be an especially lengthy process, but auditors do not leave any stones unturned.

2. Who conducts license audits?

Microsoft generally does not conduct the audits directly. Rather, they engage the services of well-known accounting firms like KPMG and Deloitte. From time to time, Microsoft has been known to bring in third-party consultants when accounting firms are not available. Regardless of who actually performs an audit, the auditing organization is tasked with looking out for Microsoft’s best interests.

3. How are audit candidates chosen?

Microsoft insists that only a limited number of organizations are chosen every year for audit. The company explains on its website that it uses a “programmatic approach” to selecting customers. That could mean just about anything. Referring to a programmatic approach is another way of saying that they do not choose customers randomly.

The most important thing to remember is that any customer with a Microsoft volume license is subject to audits. If your organization has a volume license and has not been selected for audit thus far, consider it a bonus. You may be selected at some point down the road.

4. What can an organization expect from an audit?

As soon as a customer is selected for a license audit, Microsoft sends a notification via email or letter. An initial meeting is set up between the customer, Microsoft, and the organization conducting the audit. This is usually done via telephone. Once an audit schedule is set up, the auditing organization takes over. The customer is expected to fully participate, including providing necessary documentation.

5.What is the Microsoft SAM program?

Microsoft recommends always being prepared for a potential audit by setting up a Software Asset Management (SAM) program. The program is more or less an advisory service based on current SAM standards. It provides an ongoing and complete view of a customer’s digital assets, licenses, and compliance policies and procedures. With it, an organization can know at any point in time whether it is compliant.

Microsoft chooses a select number of customers for audit every year. If your organization has never been audited, it could be in the future. Let us help with license reviews and other services. Miro Consulting exists to help organizations like yours maintain full compliance with all your software licenses. We can make sure you are prepared should you ever be chosen for a Microsoft audit.

As with all Microsoft products, Copilot is subject to compliance verification. A typical Microsoft license audit will account for every use of Microsoft products – including Microsoft 365 and Copilot. The catch is that Copilot is not even accessible from Microsoft 365 without an appropriate license.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium

The starting point for utilizing Copilot in Microsoft 365 is its existing Microsoft 365 plan. In other words, organizations need either a Standard or Premium license for Microsoft 365. Free users accessing Microsoft’s office suite through the web do not have access to Copilot. Above and beyond Microsoft 365 Standard or Premium, additional licensing is necessary as follows:

• Enterprise Deployment – Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Microsoft 365 E3, or E5 license.
• Educational Deployment – Microsoft 365 A3 or A5 (for faculty).

IT administrators can assign Copilot licenses to different users within the Microsoft 365 admin center. Doing so can be tricky, so it is advised that administrators read and understand the licensing documentation prior to doing so.

Why Organizations Might License Copilot

Based on additional costs that could be as high as $30 per user per month, and the availability of free generative AI tools, you might wonder why an organization might license Copilot for use in Microsoft 365. The answer is as simple as understanding that Copilot offers something free AI tools do not: additional training via the Microsoft 365 tenant.

Free generative AI tools are trained solely on information publicly available from the internet. All their answers are derived from internet-scraped information. Copilot has access to that same body of data. But it also has access to data generated from within the tenant’s closed environment.

Tenant data is combined with Copilot’s existing language model for better and more customized training. A tenant’s deployment of Copilot is essentially customized by training it on the tenant’s own data. In theory, this provides more accurate answers for every prompt.

Licensing and Legal Requirements

In these early stages of AI-enhanced business operations, smart executives will pay attention to licensing and legal requirements. Microsoft’s Copilot comes with a license just like any other MS product. License terms and conditions are likely to change as jurisdictions around the world implement laws dictating how AI can be utilized.

Even now, the European Union is close to finalizing the world’s first comprehensive set of AI regulations. If they are anything like the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), they will literally set the stage for future generative AI deployments. Here in the U.S., several states are currently working on their own AI regulations.

Generative AI Is Here to Stay

The reality of the situation is that generative AI is here to stay. Microsoft has introduced its Copilot project with the aim of eventually integrating it into every aspect of every product they produce. Right now, the main target is Microsoft 365. If you use Microsoft 365 and want access to Copilot, you need to have an appropriate license.

We encourage you to include Copilot licensing in your Microsoft audit preparations. An audit will look into your use of Copilot on a per user basis. Maintaining compliance with Copilot licensing is just as critical as compliance across the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem. We can help you maintain compliance with a set of Microsoft-tailored services. Contact us today to discuss your Microsoft license review.

In the latest update of their Oracle Lifetime Support Policy Oracle and Sun System Software and Operating Systems, dated January 23, 2024, there was an update.

First, it should be noticed that Solaris 11.4 Premier Support now has a date for of November 2031 for it to end (which is not really new) and Extended Support has an end date of November 2037.

Second, it should be noticed that Solaris Legacy Containers has an Extended Support of last month! So, if you find your installation has these containers, you could consider upgrading.

For your convenience, the support levels are described below:

• Premier Support – This is the level of support given all new products. It features:
  • Major product and technology releases for operating system software and integrated software (e.g., firmware)
  • Program updates, patches, fixes, security patches, and security alerts for operating system software and integrated software (e.g., firmware)
  • General maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates
  • for operating system software and integrated software (e.g., firmware)
  • Upgrade tools/scripts
  • Critical Patch Updates for Oracle Solaris operating system software
  • Certification with most new third-party products/versions and most new Oracle products
  • Assistance with service requests 24 hours per day, 7 days a week
  • Access to My Oracle Support
  • 24×7 access to Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network
  • Backport of fixes, using commercially reasonable efforts, for any Oracle Linux or Oracle
  • VM program released from Oracle within the last six (6) months
  • Right to use Oracle Management Pack for Linux
  • Right to use Oracle Clusterware for Oracle Unbreakable Linux
  • Non-technical customer service during normal business hours

• Extended Support – This is the next level of support. It features:
  • Major product and technology releases for Oracle Solaris operating system software
  • Program updates, patches, fixes, security patches, and security alerts for Oracle Solaris
  • operating system software
  • General maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates
  • for Oracle Solaris operating system software
  • Upgrade tools/scripts
  • Critical Patch Updates for Oracle Solaris operating system software
  • Assistance with service requests 24 hours per day, 7 days a week
  • Access to My Oracle Support
  • Non-technical customer service during normal business hours

But what Extended Support does not include is certification with most new third-party products/versions or most new Oracle products.

• Sustaining Support – This is the final level of support. This level features:
  • Program updates, patches, fixes, security patches and security alerts created during the Oracle Premier Support period
  • General maintenance releases, selected functionality releases and documentation updates created during the Oracle Premier Support period
  • Upgrade tools/scripts created during the Oracle Premier Support period
  • Critical patch updates for Oracle Solaris created during the Oracle Premier and Extended
  • Support period
  • Assistance with service requests, on a commercially reasonable basis, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week
  • Access to My Oracle Support 24×7 access to Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network
  • Right to use Oracle Management Pack for Linux
  • Right to use Oracle Clusterware for Oracle Unbreakable Linux
  • Non-technical customer service during normal business hours

But what Sustaining Support does not include is:

• • New program updates, patches, fixes, security patches, security alerts, critical patch
  • updates, general maintenance releases, selected functionality releases, documentation
  • updates or upgrade tools
  • Certification with most new third-party products/versions or most new Oracle products
  • 24-hour commitment and response guidelines for Severity 1 service requests
  • Previously released fixes or updates that Oracle no longer supports

Solaris Legacy Containers has its Extended Support expire, meaning this product is in Sustaining Support. If that level of support is sufficient – for example, for legacy applications that are internal and ready to decommission (meaning not to be updated), that’s fine.

Contact Miro, your trusted software licensing advisor, for more information.

Among the features:

• Core features like Active Directory, Storage, and Hyper-V
• Features that were first introduced in Azure Stack HCI and Azure Edition
• Active Directory improvements

A little more in depth:

• Some core features such as hot-patching (or not having to reboot the host server often resulting in downtime ) do not include zero-day patches or cumulative updates (they will still need to be applied quarterly). But any organizations enabling this feature will incur a subscription charge, That is in addition to the licensing and Software Assurance fees (the latter is required). Also, Azure Arc enrollment is required.
• Windows Server 2025 will introduce a new Active Directory (AD) functional level. But this change will not appear in Windows Server 2022 or in Windows Server 2019. Further, this functionality requires a Windows Server 2016 base.
• For Hyper-V GPU partitioning (making the GPU available across multiple virtual machines) requires updated hardware (supporting only certain NVIDIA A-series devices) and thus makes it for only artificial intelligence and/or machine-learning.
• There are no changes in the Remote Desktop Services space, but Windows Server 2025 will offer:
  • Networking changes
  • Container changes (portability will only support Windows Server 2022 containers)

As indicated, Windows Server 2025 is expected to be generally available later this year, carrying with it the same ten (10) year support cycle.

Microsoft has not yet announced any price changes for Windows Server 2025, but some price increase is expected, either nominal or otherwise.

See Miro’s blog on the Microsoft Products Reaching End-of-Life in or by June 2024 to become aware.

And contact Miro, your trusted software licensing advisor, for more information.