Since 1 October 2019, so-called "listed providers" of Microsoft are only allowed to offer three forms of licensing. Licence mobility with SA, Azure Hybrid and Server provider licence agreement. This means that on-premises work can hardly be done even if the end customer would want it. Fortunately, there is a solution.
What is a Listed Provider?
Listed providers are a group, labelled by Microsoft, of different services. To throw in one more term, this specifically refers to outsourcing providers. So these are providers that have their own services but also need to use Microsoft and its software to get the services running properly. Examples include Google and Azure.
Why is this detrimental?
As is well known, Microsoft already pretty much owns a monopoly. By dictating that these listed providers are only allowed to use cloud or hybrid software solutions, they exclude alternative solutions and push provider customers into a corner where costs favor Microsoft. This is because the monthly costs are still regularly increased and once you have it in your business, it is also complicated to switch back again. In this way, you also become dependent on them through services outside Microsoft.
What can be done about this?
Softtrader, together with a partner (it must be said), has found a kind of loophole that can help end users in particular to avoid the high monthly costs. Indeed, Microsoft's statement came out on 1 October 2019 but still does not affect the licenses released for it. Microsoft Server Standard & Datacenter were launched before this date. So these may already be used as local hosts for the service offered by other providers instead of the more expensive licenses Microsoft is pushing providers towards. In addition, the extended support is from Server 2019 to Oct 2029. So not only is it a solution when monthly costs threaten to get too high. For the long term (almost 7 years), you no longer have to worry about a host that needs to be purchased.
Here you can read more about the advantages and disadvantages on-premise licenses.
Conclusion
So are you planning to go into business with one of Microsoft's Listed providers, do you already do so or do you need to update/upgrade soon? Then consult the provider whether they can offer the same service if you host the server internally. After all, if this is possible, you only need to buy a server/datacenter license once! This can save huge costs for the next 7 years and who doesn't want that?
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