June Volume Licensing LAR Conference Call

June, 2006
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LAR Update
The Microsoft Newsletter for Large Account Resellers

Volume Licensing Updates
Microsoft® BizTalk® 2006 Exclusion of Host Integration Server® from Local Language Offerings for June
There has been a change to the local language offering of BizTalk 2006 and it will not contain Host Integration Server 2004 in the June kit.
Temporary Use Rights for Education Customers Affected by Hurricanes End June 30, 2006
On June 30, 2006, the temporary use rights for Microsoft software granted to education customers affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita will expire.
End of Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 1
Effective October 10, 2006, assisted support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) will end.
Training Available – Software Assurance MVLS Basics
This training is an overview of the MVLS (Microsoft Volume Licensing Services) tool and Software Assurance benefit activation. / Microsoft® BizTalk Sever 2006 is Available
As of May 1, 2006, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 was available for purchase.
Microsoft launches Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor 1.2 (MPLA)
The Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor v1.2 provides an enhanced user interface that enables users to begin licensing configurations from a product or selected IT Solutions view in addition to the guided help me or program configuration available today.
New Gartner Report Available
A recent Gartner report titled ‘Determining the Value of Microsoft Software Assurance’ has been added to the consolidated analyst relations external reprints page.
/ In This Issue
Microsoft® BizTalk® 2006 Exclusion of Host Integration Server® from Local Language Offerings for June
Temporary Use Rights for Education Customers Affected by Hurricanes End June 30, 2006
End of Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 1
Training Available – Software Assurance MVLS Basics
Microsoft® BizTalk Sever 2006 is Available
Microsoft launches Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor 1.2 (MPLA)
New Gartner Report Available
Other Resources
Microsoft for Partners
Microsoft.com/licensing
Product Use Rights
Product Lists

Copyright © 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, and other Microsoft products are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this document. This information is provided to help guide your authorized use of products you license; it is not your agreement. Your use of products licensed under your volume license agreement is governed by the terms and conditions of that agreement. In the case of any conflict between this information and your agreement, the terms and conditions of your agreement control

PLEASE READ

This document contains the latest Volume Licensing information, program enhancements, support tools and Q&A: It is intended for the worldwide authorized Microsoft LARs ONLY and is NOT intended for customer distribution. This document and past editions are available on https://www.explore.ms (*Company registration required)

June Volume Licensing LAR Conference Call

Please join us every month for the Microsoft® Volume Licensing LAR Conference Call

When: The third Tuesday of each month

Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM (PST)

Topics: Contents of the June 2006 LAR Update will be discussed in detail.

Audio Information: Toll Free: 866-500-6738; Toll: 203-480-8000; Passcode: 192261

Live Meeting link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=gordong115683&role=attend&pw=068397

Click on the live meeting link to attend the conference and dial-in for the audio portion of the call.

Microsoft® BizTalk® 2006 Exclusion of Host Integration Server® from Local Language Offerings for June

· Geography : Worldwide

· Audience : All Channel Partners

· Programs : Enterprise Agreement, Select License, Multi-Year Open License, Open License Value, Open License,

Academic Select License, Academic Open License, and Campus and School Agreements

Summary

There has been a change to the local language offering of BizTalk 2006 and it will not contain Host Integration Server 2004 in the June kit. This component will be shipped separately in the July kit.

Details

The English builds of BizTalk 2006 that shipped in May contained all media including HIS 2004. However, the HIS 2004 component of BizTalk for local language offerings will be included in the July kit as opposed to the scheduled June shipment.

For Select and Enterprise Agreement customers who chose not to wait until July for the local offering, the full BizTalk offering is currently available on the MVLS download site.

For further questions, please contact

Temporary Use Rights for Education Customers Affected by Hurricanes End June 30, 2006

· Geography : U.S. Only

· Audience : All Channel Partners

· Programs : Academic Select License, Academic Open License, and Campus and School Agreements

Summary

On June 30, 2006, the temporary use rights for Microsoft software granted to education customers affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita will expire. By such date, customers must either order the additional licenses or remove the software.

Details

To provide relief to customers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita (Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas), Microsoft offered our customers with Microsoft Academic Volume Licensing agreements temporary rights for the use of any Microsoft software available through Microsoft Volume Licensing until June 30, 2006, with an option to cancel or extend the rights to use the software after that date.

In accordance with the temporary use authorization, by June 30, 2006 customers who took advantage of these temporary use rights must either acquire licenses for the products they wish to continue using through a new or existing volume licensing agreement, or remove the software from the devices or servers on which it is being used.

Call to Action

Please contact your affected customers and provide the assistance they need to make this transition.

Resources

More information, including a downloadable copy of the temporary use authorization letter, is available at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/hurricanerecovery/default.mspx.

End of Support for Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 1

· Geography : Worldwide

· Audience : All Channel Partners

· Programs : Enterprise Agreement, Select License, Multi-Year Open License, Open License Value, Open License,

Academic Select License, Academic Open License, and Campus and School Agreements

Summary

Effective October 10, 2006, assisted support for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) will end. After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide any incident support or security updates. To enhance the security of your computer, maintain eligibility for continued support and to continue receiving updates, customers need to move to a supported OS level. Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) to provide a higher level of security to their systems. To learn more about upgrade to Windows XP SP2 and the technical support provided at no-charge for issues related to downloading and installing the service pack, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/SP2.

To review all the publicly disclosed End of Support dates as part of the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy, visit http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle

Training Available – Software Assurance MVLS Basics

· Geography : Worldwide

· Audience : All Channel Partners

Summary

This training is an overview of the MVLS (Microsoft Volume Licensing Services) tool and Software Assurance benefit activation. By viewing this training you will get a basic understanding of MVLS, how to activate Software Assurance benefits and work with your customers as a virtual benefit administrator.

Calls to Action

View the Software Assurance MVLS Basics training replay at: http://www.livemeeting.com/cc/partners1/view?id=4210&role=attend&pw=22571b

Microsoft® BizTalk Sever 2006 is Available

· Geography : Worldwide

· Audience : All Channel Partners

· Programs : Enterprise Agreement, Select License, Multi-Year Open License, Open License Value, Open License,

Academic Select License, Academic Open License, Campus and School Agreements and ISV Royalty

Summary

As of May 1, 2006, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 was available for purchase. Along with several new enhancements, BizTalk Server 2006 now allows you to access non-Microsoft Line of Business Applications. Additionally, Microsoft Host Integration Server 2004 Enterprise Edition is included with a license of BizTalk Server.

Details

Microsoft's premiere server for building solutions for business process and integration is now available! BizTalk Server 2006, the fourth major version of the product, includes new capabilities and engine improvements that allow a developer to create more flexible solutions for integrated business processes. Additionally, BizTalk 2006 empowers and enables administrators and business users to more effectively monitor ongoing business processes.

¨ New Functionality: BizTalk Server is delivering more functionality in the box than any other single product on the market. For a complete list of what’s new, click here. Some of the new functionality includes:

· Line of business adapters including SAP, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Oracle, and TIBCO

· Host Integration Server 2004 Enterprise Edition/Mainframe and Mid-range Connectivity

· Unified Management Console

· Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) Portal

· Business Alerting

¨ Price: The price of BizTalk 2006 has increased as of May 1, 2006.

· Enterprise Edition: $29,999

· Standard Edition: $8,499

· Developer Edition: $499 per user (free with MSDN Universal)

For further details on pricing and licensing and Frequently Asked Questions, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk/howtobuy/default.mspx

¨ Discontinued Editions:

BizTalk Server Partner Edition is no longer available as part of the BizTalk Server 2006 release. Customers looking for BizTalk Server Partner Edition functionality should purchase BizTalk Server Standard Edition.

¨ Languages: BizTalk Server 2006 is offered in the following localized version are available as of June 1, 2006:

· Japanese

· French

· German

· Chinese Simplified

· Chinese Traditional

· Italian

· Korean

· Spanish

For more information visit: http://www.microsoft.com/biztalk

Microsoft launches Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor 1.2 (MPLA)

· Geography : Worldwide

· Audience : All Channel Partners

· Programs : Mid Market Segment

Summary

The Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor v1.2 provides an enhanced user interface that enables users to begin licensing configurations from a product or selected IT Solutions view in addition to the guided help me or program configuration available today. The updated version of this tool will maximize customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. This release provides live chat functionality in English to provide just-in-time answers to customer queries about products/programs. The Microsoft Product Licensing Advisor V1.2 target launch date is June 15, 2006 in English only and the user interface will be localized in Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazilian), Simplified Chinese, Korean, German, Italian, Danish and Portuguese (Portugal) with a target launch date of June 22, 2006.

Benefits for Customers and Partners

1. Increase Customer Satisfaction through Extended Configuration Functionality

2. Flexible product licensing configuration abilities (begin with products or an IT Solution) increases customer usability

3. User-interface localization provides deeper reach to mid-market IT Professionals in more markets

4. New Wizard-driven help identifies applicable product versions

5. Product recommendations showcase value of Microsoft's full portfolio of products

6. English-speaking chat functionality quickly connects users to Microsoft Support Professionals

7. Unique quote IDs help Microsoft partners to quickly understand customer needs

8. Product Use Rights, Product Specific Info, and other features link customers with a valuable licensing knowledge resource

Additional product and launch information will be made available in early June 2006.

New Gartner Report Available

· Geography : Worldwide

· Audience : All Channel Partners

Summary

A recent Gartner report titled ‘Determining the Value of Microsoft Software Assurance’ has been added to the consolidated analyst relations external reprints page. This report can be shared externally with customers, partners and media.

Call to Action

View the report at http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/microsoft/vol3/article7/article7.html and share the report with customers. Use language below to communicate about these reports directly to customers.

Note that you cannot use ‘Gartner’ in the subject line of the mail.

Dear <Customer Name>,

I wanted to draw your attention to a recent report published by Gartner (www.gartner.com) that provides their independent assessment of Microsoft’s Software Assurance offering. The report, entitled “Determining the Value of Microsoft Software Assurance,” provides a solid objective view of the components of this product offering and insight into the value proposition for each:

“This research looks at the total SA package, analyzes each benefit in the respective phase of the software life cycle it supports, and provides advice as to the value of each.”

http://mediaproducts.gartner.com/reprints/microsoft/vol3/article7/article7.html

Additional analyst reports published by Gartner and other prominent analyst firms can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/itanalyst/default.mspx

I would be happy to discuss this and Microsoft’s differentiating strategy further at your convenience.