MS Office Licensing

[julian2]

Hi,

I'm finding it really hard to get any info out of MS (both the help line or their web site). I'm trying to work out licensing costs for Microsoft products. I pretty much have the guest OS covered using the Microsoft VDA license. There's lots of easily available info on their web site about that. Now I'm trying to work out how to license Office running within the VM. The VDA documentation says you need to use Volume Licensing for Office in VDI, but doesn't say how to calculate the number of licenses. For example if I have 100 users, with 50 thin clients (end devices) and 25 virtual desktops. How many licenses do I need?

TIA!

Julian.

[julian2]

I've found some more information.

Microsoft Volume Licensing Reference Guide (PDF 2.07 MB) - In this guide on page 53 there is the following quote:

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Desktop PC Applications—Per-Device License
You must acquire a license for each device using the software (locally or remotely over a network). You may install any number of copies and any prior version on the device or on a network device to support that use. You may also install those copies on the host operating system or in a virtual hardware system.

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(My emphasis added above).

So does that mean I need a license for each VM and each Thin Client? Or just for each VM?

I need a Microsoft document I can cite as a reference.

Again, any help is appreciated!

[julian2]

I think I have found it!

From this page: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/software-assurance/windows-virtualization.aspx

I found this link: Software Assurance Desktop Virtualization brochure (PDF 1.7 MB)

With this quote:

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License thin clients with Windows VDA and Office.
Certain devices, such as thin clients, do not qualify for Software Assurance coverage for Windows. To license these devices for use with VDI you will need Windows VDA. Every device accessing Office via VDI needs an Office license, whether it’s a thin client or a traditional PC.

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So it's licensed per access device (Thin Client).