Software Assurance is a major component of many Microsoft licensing programs. The Licensing Concierges, a team that is unique to Connection’s Microsoft Center of Excellence, keep track of all the changes happening to the Software Assurance benefits, so you can take advantage of them at the right time. Today, we wanted to let you know about a few changes that are happening to the Software Assurance benefits, so you can take timely action.
Changes to the Home Use Program:
Last year, Microsoft announced that the Home Use Program (HUP) management portal will be changed from VLSC to Microsoft Store for Business. In the initial announcement, the final date for migration was in January 2019. Later, the date was extended to April 2019. In a recent announcement, Microsoft informed us that the migration date has now been extended to May 13, 2019. You can keep using VLSC to activate HUP benefits for your employees until May 13. After May 13, 2019, you will need to go to the Microsoft Store for Business to register your organization and manage HUP.
Apart from the portal change, there are also changes in benefits:
- There is now an option to purchase Office 365 Home or Personal Plans at a discount of 30% off MSRP. Office 365 Home covers up to 6 users, and Office 365 Personal covers 1 user on unlimited devices.
- Office Professional Plus 2019 and Office Home and Business 2019 are now available to purchase for $14.99. Microsoft has announced they will only be available until June 30, 2019. Starting July 1, 2019, the only option to purchase the Office suite will be through the Office 365 offerings.
- Project Professional 2019 and Visio Professional 2019 are available to be purchased for $14.99 each and will continue to be available after the Office 2019 suites are retired.
Related: What you Need to Know About the Latest Microsoft SA Changes
Microsoft E-Learning Replaced by Microsoft Learn
Another recent change that came to the Software Assurance benefits has to do with E-Learning. In mid-2018, Microsoft retired the old E-Learning platforms for SA customers. Users were asked to complete their current courses before July 1, 2018. In October, 2018 Microsoft announced that E-Learning will no longer be tied to SA as a benefit and will be available to all Microsoft users. If your organization has legacy E-Learning SAB, you no longer need to activate E-Leaning benefits or provide codes to your end users for registration. There are currently 5 different sites where users can register to take courses based on the subject matter.
If you need help understanding what these changes mean for your organization, reach out to our licensing experts today.They can also help guide you through the HUP portal migration.
Sreeraj Vasukuttan
Sreeraj Vasukuttan is a Technical Marketing Manager at Connection with a passion for technology and marketing. He enjoys writing about cloud, security, and end-user compute. In his free time, he loves watching films, cooking, and traveling with his family.
