December News Round-up | Licensing and partner updates, Licensing Blitz Day, plus Azure Webcasts

Every month, we round up hosting and cloud service provider news you might have missed. Sign up for our monthly Microsoft Hosting and Cloud Newsletter to get the most current news delivered to your inbox.  

Cloud Channel Network Webcasts

Check out recent and upcoming webcasts for cloud and hosting service providers at www.cloudchannelnetwork.com.  If you are a Cloud Channel Network member,  sign in and click "update preferences" from the top toolbar to add the sessions. If you are not a member of the network, register and select the webcasts or topics you would like to attend.

Azure: Learn About the New Azure Advance Training Initiative
12/6/2016 8:00AM - 9:00AM PST
Audience: Technical Professionals
Cloud Channel Network members: watch on-demand

Digital transformation and the explosive growth of the public and multi-cloud exposes a shortage of people with the right skills. Microsoft is investing big to help you develop the critical Azure and multi-cloud skills to succeed in this changing technology landscape.

Featured Speakers: Greg Olsby, Microsoft Technical Sales Excellence Manager, and Eduardo Kassner, Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft Hosting & Manager Service Provider Team

Licensing Blitz Day - December 14 |  FY17 Q2 Quarterly Licensing Brief
12/14/2016 8:00AM - 9:00AM PST

Audience: Licensing Professionals
Cloud Channel Network members: add to calendar or join live or on-demand

Attend our upcoming Quarterly Licensing Briefing for Service Providers and Resellers. We provide licensing updates to the SPLA & CSP programs. This also includes updates to Volume Licensing programs that the hosting community care about. We welcome your licensing questions about any topic in these very popular sessions!

Featured Speakers: Michael Chacon and Nicole Palko, Microsoft Senior Licensing Specialists

Compliance Conversation Starters for SPLA Resellers
12/14/2016 11:00AM - 11:30AM PST
Audience: Licensing Professionals
Cloud Channel Network members: add to calendar or join live or on-demand

Microsoft created new info sheets to help SPLA resellers start the compliance conversation with service providers. These slicks share licensing best practices that service providers need to know to stay in compliance with the SPLA license program. Microsoft field teams contributed their learnings from actual verification checks. In this session, we will identify common licensing pitfalls that service providers can avoid, as well as other compliance best practices.

On Demand webcasts
Don't miss the most recent Azure-related webcasts:

  • Azure: BaaS and DRaaS for Service Providers
  • Azure: Pitch Perfect for Service Providers
  • Azure: Scenarios for Hosting Service Providers
  • Azure: Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery Deployment and Resources
  • Azure: SQL on IaaS Deployment and Resources

Licensing news

BizTalk Server 2016 in SPLA
BizTalk Server 2016 launches in SPLA in this month. BizTalk product editions remain available in the December SPUR: BizTalk Server 2016 Enterprise, BizTalk Server 2016 Standard, BizTalk Server 2016 Branch. There are no changes to the part numbers nor changes to the reseller prices for BizTalk Server. The existing license model remains in effect except the core factor table is no longer required to determine the number required BizTalk Server 2016 licenses. Product details are available here.

Solution news

Enterprise Mobility + Security Campaign & Sales Assets
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite is now Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS). It provides an identity-driven security solution that offers a holistic approach to the security challenges in this mobile-first, cloud-first era. The materials in this campaign will help you understand and position the value of EMS to your customers. Leverage a Small Business Partner Toolkit (including readiness guidance, training, sales tools), EM+S Solution Selling Hub, a Partner FAQ and more.
Learn more  Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) log in required

Partner news

New Case Study Video: Rackspace Video Case using SQL Server 2016 
SQL 2016 brings innovative solutions to Rackspace’s “Fanatical Support” mantra. Watch the video to learn how:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcLX\_-qpW5A

Azure case studies
Two featured cloud and hosting service providers are serving their customers and are telling their story:

SaaSplaza in Africa uses Azure to modernize their small business economy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5NE2k5dW8Y

Inframon, an early adopter of CSP for Azure, explains how their Services business has been transformed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tefKtQ9QzEY

Datapipe has “operational empathy” for a client’s needs, and uses Azure for its hybrid capabilities. Read the case study.