Microsoft Licensing - Upgraded License Advisor Again?

A while back, Microsoft finally released the new Microsoft License Advisor.

We have mentioned it before:

• The Licensing Muddle - Here is the Cure - Microsoft Licensing Advisor
• Microsoft Volume Licensing - The Configurator is Back ... kinda

Up until now, the Advisor was working really well. We could choose the applicable Licensing Program and then go through and choose the needed products along with Software Assurance if needed.

Today, we have a situation where a client with an existing Microsoft Open Value Licensing Agreement needs to add a product to the agreement. They are still in year 1 of the 3 year agreement.

The first thing we noticed is that the interface has been changed. And, in our opinion, not for the better.

After choosing our country, the Open Value program within the Quick Report, and then not licensing company wide option, we are presented with the list of products:

List of products: 6 at a time!

We have to keep on clicking the Next button at the top right of the products list to "scroll" through them. The pause in between each group of 6 is painfully slow too!

Change the "Filter Products" option at the top left of the products list to "All", and we still only see 6 products at a time!

At least with the previous License Advisor generation/version when we selected "All" we would get the entire list to scroll through with a Scroll Bar. The second referenced previous post above has a screen shot of the previous Advisor Web interface.

So, after "scrolling" through all of the products to find and select the one we need, we click the Next button at the bottom right to generate the report and we were greeted with:

Warning!
Sorry but your report does not meet the minimum requirements for your selected program

Um, we are looking for an additional license here folks.

Since the core logic of the Advisor is seemingly setup to meet the minimum number of licenses required for a new order, perhaps the question should be asked at the beginning: Are you starting a new Agreement today or adding to an existing one? "Yes" or "No".

And, come to think of it, when it comes to Open Value Licenses, once it is established that there is an existing agreement in place, the question should be asked: Are you in the first, second, or third year of the Agreement. This would help to narrow down the part number results to the correct ones for the given year of the Agreement.

This means that for now, we need to keep in mind that we have to add enough licenses to meet the minimum which is 5. And, remember to do that every time we need an additional license! ;)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

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