Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The following was sent to all SA Benefit Administrators & SA Benefit Primary Contacts:

Microsoft is retiring two Software Assurance benefits that have similar offerings outside of Software Assurance and changing the eligibility criteria for a third benefit. Specifically:

1. We’ll retire the Deployment Planning Services benefit and fulfill your implementation needs through Microsoft’s premier cloud migration and deployment program Microsoft FastTrack.

2. Microsoft is investing in new, modern skilling programs. Training vouchers will be phased out as a Software Assurance benefit and will no longer be used to convert to planning services.

3. We’re adjusting the eligibility criteria of 24×7 support and changing support allocations to align Software Assurance support with Microsoft’s new Unified Support offering.

The first of these changes go into effect in February 2020, with the remaining changes gradually rolled-out through Jan 1 2022, to give your organization time to accrue and use your remaining planning days, training vouchers, and support incidents. You can find details on each benefit change and timeline for benefit allocation and use deadlines here.

Software Assurance continues to offer a set of helpful benefits coordinated across software and cloud to support your organization’s deployment, management and support needs. Contact your Microsoft sales professional for more details. You can see a full list of benefits and eligibility at https://www.microsoft.com/licensing, and learn more about FastTrack, Microsoft Learn, and Microsoft Support.

The public statement of these changes are highlighted on the following page under each of the SA benefits tabs:

• Microsoft Software Assurance Benefits
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/licensing-programs/software-assurance-by-benefits