Over the last few months, you may have heard about various changes within TechSoup New Zealand's Microsoft program.
These changes can be confusing since many of them require you to have detailed knowledge about administrative systems, licensing, and deployment. We feel it's our job to help you make the decisions that are best for your organisation.
In what follows, we'll walk you through the key elements of these changes so that you can best prepare your organisation for what's ahead.
Important Changes to the Microsoft Program That You Need to Know
- In December, Microsoft will be consolidating its licensing platforms, which will provide organisations with a consistent way to manage all licenses (cloud and on-premises) in one administrative view. This change will require the Microsoft Discount Program to be offline from 14 December, 2021 to 5 January, 2022. The Microsoft Donation Program will be offline from 29 December, 2021 to 5 January, 2022.
- After 29 December, 2021 many popular on-premises Microsoft products will no longer be available through the Donations Program. Some on-premises products will be available via the Discount Program after this date at 3-5 times the current donation pricing. You can view the products which are leaving the Donation Program below.
- Windows Upgrade Full Operating System – Get Genuine
- Microsoft Access
- Visual Studio Test Professional with MSDN
- Windows Server Essentials
- Dynamics 365 for Customer Service On-Prem User CAL
- Dynamics 365 for Sales On-Prem User CAL
- Dynamics 365 for Team Members On-Prem User CAL
If you want to purchase Microsoft licences, we highly recommend you utilise the Donation Program well before 29 December, 2021. After that, the same products will only be available through the Discount Program at 3-5 times the current donation pricing.
*Existing on-premises licences will not be impacted by these changes.
*Existing cloud (Office 365) subscriptions will not be impacted by these changes.
New process for requesting on-premises licences and how to download them
- After January 5, 2022 a new process for requesting on-premises products takes effect. To request Microsoft products from TechSoup New Zealand, your organisation will need a Microsoft for Nonprofits account. Microsoft will verify your organisation’s eligibility. You’ll then need to give TechSoup New Zealand consent to provide you with your requested licenses. You will have five days to download the software that you've requested. If you miss this period, we'll be able to provide you with a new download link.
Additionally, Microsoft will only offer current versions of most products. You will no longer be able to automatically downgrade to earlier versions of the products that you requested from TechSoup New Zealand. Donated Microsoft products will no longer include Software Assurance benefits. This applies only to Microsoft products in our catalogue labelled "Donation". If you need Software Assurance, you will be able to request it separately. Discounted Microsoft products with Software Assurance will still be available.
View this video to understand the new order process for Microsoft on-premises products.
On-premises products no longer available as a donation
- After April 4, 2022 on-premises donated software (outside of some exceptions) will only be available at not-for-profit discount pricing. Microsoft will thereafter focus its donations to the not-for-profit sector in cloud solutions.
Key Dates That May Impact Your Year-End Plans
Our recommendations
- Take advantage of Microsoft Donations before it's too late. Your organisation will be able to access the current Microsoft Donation Program up until 4 April, 2022. However, after 29 December, 2021 the Donations Program will no longer offer many popular Microsoft on-premises products (including Windows Get Genuine Operating System). We highly recommend that you access the current Microsoft Donation Program before 29 December if you rely on on-premise licences to power your organisation.
- Consider the cloud. Organisations will continue to be able to request Microsoft cloud products like Office 365 through TechSoup New Zealand. These offers provide the same functionality as the on-premises tools, often with more robust, secure, and resilient features.
Get in contact
We understand that these changes may have an impact on IT planning and budgeting for your organisation, and we are here to help. Enquire here or call 09 8870 291 and we can help answer your questions and provide you with recommendations tailored to the needs of your organisation.