Windows 10: New Subscription Options for Windows 10 and Surface for Businesses

Brink · Jul 11, 2016

Today, I will speak to thousands of our partners at the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Toronto. WPC is our largest partner conference of the year, bringing together over 15,000 attendees from around the globe to increase partner profitability and accelerate business growth. It’s exciting to see the energy and creativity from our partners and we have several new opportunities to share with them today, including new subscription service offerings for Windows 10 and Surface.

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New solutions are required as it’s a unique time for all of us. We’re in the midst of a digital revolution – overwhelmed with data, with increasing risks to the security of our information, and confined inside a 2D world of monitors and pixels as technology takes over every aspect of our business and personal lives. The digital revolution creates the opportunity for a digital transformation, with all new ways to engage customers, empower employees, optimize operations, and transform products.

We will help enable digital transformation by delivering more personal computing across Windows and our devices. With this next wave of computing, all new opportunities are available for our partners – across Windows, Surface, Surface Hub, and Microsoft HoloLens.

Introducing Windows 10 Enterprise E3 for CSP

More than 350 million active devices are running Windows 10 and our business customers are moving faster than ever before, with more than 96% of them in active pilots. And, Windows 10 customers are already experiencing improved productivity and cost savings with an average ROI of 188% with a 13-month payback.*

In most instances, organizations are moving quickly to Windows 10 due to the heightened security risks they face and the industry-leading security features in Windows 10 that can help protect them. Companies of all sizes face real security threats from sophisticated hackers and cyber-terrorists, costing an average of $12 million an incident. In the US alone there are more than 56 million small to mid-sized businesses, in critical sectors like healthcare, legal and financial services that need strong security similar to what our large enterprise customers get through volume licensing agreements.

Today, we are announcing Windows 10 Enterprise E3 in CSP. Starting this fall, businesses can get enterprise-grade security and management capabilities at just $7 a seat per month for the first time through the Cloud Solution Provider channel.

CSP partners will be able to provide a subscription to Windows 10 Enterprise Edition as part of a managed service offering, which is ideal for businesses who do not have dedicated IT resources or limited IT staff, and want their licensing and IT needs managed by a trusted and experienced partner.

Partners can now offer their business customers the ‘full IT stack’ from Microsoft, including Windows 10, Office 365, Dynamics Azure and CRM as a per user, per month offering through a single channel, which businesses can scale up or down as their needs change. Key features include:

Increased Security: Offering the sophisticated security features of Windows 10 to help businesses secure sensitive data and identities, help ensure devices are protected from cybersecurity threats, give employees the freedom and flexibility to access sensitive data on a variety of devices, and help ensure controlled access to highly-sensitive data.

Simplified Licensing & Deployment: Helping businesses lower up-front costs, eliminating the need for time-consuming device counting and audits, and making it easier to stay compliant with a subscription-based, per-user licensing model. This new offering allows businesses to easily move from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Enterprise E3 without rebooting.

Partner-managed IT: Configuring and managing devices by a partner experienced in Windows 10 and cloud deployments. Partners can also help businesses develop a device security and management strategy with the unique features of Windows 10. Businesses can view subscriptions and usage for Windows 10 Enterprise, and any other Microsoft cloud services purchased, in their partner portal for easier management with one contract, one user account, one support contact, and one simplified bill.

Windows 10 Enterprise continues to be available through our regular licensing programs and is part of our newly-announced suites Secure Productive Enterprise E3 and E5 launching later this year.

Introducing the Surface as a Service Program and Additions to the Surface Enterprise Initiative

The digital revolution is changing the traditional workplace environment, making us more reliant on our peers to share knowledge and work together; while more people are working remotely and need to be productive from anywhere. And, the workforce demographic is shifting towards millennials who are more collaborative, multi-task more, and use multiple devices.

We continue to invest in our Surface family of products because we have seen how innovative devices shift people’s behavior, inspire ideas, catalyze collaboration, accelerate progress, and transform business. And in the past year, the Surface business has grown from generating $1B in revenue in a year to $1B in revenue per quarter. With our growing portfolio, we are creating not just great devices, but breakthrough categories that open up a world of new opportunities for partners to build capabilities in new areas, and to create solutions and services for customers. This year, we are investing in programs that increase partner revenue and profitability.

Today we are expanding the Surface Enterprise Initiative with a set of new partnerships and programs that will empower our customers of all sizes – from SMBs to multi-national enterprises – to transform the way their people and the organizations work.

Today, we announced the ability to sell Surface as a Service. Now our Cloud Solution Providers (who are also Surface Authorized Distributors) can offer Surface devices through a managed service offering to all of our resellers and customers, alongside managed cloud services, Office 365, Windows 10, and relevant ISV software. This new offering enables flexibility of solutions, faster device refresh and ensures customers can have the latest Surface devices that evolve with the best Windows and Office have to offer. We launched this program with ALSO, a leading CSP out of Europe, and look forward to working with other partners to expand this program globally

Today we also announced an expansion of our Surface Multi-National Purchasing Program with the addition of CDW, Insight, SHI and Zones. Now, each of these resellers can provide their enterprise customers Surface devices and accessories. As a result, enterprise customers can have added choice in how they purchase Surface devices, benefit from a streamlined path for getting Surface on company-wide standards lists, and see cross-country adoption for line of business scenarios.

Last year, we announced a partnership with Dell as part of our Surface Enterprise Initiative – and we’ve seen great results. Since then, our customer and partners have told us they need help creating tailored solutions that digitize workflow across core business processes. A transformation like that requires Surface devices that are not only highly portable, powerful and versatile, but also bring the industry leading security and productivity capabilities of Windows 10. Today we announced an expansion to the Surface Enterprise Initiative with two new partnerships with IBM and Booz Allen Hamilton to deliver industry specific solutions to our shared customers. IBM will draw on their data and analytics expertise to create new industry-specific solutions for the financial services and consumer packaged goods sectors that take advantage of the unique capabilities of Surface devices. Booz Allen Hamilton will develop scalable and more secure solutions for Governments, the Public Sector and Healthcare.

“We see an immense opportunity to help our customers meet their business goals with Windows 10 Enterprise E3 in CSP and the Surface as a service program. Now, we’ll be able to offer a complete managed service workplace solution from device to operating system to productivity with a level of scale not previously possible.”
— Gustavo Möller-Hergt, CEO, Chairman, ALSO

These new programs and partnerships, combined with our network of more than 5000 business resellers provide great opportunities for our partners and for our customers to transform their businesses to a more modern way of working.

Opportunities for Microsoft HoloLens

More personal computing is enabled by the devices of today and by the potential of all new ways of interacting. Mixed reality will enable us to connect better with each other, where people – not devices – are the center of everything, and where technology no longer gets in our way and embraces who we are. By 2020, 80 million mixed reality, virtual reality and augmented reality devices will be shipping every year. And we recently opened Windows Holographic to make it easy for our partners to build an ecosystem with us. Microsoft HoloLens is already enabling mixed reality experiences – changing the way cars are designed at companies like Volvo, redefining how medical students learn at universities like Case Western Reserve, and helping scientists explore the surface of Mars.

Our agency partners around the world are building incredible mixed reality experiences using Microsoft HoloLens. You can see some of their incredible work in this video.

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Today, PGA TOUR CIO Steve Evans and Vice President of Digital Operations, Scott Gutterman, joined me to show how the PGA Tour is embracing Windows 10 and Microsoft HoloLens. Assisted by Microsoft Partner CDW, the PGA TOUR is an early adopter of Windows 10, deployed to over 60% of their devices, with a goal of 100% by the end of this summer. They’ve built custom apps on the Universal Windows Platform to enable volunteers to track scoring and statistical information for every shot on every hole, and for fans to use the Windows 10 Tournament Companion app to track tournament data in real-time to get deeper insights. Working with Taqtile, the PGA TOUR built a solution on Microsoft HoloLens for golf pros, enthusiasts and fans.

“Microsoft HoloLens is an amazing tool for golf course design and for planning major events on each course. It is an incredible opportunity for players and caddies to plan their attack on a course, visually identifying the best tee-off locations and hazards and reviewing how they played each hole after the round is complete. Finally, a shared HoloLens experience provides valuable coaching for a class of golfers to learn how to approach different courses and scenarios,”
— PGA TOUR Senior Vice President and CIO Steve Evans

Windows 10 is off to a great start and we’re excited to see business customers embracing it faster than ever before. With all new ways of selling Windows 10 and Surface, and with incredible innovation on the horizon – we’re excited to create all new opportunities for our partners. We can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

Yusuf
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Source: Announcing New Subscription Options for Windows 10 and Surface for Businesses | Windows Experience Blog

ARC1020 · Jul 11, 2016

First thoughts were "Mmm, Hololens Phone..."

Then it occurred to me, if it's a Hololens phone, why wouldn't you make the phone have a 24" screen. Then it occurred to me, if we're in the realms of Hololens, why would you even need to hold a phone. *Eek

:)

Andre Da Costa · Jul 11, 2016

Can we applied license of windows10 just like office 365pro if we take "Microsoft 365 Business"?

Microsoft 365 Business is a subscription, which means, the Windows 10 licenses included with it are not permanent.

Here is an explanation of how it works:

Microsoft wraps cloud subscription services into new Microsoft 365 bundles | ZDNet

The Microsoft 365 version of Windows 10 is known as Windows 10 Enterprise E3 or E5 and is also a subscription only. It requires having a machine already preinstalled with Windows 10 Pro.

Microsoft Introduces Windows 10 Enterprise Subscriptions - groovyPost

JohnLawrenceIII · Jul 11, 2016

Windows 10 IS NOT for businesses.

Is it just me or does anyone else in business think that Windows 10 is just about the worse version of Windows for running a company? The company I work for uses Windows 7 because it is the one best suited for businesses. I would still be using XP if Microsoft
still supported it. Businesses don't need all the "fluff" that Microsoft put into Windows 8 and 10. I can only conclude that the executives at Microsoft are idiots and don't really care what's best for businesses. They want everyone on 10 no matter what. Personally,
I'm about ready to recommend to the boss that we dump Microsoft and go to Linux. There's been a lot of improvements in it in the last couple of years and there isn't any one person to make stupid decisions concerning it.

dmex · Jul 14, 2016

"just $7 a seat per month"

Why would anyone pay money every month just to use their own hardware? Seems like a terrible idea.

alphanumeric · Apr 4, 2018

"just $7 a seat per month"

Why would anyone pay money every month just to use their own hardware? Seems like a terrible idea.
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You also get enterprise-grade security and management capabilities. If your a small business it could be cost effective instead of having to pay a full salary to someone that could spend most of his or her time, just waiting for something to happen. Also Enterprise versions of Windows do not have the buy once use forever option like the consumer versions. Your going to have to pay for licensing anyway. This new option could be cheaper than how it is currently. It's not something the average consumer is going to enroll in, as far as I can see anyway.

Windows 10: New Subscription Options for Windows 10 and Surface for Businesses

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