Microsoft Licensing and its optimization with AWS migrations
How SPIRIT/21 Can Help You Optimize Microsoft Licensing When Migrating to AWS
One of the key things to consider when moving from an on-premises model to a cloud-based approach is the implication for your organization’s software licensing. Whether it’s databases or operating systems, ERP, or other applications, the licensing terms for on-premises software are likely to differ significantly when they run in the cloud.
This is because they’re based on different business models. On-premises software often has more traditional licensing in which an upfront fee is paid to use the application for a set period, with any changes or alterations often not included. With cloud-native software, organizations pay a subscription fee to access the software as well as additional costs depending on usage. This subscription-based licensing model helps to change the architecture from one service or vendor to another.
Moving from the traditional software licensing approach to a cloud-based approach can therefore be complicated and difficult to understand. You can help to shape the business case and avoid potential penalties by considering your existing licenses: Can they be used in the cloud environment? How? Which scenario is the most (cost) efficient way to use existing licenses? How should you consume new licenses?
Each Software Vendor is Different
Organizations looking to move applications into the cloud can find it challenging to get an overview of the different elements of their infrastructure. They can also find it difficult to understand the different licensing and contract terms they must deal with to migrate into the cloud.
Each software vendor will take a slightly different approach to licensing, with terms and conditions varying depending on the product and the date the contract was signed.
When you are trying to understand the licensing implications of migrating into the cloud, it’s important to have access to expertise in the relevant software licensing specifications and cloud provider possibilities.
The Benefits of an OLA With Microsoft Expertise
An AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) from SPIRIT/21 will provide organizations with the guidance they need. The OLA evaluates the existing infrastructure to get a clear view of the infrastructure data and to prepare a business case and migration plan.
It also provides a transparent illustration of the current licensing situation’s risks and modernization requirements, as shown in the table on the left:
The OLA gives customers an overview of their actual infrastructure and how technology is currently used on-premises. It can then suggest a right-sized cloud environment to suit business needs and reduce costs.
For the countless customer organizations that work with Microsoft technology, SPIRIT/21 offers deep expertise in Microsoft technologies and licensing. This means that our OLA offering provides a powerful way to develop a cost-effective migration plan that’s tailored to customers’ workload requirements.
Accelerate your Cloud Migration with SPIRIT/21’s Microsoft Know-how
A SPIRIT/21 OLA will demonstrate how clients can save licensing costs for Microsoft products such as Windows Servers and Microsoft SQL Servers. It does this by showing—right at the start of the migration to AWS—how licenses and AWS services can be used most efficiently.
By right-sizing the infrastructure, SPIRIT/21 can reduce the amount of memory, cores, servers, or storage needed all while saving license, resource, and migration costs. We can also make recommendations around different licensing approaches, such as bring-your-own-license (BYOL).
For example, a customer with 700 on-premises servers saved 55 percent on costs by using Windows licenses provided by AWS in combination with a BYOL approach for SQL Server. In addition, it could save a total of 65 percent in costs by using dedicated host servers in conjunction with existing licenses for Windows and SQL Server.
The years of knowledge we have gathered around Microsoft products and AWS technologies can help your organization move your Microsoft technology to AWS in the most cost-effective and efficient manner.
Learn more
When companies consider migrating workloads to Amazon Web Services (AWS), it can be a major challenge to determine what should be moved, and how the workloads are sized in the cloud to fully realize their business goals. Organizations need to understand the implications of moving workloads, both in terms of how their systems and applications will work in the new environment, and also in terms of what this will mean for the licensing of the technology they use. In order to prepare a business case and a migration plan, one first needs to evaluate the existing infrastructure and get a clear view of the infrastructure data. An Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) does exactly this.
When migrating to the AWS Cloud, it is important to be able to rely on proven methods and experienced partners. SPIRIT/21 builds on the AWS Migration Acceleration Program and addresses your individual challenges with a customized process. Learn how SPIRIT/21 can help your business in the third and final part of our blog post series.
Team SPIRIT/21
E-Mail: info@spirit21.com
The SPIRIT/21 team will be happy to advise you on all aspects of your IT tasks, from consulting and implementation to the operation of individual services and complete IT infrastructures. We deliver solutions that work. We look forward to hearing from you.
