VMware has just launched an upgraded version of their usage metering tool.

For the first time it has gone through both an internal and external beta testing phase so hopefully all bugs has been cleaned out before beeing published.

Our advise is to upgrade as soon as possible as earlier versions hassome identified bugs as well as this new version handles all the updated which arrives in April.

Download link >>>

For more information please contact you local InmetaCrayon representative.

There are a number of changes coming to Microsoft Dynamics 1st of April.
The new products are;

• BIO® 2011 and BIO® Vue 2011
• Connector for Microsoft Dynamics® SL
• Advanced Payroll for Microsoft Dynamics® GP

Removal of products;

• FRx for Microsoft Dynamics® NAV, GP, SL and AX

For more details about these changes please get in touch with your local Inmeta Crayon office.

VMware are inviting all VSPP partners to focus sessions on how you can optimize your management environment.

VSPP Solution Focus: Cloud Infrastructure Management Product Opportunities for Service Providers
Date/Time: Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 8:30am PDT
Abstract: Many Service Providers have successfully deployed vCloud public and hybrid cloud infrastructures over the last year. This session will introduce management products from VMware that will help drive efficiencies in the cloud infrastructure, monitor and root cause issues in a proactive manner, plan and manage capacity and compliance and help the Service Provider increase profit margins.
Register: Click here >>

VSPP Solution Focus: Automating Deployment and Operations of a vCloud Infrastructure
Date/Time: Monday, March 5, 2012, 8am PDT
Abstract: Attend this session to learn about a new product that will enable service providers to automate the deployment of vCloud infrastructure (or scale up or scale out), define and automate the delivery of service offerings, manage and automate customer lifecycle operations (e.g. Customer on boarding, trial flows) to help reduce the cost of operations, and manage a channel or reseller model for vCloud services.
Register: Click here >>

Citrix has put together a 13 episode series with instruction videos for their CloudPortal Services Manager.

Topic

• Deploying CloudPortal Services Manager platform components >>>
• Deploying the Report Mailer role for CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Reporting Role and Service for CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Virtual Machine Service for Microsoft Hyper-V using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Windows Web Hosting Service for IIS7 using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Citrix Service for XenApp 6 using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying MySQL using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Hosted Exchange Service for Microsoft Exchange 2010 using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Hosted Exchange Multi-Tenant Service for Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1 Hosting Edition using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying SharePoint 2010 using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying BlackBerry 4 using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying BlackBerry 5 using CloudPortal Services Manager >>>
• Deploying the Lync Enterprise Service for CloudPortal Services Manager >>>

The Dynamics CRM Service Provider Employee Self Service SAL is a new offer to the existing lineup of CRM SALs in the SPLA program. The EES SA: addresses the licensing requirements for light user scenarios of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 such as:

• Limited CRM API access
• Named user access
• Manage individual work and data records
• Create and update accounts, contacts, cases, leads, activities, and custom entity records
• Access via helpdesk applications & portals using public CRM APIs (access through Microsoft Dynamics CRM clients is not allowed

SKU number; QHH-00060
Date of introduction 1/1-2012

Symantec introduces ApplicationHA 6.0 for Windows, this release integrates ApplicationHA with Backup Exec.

What this means in reality is that it provides automated recovery from backup when the VMWare Guest has been corrupted and cannot be restarted by ApplicationHA, giving a 3 tiered recovery model – Restart.  Reboot. Restore. Also included within the release is support for VMware vSphere 5 including VMware Fault Tolerance (FT) & Virtual Business Services support (in conjunction with VCS) 6.0).
Click here for more information on ApplicationHA >>

CA ARCServe will have a webcast regarding their new licensingprogram for Services providers on December 6th and 12th. 

ARCServe is one of the major traditional players in backup and storage and with the ability to rent their software on a monthly basis it has become even more attractive. Please join us and CA in this webcast to listen in on the news and where CA is taking ARCServe. 

Should you not be able to attend please contact Crayon for more information about how CA Arcserve can benefit your business.

Click here to sign-up to the webcast >>

Click here to read more about the CA Arcserve Service Provider Program >>

As previously announced, as part of the overall price rationalization efforts for the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) business, some SPLA prices are changing in January 2012 to better align SPLA pricing with On-Premises subscription pricing and the overall market.

All changes has not yet been communicated be we expect to be able to inform about it within the next two weeks.

The following SKU's has confirmed changes;

• Sys Ctr Svr Mgmt Suite Ent SAL - 2%
• Sys Ctr Srv Mgmt Ste DataCtr SAL - 42%
• Sys Ctr Ops Mgr Web Svr SAL - 17%
• Windows OEM Svr Standard - 79%
• Windows OEM Svr Enterprise - 71%
• Windows Server Standard w/OpsMgrEML - 3%
• Visual Studio Professional SAL - 12%
• Visual Studio Premium SAL - 12%
• Visual Studio Ultimate SAL - 12%
• Office Multi Language Pack SAL - 4%
• Productivity Suite SAL for ECAL SA - 9%

With the launch of Microsoft SQL 2012 the way it's licensed will change.
Today you can license SQL with either user licenses (SAL) or with processor licenses (CPU).
All versions of SQL are not available on both of these options.

In Microsoft SQL 2012 there is still SAL licenses but the CPU license is changed into a processor cores.
At least 4 cores needs to be licensed per processor in physical environments while in virtual environments the requirement is set to at least 4 cores per VM.

If you are looking into moving to Microsoft SQL 2012 please get in touch Crayon and we can support you in the transition.

Citrix announced this week the Citrix CloudPortal Services Manager 10 as a subscription-based offering for the Citrix Service Provider (CSP) Program. This offering allows you as a service provider to simplify the management of Cloud services through a single interface to provision applications as well as manage desktops and services for multiple tenants and subscribers. New for this release:

• Unattended, role based self-install capability for CSP’s with smart default options, pre-requisite checks and post installation configuration options
• Support for Microsoft Lync Hosting Pack and Exchange 2010 SP2
• Wizard-based service creation capabilities
• Easy addition or removal of services without requiring core platform changes
• Extensive documentation within Citrix eDocs covering installation, configuration, administration, licensing and deployment topics

As an addition to this release Citrix also quietly added the Platinum Edition to XenServer. The Platinum includes two distinct extra features compared to the Enterprise Edition which is Provisioning services and Site Recovery. For a full comparison between all editions please see the Citrix website >>>

For more information or questions please contact your local Crayon team.

Citrix have scheduled an on boarding webinar for all new CSPs and existing partners who need an understanding of the program or an update. It’s scheduled for September 7th at 16:00 GMT.

Click here to register >>

Starting in August, VMware will conduct a number of changes to the VSPP program as a direct response to the wishes from the hosting community as well as to adapt to competitive market.

To name a few highlights are that the vRAM for vCloud is now measured on reserved vRAM instead of allocated and that vShield Edge is included in the Premier Bundle.

New products

The following new products will become available august 1st. New partners which sign-up will automatically receive these license keys while existing ones have to get in touch with Crayon to receive their new keys.

• VMware Service Manager Advanced 75 points/ Named User
• VMware Service Manager Enterprise 100 points/ Named User
• vShield Endpoint 2.4 points/ Concurrent Connection
• Nexus 1000 34 points/ CPU
• vCenter Operations Standard 2.4 points/ VM
• vCenter Operations Enterprise Standalone (VM only, 1 Feed from VCS) 6 points / VM
• vCenter Operations Enterprise Standalone (VM or Physical) 24 points/ VM or Physical Server
• VMware  Configuration Manager 39 points/ VM
• vFabric Standard Bundle 58 points / VM
• vFabric Advanced Bundle 88 points/ VM

Point / package changes

• vCloud Service Provider Premier Bundle with vShield Edge 7 points/ 1 GB Reserved Virtual RAM
• vCloud Service Provider Standard Bundle 5 points/ 1 GB Reserved Virtual RAM
• Capacity IQ price change from 4 to 3.6 points/ VM

Removed products

tC Server and tC Server Spring Edition are being removed from the program

vRAM measurement allocated to reserved

Based on the feedback from the hosting community VMware has decided to change the way that vRAM is measured in their vCloud bundles. Starting August 1^st (and given that the new usage metering tool has been implemented) you will only be charged for the amount of vRAM which is reserved for each system instead of the amount allocated to the server.

Updated usage metering tool

With the introduction of the new measurement technique all customers must update their measurement tools before August 1^st to take full advantage of the reduced cost.

Download link 

Please direct any support related questions regarding the usage metering tool to vcloudusagemeter@vmware.com

For more information and details regarding the changes please do not hesitate to get in touch with your local Crayon representative.

As we have told you before, Microsoft License Mobility through Software Assurance will be available starting July 1. This new Software Assurance benefit provides customers the ability to license their Server Applications on-premises or in the cloud on a Service Provider’s shared hardware environment for specific applications.  As a partner providing the shared environment, you can use a single delivery platform to host multiple users who take advantage of License Mobility for Software Assurance for their dedicated server application instances.

What is important to know is that you as a Service Provider need a separate addendum to be allowed to utilize these licenses.

If you are planning to utilize your end-customers licenses in your shared environment please get in touch with your local Crayon representative to sign the addendum.