Microsoft Revises Cloud Licensing Policies for Running Office on AWS

Office 365

Microsoft is making some minor changes to its cloud licensing policies for specific customers that run Microsoft Office on AWS. This move comes a week after the European Commission opened an antitrust investigation of Microsoft Teams bundling with Office 365/Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

In 2019, Microsoft announced new licensing terms that made it more expensive to run Office, Windows, and Windows Server in non-Microsoft Azure clouds. This change required customers with perpetual licenses to renew their contracts in order to run Microsoft software on Google Cloud, AWS, or other competitor cloud platforms. They were required to purchase an additional license that added millions to their total cost.

Last year, Microsoft agreed to change its cloud licensing practices to avoid an antitrust probe by the EU Commission. However, the changes didn’t apply to US-based customers and failed to address cost-related concerns.

According to a report from Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft detailed new licensing terms to help AWS cloud customers worldwide on August 1. The company says that users with select licenses can now run Microsoft Project, Visio, and Microsoft 365 apps for enterprise/business on Amazon WorkSpaces.

“The licenses that will be eligible under this revised policy include Microsoft 365 E3/E5/A3/A5 and Microsoft 365 Business Premium. If you currently have any of these licenses, starting from August 1, you will be able to utilize these Microsoft applications on Amazon WorkSpaces virtual desktop infrastructure,” Microsoft explained.

AWS customers can run Office apps on WorkSpaces services

Earlier this week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced a ‘bring your own license’ (BYOL) model to let “End User Computing customers” use Microsoft 365 licenses on Amazon WorkSpaces services. However, the concession is applicable to Microsoft 365 E3/E5 subscribers in AWS Regions where WorkSpaces is available.

“Microsoft allows E3, E5, A3, A5, and Business Premium licenses to run on WorkSpaces services. Customers can also bring licenses for Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio to WorkSpaces services under the new licensing terms,” AWS explained.

AWS notes that customers will not need to pay additional costs to run Microsoft 365 apps (such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and Outlook) on WorkSpaces services. The company says that organizations can use existing tools to complete the deployment process.