No plans for third party SPLA monitoring here: Microsoft

Microsoft New Zealand has no plans to copy an Australian campaign aimed at hosting service providers who don't have a specific hosting licence.

Across the Tasman, Microsoft has appointed NewLease, a Melbourne-based IT services company, to resell Microsoft licenses to service providers who offer Microsoft products on ASP basis. NewLease will be expected to seek out service providers who don't have a Service Providing Licensing Agreement (SPLA) with Microsoft.

Non-compliance with the terms of SPLAs by service providers is behind the move, Microsoft Australia regional hosting specialist Phil Meyer says.

"You can't fault a reseller for wanting to make a buck, but many have inappropriate licensing for hosting," he told Australian Reseller News.

"These guys are undercutting those who charge the correct pricing fees."

A Microsoft NZ employee spoken to by Computerworld says there are no plans to introduce a similar scheme here and he referred Computerworld to Microsoft enterprise and partner group director Terry Allen for further comment. Allen could not be contacted.

Microsoft is believed to monitor SPLA licences directly in New Zealand.

Dawn Edmonds, general manager at NewLease, says poor understanding by service providers, particularly at the small end of the market, was behind its deal with Microsoft.

"Many [service providers] are under the impression they can pick up a license off the shelf or under their standard select licensing agreement, but this isn't the case when offering a commercial hosted service."

Microsoft offers SPLA licenses to ASPs, ISPs, outsourcers, web hosters, messaging and collaboration service providers, platform infrastructure providers and others who offer hosted services to customers.

The idea is that costs are transparent to customers, with the licenses held by the provider, not the customer.