OVS-ES vs Microsoft 365 E3

[RobM86]

Hello,

We're taking the opportunity during these strange times to review our licensing agreements and decide whether we would be better off changing things around.

However, I'm having trouble understanding exactly what is included in the Microsoft 365 E3 package. The details state that it includes Windows 10 and Server CALs, but does that mean that we could safely  cancel our existing OVS-ES agreement and switch to licensing directly from Microsoft? In doing so, we would gain lots of management capabilities using InTune (and Endpoint Manager), but the cost would be so high that it will only work if we can offset it against not renewing our OVS-ES agreement. 

We already have Office 365 ProPlus included with our Office 365 A1 package, and recently switched to licensing Office using the shared computer activation feature, thereby foregoing our entitlement to Office 2019 ProPlus from the OVS-ES agreement. (There's a strange link here anyway.. I feel like we only get O365 ProPlus installation rights through O365 because of the OVS-ES agreement, though we would keep this benefit if switching to M365 E3 anyway so this seems elementary to me.)

Why is MS Licensing so convoluted?! (Probably out of necessity, I know.. just makes it hard to properly compare options!)

[#2]

@RobM86 The Microsoft 365 A3 + A5 bundles will cover everything in your OVS for your users, providing you have the OVS-ES "Desktop pack" or equivalent. So Office, Windows + CALs. Some useful information can be found under the "Compare plans" link here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/education/buy-license/microsoft365/default.aspx#

and I have also attached a useful Office 365 vs Microsoft 365 comparison chart.

Your Office 365 ProPlus license will have come with your OVS-ES agreement. Without an OVS, education institutions get standard A1 for free, but with OVS you will have A1 Plus which includes the office suite license, whereas A1 is restricted to web apps only.

It sounds like you will most likely go for the CSP licensing model. However, depending on the size of your tenant, an EES agreement could be more beneficial for you. EES requires a minimum of 250 users and effectively gives you the ability to purchase cloud and on-premise licenses under the same agreement. Whereas purchasing any MS Server licenses is not doable under a CSP model. The pricing can also go down depending on the tier of EES you qualify for. Here's the EES program guide:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/9/A/89A3F8B9-94DE-4956-A56E-F6D2B215D0E6/Enterprise_Agreeme...

Hope this helps.