In March 2020, Microsoft deferred key dates to assist businesses affected by COVID-19. As these new dates approach, we summarise their impact.
Why were these dates deferred and what products are affected?
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Microsoft had already announced a number of dates centred around Dynamics 365 and Power Platform products. These dates involved licensing transitions and new technical enforcements of licences. However, as many of the dates were due to fall in 2020, while businesses were already trying to minimise the pandemic impact, Microsoft recognised that some organisations would need additional time. So, to ensure smooth transitions and to prevent downtime, many of these dates were deferred.
Which dates were affected?
- Dynamics 365 Team Member Licence – Existing Dynamics 365 customers that acquired the Team Member licence prior to October 1st, 2018 can continue to renew their existing Team Member subscription until December 31st, 2020, extended from June 30th, 2020. From January 1st, 2021, all renewing customers will need to transition to the new Team Member licence.
- Dynamics 365 storage & production/sandbox instances – Existing Dynamics 365 customers can continue to renew their existing storage and production/sandbox instance use rights until December 31st, 2020, extended from June 30th, 2020. From January 1st, 2021, all renewing customers will need to transition to the new model.
- Dynamics 365 portals – Existing Dynamics 365 customers can continue to renew their portal use rights until December 31st, 2020, extended from June 30th, 2020. From January 1st, 2021, all renewing customers will adhere to the new portal licensing use rights.
- Dynamics 365 Plan customers – Renewing Dynamics 365 Plan, Customer Engagement Plan, and Unified Operations Plan customers can use qualifying offers to transition to the attach model until June 30th, 2021, extended from June 30th, 2020.
- Power Apps and Power Automate – Existing Power Apps P1 and P2, and Power Automate (previously Microsoft Flow) P1 and P2 plan customers can continue to renew their subscriptions until December 31st, 2020, extended from April 30th, 2020. From January 1st, 2021, all renewing customers will need to transition to the Power Apps Per User or Per App plans, or the Power Automate Per User or Per Flow plans.
- CSP and web direct auto-renewal extension – Dynamics 365 CSP and Web Direct customers will auto-renew their Plan subscriptions until Dec 31st, 2020, extended from June 30th, 2020). Prior to December 31st, customers must create a transition plan to the new licensing models.
- Dynamics 365 Team Member technical enforcement – Technical enforcement for Dynamics 365 Team Member licences purchased or transitioned after October 1st, 2018 will come into effect on January 31st, 2021, extended from September 30th, 2020.
Should your organisation be affected by the above dates, it is important that sufficient measures have been put in place to prevent any potential downtime. For existing Strategy 365 clients, if you wish to discuss any of the above, get in touch with one of our experts who will be happy to guide you until any processes you need to undertake.
