That's not feasible (3rd party to manage MS licensing) for our org. We're ~45 users. I know it is my odd licensing pruchase[1] that triggered this. I just now have to get all of my ducks into a tight row. They are pretty tight, but I need to cross T's and dot my I's. The timing of this is about the worst it could be as I'm ramping up into a busy time for me, while my organization as a whole will be gearing down.
[1] I have, from a predecessor, SBS Cals without a server followed by my own purchases of some versions of office 2007, but not at a level consistent with the # of SBS Cals, and the recent purchase of Exchange Server 2010 CALs, but without the purchase of Exchange Server 2010, as I have a Retail license of Exchange Server 2010 available via our Action Pack subscription. All these things together, from a stricly volume licensing perspective looks odd, and I don't blame Microsoft for having a desire[2] to investigate. [2]I just blame them for investigating. I thought this was what BSA was for, to be honest. *shrug* I'll deal, and we'll be fine. I'll just make sure I put sufficient effort into the process upfront so as to minimize questions from them later. On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 9:13 AM, Maglinger, Paul <[email protected]>wrote: > There are lawyers to handle legal stuff, doctors to handle medical > stuff, and Sys Admins to handle server stuff. We also have a 3rd party > to manage our Micro$oft licensing and it is well worth it.**** > > ** ** > > -Paul **** > > ** ** > > *From:* Andrew S. Baker [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Wednesday, March 28, 2012 5:36 PM > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues > *Subject:* Re: Sophisticated Phising attempt?**** > > ** ** > > Welcome to enterprise licensing...**** > > ** ** > > It doesn't get easy. My last round looked similar to yours: **** > > ** ** > > -- Multiple players covering different products under different programs** > ** > > -- Multiple meetings to figure out who needed to handle what**** > > -- Multiple processes for managing the invoicing (although the licences > are in a single place)**** > > ** ** > > We saved quite a bit of money.**** > > ** ** > > I lost quite a bit of time. > **** > > *ASB***** > > *http://XeeMe.com/AndrewBaker***** > > *Harnessing the Advantages of Technology for the SMB market…***** > > > > **** > > On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 5:57 PM, Bob Fronk <[email protected]> wrote:**** > > I just went through renewal and had contact from several consultants and > “Microsoft” people (who are actually contractors). Several claimed to have > been “trying to contact me”, when I had no messages from them.**** > > **** > > In the past, I simply reviewed the information that our vendor sent me, > increased or decreased license counts, added needed CALS or servers, and > was done. This time it took several conference calls with 5-6 people, some > with MS, some consultants, plus my vendor (Dell). Numerous emails to > repeat information already given to someone else, two people wanting to > provide “services” and wanting access to our system to run inventory > tools. It was a terrible experience and hope they get their act together. > **** > > **** > > BF**** > > **** > > *From:* Jonathan Link [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Wednesday, March 28, 2012 8:46 AM**** > > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues**** > > *Subject:* Sophisticated Phising attempt?**** > > **** > > I received an email purportedly to be from Microsoft about a Software > Asset Management (SAM) license review (headers looked like it came from MS, > but I'm not an expert). They indicated that they were trying to contact me > this week (it was sent on Tuesday, and the *only* prior contact was a > misdirected phone call into one of our director's voicemail[1]).**** > > **** > > It includes 2 PDFs, one appears to be a report with our name on it, VLPS > Report, and it appears to have some correct information as to the > customerID. There's a deployment summary spreadsheet and a USA FAQ > 2012.pdf. Included in the email are some instructions, a suggestion to use > the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit to help complete the tasks. > It includes an email address for [email protected] or to contact > another person at Microsoft.**** > > **** > > The person's display name for contacting me is foreign and has (Accenture) > in parentheses. It comes from a microsoft.com email address, however a > reply back to that address generated an access denied NDR, but a reply to > the other individual did not. I haven't received an email (I also > forwareded the email to the other address) in response, and I would have > expected a faster turnaround. The email address did contain a phone > number, however that phone number, according to 800 notes, has been used in > several scams in the past, trying to trick people into giving bank account > information to receive a government grant. A physical address is given, > but it is the address to the Microsoft campus in Redmond.**** > > **** > > So, I cautiously viewed the documents on my iPhone. One document, our > apparent licensing report appears entirely legitimate. I have had a weak > password on the eopen site for a while, just hadn't bothered changing it. > Second PDF (USA FAQ 2012[2]) is not viewable on my iPhone, it just displays > whitespace, as does the excel file. I'm going to take them to a sandboxed > computer to view them later. They also want information returned by April > 16th.**** > > **** > > My other concern is some limited googling has suggested that this might be > legitimate, that Microsoft has engaged in third parties to do this, and > that there are variations of this process, but those could be cleverly > built forums with shills indicating the process is legit, so I turn to this > list for advice. In the body of the email there aren't any instructions on > where to send the information. If the sender can only send email, having > another address to receive this information seems to be necessary.**** > > **** > > **** > > [1] The voicemail was extremely static laden and had several gaps in it.** > ** > > [2] That's a poorly named FAQ and about the only poorly phrased or worded > item in the email.**** > > **** > > ** ** > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin**** > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
