Earlier this year, with no fanfare (which is perhaps
unsurprising), Microsoft implemented a significant change to its
Product Terms pertaining to Software Assurance (SA) benefits that
likely will have a significant licensing impact for companies that
have taken advantage of the Self-Hosted Applications benefit
accompanying SA.
For several years now, Microsoft has allowed customers with SA
covering certain server product licenses to use those licenses in
order to support "Unified Solutions" hosted for
third-party end users. In order to take advantage of that
"Self-Hosted Applications" (SHA) benefit, the licensees
generally had to ensure (1) that the Microsoft products in question
were fully licensed for user access (which usually means
processor/core licenses and External Connectors for products
otherwise requiring CALs), and (2) that the Unified Solution
satisfy certain eligibility criteria, notably including a
requirement that the Microsoft products must be used
