We are currently trying to sort through entitlements regarding MSOffice and RDS.
Whilst we understand our position on CAL's and RDS CALS the Office licences (through RDS) are still a topic of discussion.
The only point that remains unclear and ambiguous in a lot of Microsoft FAQ's available publicly is debate over the scenario outlined below.
For this scenario MSOffice is installed on the RDS server(s)
A user logs onto a RDS server through a non company owned device (we can make the assumption here that there is no company owned copy of MSOffice on this device. It may be a tablet, user’s home computer, etc).
A) If the user logons onto a desktop session but does not execute any product from the MSOffice suite (but does have the ability to do so as it is installed) is a MSOffice licence required?
B) If the user logs onto a seamless application (yes we use XenApp) - let’s say IE, and browses in the internet/intranet only is a licence required? In this example we can confirm they do not launch any product from the MSOffice suite even though MSOffice is installed on the RDS server.
C) If the user logs onto a seamless application (yes we use XenApp) - let’s say IE, and browses a SharePoint site that has Word documents and then view those documents is a licence required? In this example we can assume they do launch a product from the MSOffice suite.
A. Yes a MSOffice licence is required. (sorry - but this was obvious to all parties concerned internally)
D) If the user logs onto a seamless application that we know cannot launch any MSOffice product (but the underlying RDS server has MSOffice installed) is an MSOffice licence required for that device?
All the documentation regarding MSOffice licensing and RDS to date from Microsoft that I can find refers to scenario where MSOfficeis accessed via RDS. Our real point of difference is where a RDS session is initiated - either via a published Desktop or a seamless application (and MSOffice is installed on the RDS server) - but the MSOffice suite is not used.
I have my views on the above however so the discussion remains open and unbiased I have not included my thoughts to the scenarios above. (except the obvious one)
Hoping someone can help. Even better if someone could please reference a document from Microsoft dealing specifically in situations where RDS is used, MSOffice is installed but the user session doesn’t use the product.
Thanks in Advance