Said It Here

Why do I have to pay per-user licenses for shared computers?

Per-user licensing models become prohibitively expensive and difficult to manage on shared workstations that experience high employee turnover across multiple shifts. This forces administrators to either absorb massive ongoing subscription costs for hundreds of transient users or struggle with broken activation systems and local workarounds.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Using Office LTSC per machine with Cloud Drive Mapper for SharePoint access and device Intune licenses
  2. 2
    Limiting user access via Conditional Access policy to office IPs
  3. 3
    Leaving computers with local logins and a single local share
  4. 4
    Using the migration method to transfer licenses
  5. 5
    Buying new license packs

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

“It makes absolutely zero sense to license every user. There are three shifts with decent turnover (they are always hiring and firing). Roughly 300 people would be cycling through these computers”source ↗

“Do I really need to set up a local share so I don't need to pay ridiculous licensing costs, identity security overhead, and labor overhead for dealing with all the turnover, for all these computers?”source ↗

computerguy0-0 · r/msp · 25 upvotes

“Today I try to activate them on the new 2019 server, but it say the licenses aren't valid and ask me to use another method.”source ↗

“I try phone but the numbers provided don't exist anymore and I try web, go throught the process, it say it work but at the last stage the pack ID is empty.”source ↗

SituationHopeful · r/sysadmin

Where this came up

r/mspr/sysadminIT administrationdevice managementlicensingremote desktopsoftware licensingsystem administrationwindows server

People with this problem also raised