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Comparing Pica Communications and Directions Workshops

Two firms provide comprehensive Microsoft licensing workshops--Pica Communications and Directions on Microsoft (DOM).

We're familiar with both: Principal analyst Paul DeGroot developed the workshop concept and the curriculum for DOM while he was Research VP for Channels and Licensing at DOM, and he helped lead the first half-dozen DOM Microsoft Licensing Boot Camps.

At Pica Communications, he has expanded the concept with an additional instructional day and many more sessions, notably several modules on Enterprise Agreement negotiations.

The following chart provides a comparison of the two programs. Note that Pica and DOM categorize course topics differently, so topics listed on this chart do not correspond exactly to individual workshop sessions.

= Included in a 2 day course
= Included in a 3-day course

Pica

DOM

Concepts and Resources

Fundamentals/Concepts and CALs

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Software Assurance

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Understanding CALs

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Licensing Resources

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Desktop Licensing

Windows

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Office

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Project

Included in 3-day course

Tablet and Mobile Licensing

Included in 3-day course

Virtualization

Virtual Desktops

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Virtual Servers

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Server Licensing

Windows Server

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Exchange Server

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

SQL Server

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

SharePoint Server

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Lync Server

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Volume Licensing

Open License

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Select Plus

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Enterprise Agreements

Included in 2-day course Included in 2-day course

Negotiations

Reseller role


Included in 2-day course

Software Asset Management

Included in 3-day course Included in 2-day course

Audit Preparation and Strategy

Included in 3-day course


Negotiation Strategies and Resources

Included in 3-day course


Enterprise Agreement Negotiations

Included in 3-day course


Hosting and Cloud Services

Office 365

Included in 3-day course


Hosting Services

Included in 3-day course


Developer and Management Tools

MSDN and TechNet

Included in 3-day course


System Center

Included in 3-day course



Instructional Data

Pica

DOM

Instructional days

 2-day course  3-day course  2-day course

Instructional hours

 14  21  13

Price (before early bird and group discounts)

 $1,995  $2,995  $2,495

Certification available*

 Yes  No

*The Practitioners Certificate in Microsoft Licensing Concepts is offered by the International Business Software Managers Association and is based on the Pica Communications Microsoft Licensing Workshop.