Microsoft Volume Licensing - reflections on managing the VAMT

Like everyone who has ever tried to read a software license agreement, let alone figure out how to pay for it, I have a love-hate relationship with Microsoft, and especially their Volume Activation Management Tool.

Volume licensing can be a real time saver, especially in organizations where machines are rebuilt frequently.  However, it's also finicky and a royal pain in the ass.

Well, turns out J. Decker agreed, and she has written a VAMT Technical Reference.  I'm not sure how "VAMT" might be pronounced, but every rendering in my head sounds exactly like a swear word.

(Image poached from)

Also potentially useful is the Microsoft Licensing Review (old, but still useful to grasping some of the basic nonsense concepts).

An article discussing Microsoft licensing in the Amazon cloud hosting service.  This is specifically for AWS, but the general concepts of "software in the cloud," are still potentially useful.