Microsoft Licensing

Overview FPP OEM Perpetual Non Perpetual Open Licence Programs Open Business Licence Open Volume Open Value Open Value Non Company Wide option Open Value Company Wide option Open Value Subscription Platform products for small business Platform Products for Desktop professional Software Assurance

Overview & Terminology

Software can be supplied in various ways, Boxed or otherwise known as FPP (Full Packaged Product), ESD (Electronic Software Download), OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), Volume Media, and Volume Licences.

FPP (Full Packaged Product)This type of Licence is suitable for home users and small businesses with less than 5 pc's who require only single Licences, it comes in the form of a box containing a CDROM and relevant documentation along with the (EULA) or End User Licence Agreement.

OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Pre-installed Software. This type of Licence is normally delivered pre installed on a new pc supplied by the OEM. The terms of the EULA (End USer Licence Agreement) must be accepted when the PC is first switched on and is an agreement between the pc manufacturer (OEM) and you the end user. Software that has been pre-installed on a new PC also comes with back-up CD ROM and documentation. You can verify that pre-installed software is legal and genuine by inspecting the PC for Microsoft's Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker.

Volume Licence Agreements

This type of Licence is suitable for organisations with as little as two and as many as 500 or more PCs. Volume licensing agreements are an easy way to buy and manage multiple Microsoft software product licence's and cater for both academic and commercial organisations.

There are various types of Volume Licensing Agreements, Open Business, Open Volume, Open Value, Select Agreements and Enterprise Agreements. These agreements are divided into Perpetual and Non Perpetual Agreements.

Perpetual: With a perpetual licence agreement, you buy the rights to use your software indefinitely. You pay the full price, either up front or in split payments over the agreement lifetime. Open Licence, Open Value, Enterprise Agreement and Select Agreement are all perpetual licensing agreements.

Non Perpetual: A non-perpetual licence agreement gives you the right to use your software for the term of your agreement, like renting. Benefits include lower costs and built-in Software Assurance, which means you automatically receive any upgrades to your product(s) that are released during the terms of your agreement.
To continue using the software once your agreement expires, you can either renew the agreement or choose to buy the perpetual rights. If you choose not to renew or buy, you must remove all of the software. Enterprise Subscription Agreement and Open Subscription Licence are non-perpetual licensing agreements.

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Open Licence Programs

Microsoft Open Licence is a Volume Licensing program for small to mid-sized organizations that have fewer than 250 desktop PCs. The program provides a simple, flexible, and cost-effective way to acquire the latest Microsoft technology to meet your organization's needs and procurement procedures.

Open Business Licence is designed to lower costs, simplify how businesses manage software Licences, and offer flexibility of purchasing without the legal complexities of a signed agreement. The Open Business Licence agreement has a two-year term. Software Assurance is available through this program.

Requires a minimum of five Licences to qualify for entry into the agreements.
Enables companies to receive the same discount across all Microsoft products, regardless of the type of Microsoft product purchased.
Simplifies the purchasing process by eliminating the points and product pools.
There is no minimum reorder quantity. Clients are given an authorization number that allows them to re-order Licences one at a time once they are on the scheme.
Eliminates Open Licence categories, such as level A or B businesses.
Offers a single authorization number for all transactions, which means easier online Licence tracking and Licence administration.

Open Volume has the same benefits as Open Licence only the customer has to make a large up front licensing acquisition of at least 500 points for the product pool (Applications, Systems or Servers) for which the agreement is entered into.
With Open Volume, software products are grouped into three product pools: applications, systems, and servers. You can combine similar Microsoft software products in the product pools to receive volume pricing discounts. The applications pool includes products such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Project, Microsoft Office Visio, and Microsoft Visual Studio. The systems pool includes Microsoft Windows operating system upgrades such as Windows Professional Edition. The server pool includes products such as Microsoft Windows Standard Server Edition and Microsoft Exchange.

Open Value is designed for organisations with as few as five and as many as 250 desktops that want the advantages of Software Assurance and the ability to spread the payments annually. The agreement term is 3 years and you have the choice to pay the entire 3 years up front (Except Open Value Subscription) or spread it over the full three year term in three annual payments. The cost of the software remains the same in year three as it does in year one so allows you to manage your annual costs more efficiently knowing that the price is fixed for the three year term based on the initial purchase into the programme.

The Open Value Program comes in three different variants, Open Value Company Wide, Open Value Non Company Wide and Open Value Subscription.

The Open Value Non Company Wide option If you need licenses for servers, or for just some of your desktop PCs, you can open a noncompany-wide agreement. You can take advantage of spreading annual payments for the licenses and upgrade rights and other benefits that come with Software Assurance. Customers who do not wish to standardize their desktop PCs can obtain all licenses through Open Value and manage all those Microsoft licenses through a single agreement.

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The Open Value Company Wide option offers predictable annual payments, low long-term costs,and a simple way to manage licenses. You agree to acquire licenses and Software Assurance for the software you select for all your qualified desktops. An annual desktop price based on your count of qualified desktops allows you to run any software version on any machine.

Benefits include:

Count your qualified desktops at the beginning of the agreement to determine your annual cost.
Receive additional savings on company-wide licenses.
Pay a per-desktop license price for new licenses in month of installation.
Spread costs over remaining years.
Add software products at any time and pay for it in the month of installation.
Transition OEM licenses onto your Open Value agreement by purchasing Software Assurance.

You need to acquire at least one of the following platform product licenses for each qualified desktop in your organization:

Microsoft Windows Professional Desktop Upgrade.
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 or Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003.
Microsoft Core CAL (server client access license) or Windows Small Business Server CAL.

After purchasing at least one of these licenses for each qualified desktop company-wide, you may add additional licenses as you need them. For example, you can license all your desktops to run Office Professional. You may then purchase licenses for Microsoft Office Visio® Professional 2003 (or any other Microsoft software available through Volume Licensing) for individual computers as needed.
You may elect to add another platform product company-wide after the start of the agreement; however, Microsoft does not extend any discounts for company-wide platform product purchases after the agreement is initiated.

The Open Value Subscription is a Non Perpetual agreement where as the Open Value Company Wide and Non Company Wide are Perpetual; although Licences purchased under these agreements do not have perpetual rights until the third and final payment is made. With Open Value subscription, you pay a single price per desktop to deploy Microsoft technology across your organization during the term of the agreement.

You can receive additional savings off the first-year reference price on platform software, including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and CALs for current versions of platform product software that you are transferring from a perpetual license to subscription.
Count your desktop PCs once per year and place your annual purchase order for the then-current number of desktops.
Add the company-wide software products you have selected on new desktop PCs during the year with no additional cost that year.
Your total licensing costs can decline in years when your PC count declines.
Track all licenses on a single agreement.
A buyout option is available for those who want to retain their software licenses when the agreement expires.
If you choose the buyout option, you can continue benefiting from Software Assurance by starting a new Open Value agreement for Software Assurance only.

As with the company-wide option, you need to acquire at least one of the following platform product licenses for each qualified desktop in your organization:

Windows Professional Desktop Upgrade.
Office Professional Edition 2003 or Office Small Business Edition 2003.
Microsoft Core CAL or Windows Small Business Server CAL

Platform products for small business include:

Office Small Business Edition 2003,
Windows Small Business Server CAL,
Windows XP Upgrade.

Platform Products for Desktop professional include:

Office Professional Edition 2003,
Core CALs (client access Licences for Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, Office SharePoint Server; Configuration Management Licence for Microsoft Systems Management Server, Windows XP Upgrade).

Software Assurance

Microsoft Software Assurance is a comprehensive maintenance offering that helps you get the most out of your software investment. It combines the latest software with phone support available 24 hour a day, partner services, training, and IT tools that help customers deploy, manage, and migrate software. With Software Assurance, you can increase worker productivity, accelerate organizational performance, and quickly realize a return on your software investment.You can choose Software Assurance at the time of purchase and begin using your benefits immediately for the term of your Licence agreement For more information on the benefits and advantages of choosing Software Assurance please download and view the Software Assurance benefits Chart

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