Microsoft’s volume licensing plans allow customers to purchase and upgrade Microsoft licenses at substantial discounts, provide more flexible payment options,ease license management and software deployment, and are the only way to purchase many Microsoft products.

The plans offer small businesses, midmarket companies, and enterprises numerous options that can reduce licensing costs, improve licensing compliance and asset management, keep their software up to date, and exploit the latest Microsoft technologies, such as virtualization (including virtual desktop infrastructures) and software as a service.

Designed for enterprise architects, corporate business managers, and IT managers, this report answers basic questions about how Microsoft’s volume licensing plans work, outlines the major features of each volume licensing plan, and explains Software Assurance, Microsoft’s upgrade and maintenance plan. It also points the reader to important Microsoft resources and explains how to interpret complex documents, such as Microsoft price lists.

This 44 page report is part of a larger series of Directions on Microsoft Licensing Outlines and should be used in connection with the Directions on Microsoft Enterprise Software Roadmap.

• Types of plans
• Benefits of volume licensing
• Questions that customers should ask when selecting a volume licensing plan

Why buy through volume licensing programs?

• Discounts
• Product availability
• Downgrades and other usage rights
• License management and compliance
• Automated deployment
• Software Assurance
• Financing
• Volume license plans compared

Basic Microsoft volume licensing concepts

• Volume pricing tiers
• Pools and points
• Price lists
• Online tracking tools
• Discounts for purchasing product bundles
• Legal agreements and enrollments

Specific Volume Licensing Plans

• Open License, Open Value, and Open Value Subscriptions
• Select and Select Plus
• Enterprise Agreements and Enterprise Agreement Subscriptions
• True-up calculations
• Negotiating an Enterprise Agreement
• Application Platform Agreements

Software Assurance

• Step-ups and promotions
• Special entitlements for Software Assurance customers
• Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)
• Virtual Machine (VM) rights
• Training, home use, and partner services benefits

Sidebars, Illustrations & Charts:

• Chart: Purchasing Channels
• Chart: Volume Licensing Plans Comparison
• Illustration: Volume Licensing Discount Tiers
• Chart: Volume Pricing Decoded
• Chart: Pools and Points
• Sidebar: Outsourcing and Volume Licensing
• Illustration: Volume Licensing Discount Tiers
• Illustration: Ordering Through Open License and Open Value
• Chart: Sample Open Prices
• Chart: Products and Platforms
• Sidebar: Legal Agreements and Enrollments
• Illustration: The Select Ordering Process
• Sidebar: Online Tracking Tools
• Sidebar: A Select Forecasting Alternative for EA Customers
• Illustration: Discounts in Select Plus
• Illustration: SA Renewal in Select Plus
• Sidebar: Naming Reliable Contacts
• Sidebar: Comparing EAs with Open Value
• Sidebar: Counting Client Devices to Reduce EA Costs
• Chart: Application Platform Licenses
• Chart: True-Up Calculations
• Illustration: The Enterprise Agreement Ordering Process
• Illustration: Negotiating an Enterprise Agreement
• Sidebar: How SA Handles Packaging and Licensing Changes

This 44-page report contains [27,424 words].

Subscribe to read full report
Learn more about our analysis
Members login to read full report