The T-36 Enterprise Agreement Timeline

The T-36 Life Cycle is a series of engagements between Large Account Resellers (LARs) and their customers with Enterprise Agreements (EAs). Shown here is the schedule of activities in the life cycle, named because of the typical 36-month term of an EA.

The T-36 Life Cycle is intended to ensure that customers get value out of the software they have purchased through their EA and to maximize the likelihood of renewal. Many organizations value the simplicity of the EA—users and their computers are automatically licensed for common desktop software, reducing the risk of noncompliant software. However, organizations may not be using all the entitlements their EA offers, such as upgrades to the latest versions of Microsoft software or the Software Assurance (SA) benefits licensed through their EA. These customers may be at risk for nonrenewal because they may be running older software, such as Windows XP and Office 2003, even though they are entitled to use newer products such as Windows 7 and Office 2010, and will continue to have rights to those products even if they do not renew the EA.