Select Plus Program Being Retired, Replaced by MPSA

For corporate customers, the phaseout of the Select Plus volume licensing program begins July 1, 2015, with the program being fully retired two years later. Used by medium and large organizations to make ad-hoc license purchases of on-premises products, Select Plus is being replaced by the recently introduced Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA), which shares many attributes. While over the short term most customers will lack a strong incentive to switch, the equation could change by mid-2015.

Select Out, MPSA In

Select Plus and its predecessor Select “classic” allow medium and large organizations to license Microsoft products on a transactional basis, in any quantity and at the time of their choosing, with discounts based on aggregate purchase volume. By July 1, 2017, this pair of programs will be completely phased out for commercial customers. (For details, see the illustration “Select Plus and Select Classic Phaseout Schedule“.) While customers will retain perpetual licenses purchased via these programs, they will no longer be able to make new purchases after their contracts expire or are terminated. Select Plus contracts are also used by public sector customers, but Microsoft has yet to articulate a phaseout schedule for these organizations.