Enrollment for Core Infrastructure Phased Out

The Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI), a special form of Enterprise Agreement enrollment offering discounts on Windows Server and System Center, is being phased out. ECI offers better pricing than future alternatives, including the new Server and Cloud Enrollment being rolled out in Nov. 2013. Customers with Windows Server deployments managed by System Center should investigate whether to initiate new or extend existing ECI coverage now, as options to do so will disappear over the coming months.

Future Programs to Charge Higher Prices

The ECI offers volume discounts on the Core Infrastructure Suite (CIS) offerings, which combine licenses and Software Assurance (SA) into a single purchase. CIS Standard and Datacenter editions are available through most volume licensing programs, but only ECI was designed exclusively for procurement of CIS licenses. (See the sidebar “Core Infrastructure Suite Primer“.) Compared to buying CIS offerings through other programs, ECI offers a 16% discount on CIS licenses purchased with SA (“L&SA”) and a 20% discount on SA renewals (“SA-only”).