New Software Assurance Benefits Rolled Out

A new round of changes to Software Assurance (SA), Microsoft’s software maintenance offering, came into effect in Mar. 2006, featuring improvements in product support and additional training and new deployment benefits. Although the new benefits may not tip the balance in favor of SA for customers who don’t currently have it, they will be welcomed by large customers who have Enterprise Agreements (EAs); these customers are entitled to SA benefits automatically, and the new offerings could make EA renewals more attractive, particularly since they can reduce the cost of the Premier Support agreements that these customers typically have.

SA Improved over Time

Originally, the only significant benefits offered by SA were upgrade rights. When Microsoft introduced the program in 2001, it cancelled most other forms of upgrade for volume licensing customers, which generally increased the cost of upgrades. For example, version upgrades typically cost 50% to 70% of a new license, and customers always got an upgrade when they purchased one. With SA, customers pay 25% a year for server licenses and 29% a year for desktop licenses, or 75% and 87%, respectively, over a typical three-year contract, and they are not guaranteed an upgrade—if no new version of the product is released during the SA contract period, the customer is not entitled to an upgrade or a refund.