Select Plus Improves Discount, SA Rules

The Select Plus volume licensing program has improved incrementally with two updates effective in Mar. 2011. One enables more companies to carry over earned discounts from year to year, and another provides more favorable terms for purchases of licenses with Software Assurance (SA) coverage, which offers version upgrade rights and other benefits. The updates make Select Plus more similar to the Select “classic” program that it replaces, and they will offer most customers better discounts that are less sensitive to purchase timing and that provide easier SA tracking and management.

What Is Select Plus?

Under the Select Plus program, customers license products at discount pricing based on the number and type of licenses purchased. License purchases yield points that determine price levels for each of three product pools: systems (mainly Windows), applications (Office and similar PC products), and servers. Of the four discount levels, A through D, level D offers the greatest discount.

Select Plus is aimed at midsize and large organizations with 250 or more PCs that want transactional, pay-as-you-go license purchasing. Select Plus offers the widest spectrum of business software of Microsoft’s volume licensing programs. Furthermore, the purchase of SA is not required with Select Plus license purchases, compared to other programs such as the Enterprise Agreement. (SA is Microsoft’s subscription-based software maintenance plan that provides version upgrades and other subscription services.)