SharePoint and Volume Licensing Programs

Large and midsize organizations generally buy software licenses and upgrade rights through Microsoft’s volume license programs, which enable organizations to buy licenses in bulk at the lowest price and under the best terms (for example, with the most generous license reassignment and downgrade rights). Whereas with most other Microsoft products volume licensing represents most customers’ best purchase option, with SharePoint Server it is the only option—the product is not sold through retail or OEM channels.

The following main volume licensing programs and concepts are relevant to this report.

Software Assurance (SA) can be added to a license for an annual fee in return for product upgrades and other benefits. Licenses covered by SA on the date a new product version becomes available may be upgraded to the new version at any time in the future, at no additional charge. For example, a server license for SharePoint Server covered by SA as of May 1, 2010, can be upgraded to SharePoint Server 2010 at any time, even if the customer later lets the SA subscription lapse. SA customers acquire the software from a Microsoft download site or by ordering disks from a reseller for a nominal charge. (Service packs and patches for all products offered through volume licensing are free—SA is not required for access to service packs.)