Software Assurance Benefits Enhanced, Simplified

Software Assurance (SA) customers will get simplified product support rules, improved benefits for desktop software, and free access to new editions of Windows and Virtual PC. The new benefits, announced in Sept. 2005, supplement existing program benefits, such as version upgrades, training vouchers, and employee access to special or low-cost desktop software. The changes also help solve some of Microsoft’s problems, such as low deployment rates for new Office versions. However, the changes do not address some major flaws of SA, and some new benefits seem inconsistent with SA’s focus on customers who want to use the latest Microsoft technology.

Focus: Support, Desktop

The changes to SA, most of which will be in place by Mar. 2006, mark the most significant modifications to the program since 2003, when Microsoft added a long list of product support and some product entitlements, such as low-cost software for employees’ home use. Until then, SA was primarily the vehicle by which volume licensing customers could obtain discounted product upgrades by paying for them in advance.