Using Software Assurance with Office

Software Assurance (SA) is a subscription that can be added to a license for an annual fee in return for product version upgrades and other benefits. With Office, SA can reduce license costs for upgrades and simplify budgeting and financing for them. It also can help license compliance in organizations that have deployed Office on servers. However, it brings forward payments for Office upgrades and raises overall cost in organizations that upgrade infrequently.

SA benefits are spelled out in the monthly Microsoft Volume Licensing Product List, and SA customers can see some of the benefits they have earned on the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center Web site. This chapter summarizes the types of benefits most likely to influence an Office SA purchase decision.

Software Assurance Adds Rights to Licenses

SA is a subscription that can be added to licenses in volume licensing, including Office licenses. For an annual fee, an organization gains the right to upgrade to the latest version of Office and receives other benefits. (SA does not apply to subscription licenses such as those for Office 365, although such licenses offer some of its benefits; see the “Appendix: Office Professional Plus Subscription Offered with Office 365“.)