Benefits for Software Assurance Customers

To encourage more customers to purchase upgrade rights through its Software Assurance (SA) program, Microsoft added a long list of enhancements in Sept. 2003. These enhancements partially answer one of the chief complaints about the program—that Microsoft’s upgrades are more expensive than what competitors charge for both upgrades and technical support. However, the additional benefits that customers actually realize will vary, depending on factors such as their size, their current software support system, the number of desktops they have, and the type of volume licensing agreement they are in.

New Benefits

The enhancements fall into the following categories:

• Technical problem resolution by Microsoft personnel
• Access to technical education resources, such as product documentation and computer-based training, for the customer’s employees and support staff
• Software tools that customers can use to manage and deploy their software
• Inexpensive access to software for home use for the customer’s