SA Rules

Several important rules govern Microsoft’s Software Assurance (SA) upgrade rights program for volume licensees, including the following:

Enterprise Agreements (EAs) include SA. All EAs include SA on all of the core enterprise products and require SA on all additional products.

Only way to upgrade in volume. SA is the only way to get upgrades for most volume-licensed software (the main exception is the desktop OS).

Purchase with original license. SA must be purchased at the same time as the original license, even if no upgrade has been announced; a customer cannot wait until an upgrade actually becomes available and then purchase upgrades for existing licenses.

Annuity fee. The fee for SA is based on the price of the licenses for the covered software. For SA on desktop software, customers will pay an additional 29% of the license cost for each year of SA coverage; on server software, customers will annually pay an additional 25% of the license cost.

Paid for duration of agreement. SA customers commit to pay SA for the remainder of their volume licensing agreement, including the full current year. For example, a customer who purchases a new license with SA with one and a half years remaining on a three-year agreement will need to pay for two years of SA.