Tip: Counting Client Devices to Reduce EA Costs

Because an Enterprise Agreement (EA) is based on the number of client devices or users in an organization, and because computing devices can be used for many purposes, organizations negotiating an EA must define devices that should be excluded from the count.

The EA is primarily aimed at knowledge workers who use common business applications, and Microsoft defines “qualified desktops” (which should be included in the count) as PCs that can run any of the enterprise products. This definition is not a narrow one, however, because almost any PC is capable of “running” CALs, which are part of the enterprise products—a CAL is not software at all, but simply the right to access a server.

To provide further guidance, Microsoft excludes PCs used as servers, and any device that runs only “line-of-business” software, such as a PC that runs only a bookkeeping program for an accountant or a computer-aided design program for an engineer. In addition, an organization with a significant retail operation might have PC-based point-of-sale terminals that might not run Windows, are unlikely to ever run Office, and, if they access a Unix database, are unlikely ever to use Windows CALs. The organization should exclude all these PCs from the EA count. Exclusions are, in effect, a further discount: excluding 200 PCs in a 2,500-PC organization will reduce the cost of the EA by 8%.