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First Published:
November 10, 2005
Updated: June 19, 2007
Software is intellectual property, like a book or a music CD. A
software product license grants you the legal right to run a software.
Microsoft License Types
- Volume Licensing for Organizations (VLP)
Offers substantial cost savings if you purchase five or more
licenses.
- Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)
Products come pre-installed when you purchase a new computer.
- Full Packaged Product (FPP)
Shrink-wrapped boxes of licensed product purchased from software
retailers.
- Independent Software Vendors (ISV)
Allow companies to embed Microsoft software with their own
applications to create integrated solutions.
When most business users and resellers talk about "licensing," they're
actually thinking of volume licensing, which is what we'll focus on
here.
Volume Licensing Overview
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Benefits of Licensing |
Benefits of Software Assurance |
- reduce cost of software acquisition
- better software licensing management
- eliminates need for product activation (XP)
- in-house volume activation server (Vista)
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- software upgrades
- spread payments annually
- tech support
- deployment & monitoring tools
- access Microsoft source code
- training
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Volume Licensing Programs
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Microsoft Software
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License Type |
Client Size |
Client Type |
Customer Profile |
Software Assurance
(SA) |
Available with all license types
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5+
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Corporate, academic, charity, government
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Upgrade plan.
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| Software Advisor
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Available with Open License Value
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5 - 250
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Corporate, government
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As a Microsoft Software Advisor your organization will be
rewarded for its assistance to small and medium business
customers ("End User Customers") in assessing Microsoft
technology and acquiring Microsoft Open License Value Software.
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Open License 6.0
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Open Business
Open Volume Open Value *
Multi Year Open**
Open Subscription Licensing (OSL) **
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5+
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Corporate, academic, charity, government
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Designed for customers who desire an easy, one-time transaction
process with the flexibility of acquiring licenses from a broad
reseller channel, with the ability to spread payments annually.
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| Select License 6.0
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Company-wide Option
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250+
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Corporate, academic, charity, government
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Designed for medium, large, and multinational organizations with
mixed Microsoft license requirements, decentralized purchasing,
and the ability to forecast purchases. |
| Enterprise Agreement 6.0
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Enterprise Agreement
Enterprise Subscription Agreement
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250+
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Corporate
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Designed for medium, large, and multinational companies that are
interested in standardizing their enterprise and value the
benefits of centralized purchasing. |
| Academic Licensing
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All license types
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No minimum
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Academic institutions of various sizes
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Four Volume Licensing solutions that are designed to meet the
specific needs of education institutions. |
* Available in USA, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Singapore, and Australia only.
** Available in Microsoft Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) only.
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Notes for
Consultants and Clients |
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Open Business |
- Require
5 licenses minimum to get an "authorization"
- combined
server/application pools
- No minimum on subsequent orders (single license OK)
- Authorization expires after 2 years of inactivity
- Optional Software Assurance (SA)
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Open Volume |
- 500+ points to qualify
- server pool &
application pool
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Open Value |
- Direct w/ Microsoft
- Partner as agent
- Payments over 3 year period
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See also:
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