Volume Licensing & Software Assurance

Volume Licensing and Software Assurance policies can seem distorted due to non-standardization. However, with a little guidance from our in-house licensing experts and Spiceworks colleagues, Microsoft aficionados recently learned how to swiftly traverse the licensing pathway.

Our most recent Video Meetup (VMU), “Microsoft Licensing 101: Volume Licensing and Software Assurance”, clarified perennial factors determining Volume Licensing capacity, including:

• Eligibility requirements based on organizational volume
• Immediate or scheduled payment structures
• Permanent or temporary product use
• Software Assurance benefits

Furthermore, the categorical structures and relative variations of the Volume Licensing matrix were outlined in regard to:

• TRANSACTIONAL vs. COMMITTED licenses
• SMALL (5-249 desktops) vs. LARGE (250+ desktops) licenses
• Open Business vs. Open Value (Non company wide) options
• Select Plus vs. MPSA (Microsoft Products & Services Agreement)
• Open Value (Company Wide) vs. Open Value Subscription
• Enterprise Agreement vs. Enterprise Subscription Agreement

Trusted Tech Team (TTT) licensing experts defined Software Assurance as: “a range of benefits which provide technology, services, and support to manage the software lifecycle.” More specifically, it was discussed as a product enhancement add-on for training, support, and usage rights. Ultimately, software assurance maximizes your product type or product-specific benefits.

A major takeaway from “Microsoft Licensing 101” was clarifying the fact that software assurance is an oft-discarded licensing option that ultimately saves you time and money. Bonus topics covered in the VMU included:

• How to weigh the total cost of operations (TCO) of a licensing program
• How to determine when different Open Licensing options are applicable
• How Software Assurance can ease the difficulty of End of Life (EOL) issues
• How Trusted Tech Team helps IT pros fully benefit from licensing programs