Open License Program Overview
Open License program (OLP) is a good volume licensing option if you are a corporate, academic, charitable, or government organization that wants to pay as you go. Because you pay for licenses as you need them, you get maximum flexibility to grow with your organization's increasing and changing business needs.
The Open License agreement requires a minimum initial purchase of five (5) software licenses, but you can acquire additional licensed products through OLP in any quantity at any time during the two-year agreement term. Microsoft® Software Assurance for Volume Licensing can be purchased at the time of the license purchase to help you get the most out of your software investment.
Benefits to OLP
The Open License program offers many benefits, including the following:
Manage Your Licenses More Easily
- Place an order and start using Microsoft licensed products immediately through a flexible pay as you go model, eliminating the need for forecasting.
- Once an order is placed, receive a single Authorization Identification Number that you can reuse and share with qualified affiliates used when placing future orders to ensure the two-year price level throughout the two-year agreement.
- Manage licenses easily and conveniently through online tracking tools. With the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC), you can electronically manage your license orders, review purchase history, download purchased software, obtain Volume License Keys (VLKs) to activate software, and track compliance.
Take Control of Your IT Investment
- You can upgrade licensed product organization-wide while staying within your budget.
- Pay at the time you acquire software licenses with a one-time transaction.
- License and deploy software products as you need with a flexible purchasing process.
Have More Licensing Flexibility
- Because you pay for licenses as you need them, you get maximum flexibility to grow with your organization's increasing and changing business needs.
- You have easy access to the latest Microsoft technology through a broad worldwide reseller channel, helping ensure that you have convenient and fast access to thousands of software titles.
- You have the option to purchase Software Assurance.
- If your organization requires Microsoft's enterprise solutions, Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Enterprise CAL, and Microsoft® Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) are now available.
Manage Your Software Costs More Efficiently
- Offers discounts off the retail price of software product licenses to stretch software procurement budgets further
- With a simple one-time transaction, you can pay for what you need when you need it, giving you flexibility in managing your software needs
Other Open License Program Benefits
Software Assurance
Microsoft Software Assurance for Volume Licensing helps boost productivity across your organization by enabling you to get the most out of your Microsoft software with 24x7 support, deployment planning services, end-user and technical training, and the latest software releases and unique technologies, all in one cost-effective program. Open License benefits under Software Assurance include:
- The Software Assurance New Product Versions benefit provides new software version releases so you have access to the latest technology.
- Windows 7 Enterprise Upgrade is the premium edition of Windows 7 Professional for businesses and is available exclusively to Microsoft Software Assurance customers. It helps global organizations and businesses that have complex IT infrastructures lower IT costs, reduce risk, and stay connected.
- The Home Use Program provides employees with the latest version of Microsoft Office for their home computer, via low-cost download.
- 24x7 Problem Resolution Support provides around-the-clock phone and Web incident support for Microsoft server and desktop products.
- The Microsoft Software Assurance Cold Backups for Disaster Recovery benefit provides licensing for servers used as offline ("cold") backups for disaster recovery purposes.
- TechNet Subscription through Software Assurance gives IT staff access to experts, technical information, plus beta and final versions of products for testing and evaluation.
- The Extended Hotfix Support benefit provides specific product fixes on a per customer incident basis, beyond the standard product support terms and releases.
For more details, see the Software Assurance Benefits Guide at http://www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance.
Purchasing Software Assurance
Open License customers may purchase Software Assurance at any time during their agreement term. However, Software Assurance coverage runs only for the remaining balance of the term of the Open License authorization number. You must always pay for Software Assurance in two-year increments, regardless of when you purchased it. In cases where time has passed after the initiation of an Open License, it may be advantageous for you to open a new Open License to receive the most value from your Software Assurance purchase.
A period of up to 90 days is allowed from the purchase of a full-packaged product (FPP) license in retail or from the purchase of a license from an OEM manufacturer to enroll that product in Software Assurance.
Additionally, Microsoft Office suite licenses that you purchase through an OEM may be enrolled in Software Assurance within 90 days of the license purchase date. All other application product licenses purchased in retail or from an OEM may not be enrolled in Software Assurance.
Additional Resources for OLP
Microsoft offers a variety of information about the Open License program and other Volume Licensing programs on the Microsoft Volume Licensing website at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/.
Open Value, Open Value Subscriptions & Open License
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/open/
Software Assurance
http://www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance
Volume Licensing Options for Industries: Government, Education, Health & Charity
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-options/for-industries.aspx
To determine the right Volume Licensing program for your organization, try the Microsoft License Advisor tool at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/mplahome.mspx.
For more information on Microsoft's Open License Program, contact
Avnet’s Microsoft Team at MSTeam@avnet.com or (800) 474-3044
.