What is the Microsoft Business Desktop Platform?

The Microsoft Business Desktop Platform is a simplified method of licensing the computers your employees use with the core Microsoft Software products.

What is included in the Microsoft Business Desktop Platform?

The Microsoft Business Desktop Platform includes:

• Microsoft Office 2007
• An upgrade to Microsft Vista Business
• Client Access Licence(s) for the core Server Platform(s)
• All the additional benefits of Volume Licensing
• All the additional benefits of Software Assurance

How can I buy the Microsoft Business Desktop Platform?

The Microsoft Business Desktop Platform is available as part of the Open Value Company-Wide or Open Value Subscription programmes.

Open Value Company-Wide is for customers who prefer to own the rights to the software as "perpetual licensing" even after the licence agreement has expired. Open Value Subscription is for customers who want to minimise upfront costs and maybe want to increase and reduce the number of licenses over the period of the licence agreement.

What are the two versions of the Microsoft Business Desktop Platform?

The Microsoft Business Desktop Platform is available in two versions, Small Business and Professional.

The Small Business Desktop Platform is intended for small businesses who either use (or plan on using)  Microsoft Small Business Server. The Professional Desktop Platform is intended for businesses who use the standard Server Platforms including Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft Exchange.

What do the two versions of the Microsoft Business Desktop Platform include?

Which operating systems verisions may I upgrade with the Vista Business Upgrade Licence?

At the time of entering the Open Value agreement your existing computers maybe ugraded to Window Vista Business from the following operating systems:

• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows NT® Workstation 4.0
• Windows 98 (including Second Edition)
• IBM OS/2
• Apple Macintosh

Once the agreement is in place, new or replacement computers must be bought with one of the following operating systems:

• Windows Vista Business
• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

We have a mixture of computers of different ages and we are not ready to upgrade to Windows Vista Business and Office 2007, what can we do?

No problem. One of the key Volume Licensing benefits is the right to downgrade your licenses to any previous version of the software. Still need to standardise your business on Windows 2000 Professional and Office XP, go ahead. You can then upgrade your whole business to the latest version of the software in a controlled way when you are ready.

How do Office Small Business and Office Professional Plus differ?

We use Microsoft Small Business Server, so I need the Small Business Desktop Platform, but I also need Office Professsional 2007 on some computers?

If you have a requirement for both the Small Business Desktop Platform and need the additional functionality and benefits of Office Professional Plus 2007 you can buy as few or as many "step-up" licenses to Office Professional Plus as you require.

What is a CAL?

A Client Access License (CAL) is a licence allowing a PC on a business network to access the resources of a Server,

What is the Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) CAL

The Microsoft SBS CAL is for businesses using either the Standard or Professional versions of Microsoft Small Business Server. This single CAL allows a computer to access all the resources made available by Small Business Server.

What is the Microsoft Core CAL?

The Microsoft Core CAL is for businesses using standard Microsoft Server platforms. The Core CAL Suite consists of the:

• Windows CAL
• Exchange Server Standard CAL
• Office SharePoint® Server Standard CAL
• System Server Configuration Manager CML

What is Open Value Company-Wide?

Open Value Company-Wide is a Microsoft Volume Licensing Program for businesses who want to standardise software across their computers with the benefit of perpetual licensing. It is a single three year agreement with the option of paying upfront or making three annual payments without any additional interest or financing costs.

In return for standardising software accross all their computers, customers receive savings on software licenses purchased and additional savings if they choose the entire Small Business or Professional Desktop Platform. During the period of the agreement, in addition to the benefits of the software and Volume Licensing, they also receive the benefits of Software Assurance including upgrade protection to new versions of the software.

What happens to my software licenses at the end of the three year agreement?

At the end of the agreement you have two options:

1. Do nothing and the software licenses remain yours. You retain the perpetual benefits of the software and the benefits of Volume Licensing, however you lose the additional benefits of Software Assurance including upgrade protection.
2. Renew the Software Assurance for your existing Open Value licensing for a further three years at much reduced cost and retain all your benefits.

How do I calculate how many licences I need when purchasing Open Value Company-Wide?

When standardising with Open Value Company-Wide you must order licences for all devices in your business that can run the software. However you can choose not to order licences for the following devices, as long as you do not plan on using the software on them:

• Computers that are used as a server
• Devices that contain an embedded operating system such as thin clients and Pocket PCs
• Devices that are only used for a line of business application, for instance a hotel management system.

Note that Microsoft Office is only licensed per device, all devices including thin clients and computers being used as Terminal Server clients need to be licensed.

What happens if I need extra licenses after the Open Value Company-Wide agreement is already in place?

At anytime you may purchase additional licenses and add them to your existing Open Value Company-Wide agreement. You can buy licences for individual computers, or receive extra savings for additional software you wish to standardise accross the whole business.

Additional licensing can be added in two ways, either by purchasing:

1. New Open Value licensing from your Microsoft Volume Licensing Reseller, on either a Company-Wide or Non-Company-Wide basis; or
2. Software Assurance for OEM Licenses aquired in conjunction with the purchase of new computer hardware withing 90 days of purchase. This effectively 'converts' your OEM Licensing to Volume Licensing with Software Assurance benefits.

Does the Open Value Company-Wide program allow me to reduce the number of licences if the number of computers in the business reduces?

No, there is no mechanism as part of the Open Value Company-Wide program for reducing the number of licences on the agreement. This is because you aquire perpetual licenses on the Company-Wide program. If the ability to reduce as well as increase your license count is important, this is a benefit of the Open Value Subscription program.

However at each three year anniversary you are able to reduce the number of Software Assurance renewals you purchase. The licences that are not covered by Software Assurance are still yours to keep and use when required, you just lose the ongoing Software Assurance benefits for those licences.

 

What is Software Assurance?

Microsoft Software Assurance (SA) is a Microsoft maintenance program aimed at business users who use Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and other server and desktop applications. The core premise behind SA is to give users the ability to spread their payments for the software over multiple years, while offering "free" upgrades to newer versions in that time period. Key Benefits include: Upgrade rights to newer versions of software as they become available Spread payments over multiple years Windows Preinstallation Environment for building custom installs of Windows XP / Vista & 2003 Training: Free IT training from Microsoft and access to E-Learning, a series of interactive online training tools for users. Home use: Employees of a company with SA can use an additional copy of Microsoft software at home on their own computers Employee Purchase Program: Employees also get discounts on retail purchases of Microsoft products 24x7 telephone and web support Additional error reporting tools to let administrators collect information on application failures Access to Technet managed newsgroups Extended Hotfix support: Typically Microsoft charges for non-security hotfixes after mainstream support for the product has ended (e.g. 5 years for Windows); this charge is waived for SA customers

More information is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/default.mspx

What is Windows Vista Enterprise?

Windows Vista Enterprise is the premium edition of Windows Vista for businesses and is available exclusively to Microsoft Software Assurance customers. Windows Vista Enterprise includes all the features in Windows Vista Business as well as extra capabilities designed to help reduce the cost and complexity of deploying and managing business computers.

What is e-Learning?

Official Microsoft E-Learning courses are designed to provide maximum learning in minimal time. They offer a visually engaging, guided learning experience with highly interactive features, including user-selected learning style, assessments, rich simulations, hands-on labs for practice, audio, and multimedia.

What is the Microsoft Office Home Use Program?

The Home Use Program is a Microsoft Software Assurance benefit designed to help increase employee productivity and satisfaction while also helping to maximize the value of your Microsoft Office desktop investment. With this benefit, eligible employees can obtain a licensed copy of most Microsoft Office desktop programs, which they can install and use on a home computer

What is the employee purchase program?

The Microsoft Employee Purchase Program benefit gives your employees discounts on the most popular Microsoft productivity and consumer products. Employees can save money on great software products for home management and entertainment, including Windows Vista, Microsoft Office, Xbox games, and Zune.

What is "Cold" Backups for Disaster Recovery?

With the "Cold" Backups for Disaster Recovery benefit, your organization receives complimentary "cold" backup server licenses for every production license that is covered by Microsoft Software Assurance. If a disaster arises, "cold" servers (those that are turned off until an emergency situation requires them to be activated) can be moved into production mode so that users can continue to access critical data and applications.