Microsoft Open Licensing Program

Microsoft Open licensing programs work best for small and midsize organizations that wish to obtain the latest Microsoft technology.

Microsoft MPSA Program

The Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) Program is for organizations with at least 250 users or devices. It works for organizations that prefer a non-expiring and non-committal agreement, in order to licensing license Microsoft on-premises software, Microsoft Software Assurance, and/or Microsoft cloud services.   This is not the only agreement that you’ll have to sign. It’s the “master” agreement, so to speak. Usually you’ll have to sign the MPSA agreement, and then you’ll sign another agreement, like the Enterprise agreement that you actually purchase under

Microsoft Select Plus Agreement

Microsoft’s Select and Select Plus programs used to be an enterprise level purchasing agreement that required less commitment but provided less discounts than Microsoft’s standard Enterprise agreement.  Due to changing technologies and Microsoft’s change of focus however, they have largely discontinued this program, and it is now only available for qualifying public sector customers. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/licensing-programs/select

Microsoft Enterprise Agreement

The Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is best suited for organizations with over 500 users or devices, that wish to have a manageable volume licensing program offering flexibility to purchase both software licenses and cloud services under a single agreement.  Microsoft’s enterprise agreement provides some of the best pricing available on their products, but requires a great deal of commitment and use of Microsoft platforms. You can find more information here.

How does Microsoft approach license agreement renewals

Open, select, and MPSA agreements are more transactional, and the renewal process pretty much takes care of itself.  EA agreements are where the heaviest discounts come though, and these require a more controlled renewal process. Microsoft asks that you submit a true up every year, 30 prior to your anniversary date, and begins their internal renewal process 90 days prior to the expiry of the agreement.

Why hire look for an upcoming renewal

Look Licensing can assist with your true up and/or renewal by:

• Conducting an inventory of your network
• Comparing deployments to current quantities on the agreement
• Managing and coordinating discussions between your business, your reseller, and Microsoft
• Reviewing the current agreement and recommending changes to the renewal, based on the data gathered