INTRODUCTION
The Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is for organizations with 500 or more users or devices. It offers the best value to organizations with 500 or more users or devices (250 users or devices for Government customers) that want a Commercial Licensing program that gives them the flexibility to buy cloud services and software licenses under one three-year agreement.
Agreement Structure And Details
The Enterprise Agreement structure offers greater flexibility for enrolled affiliates located in different countries and regions. Purchasing is independent yet consolidated under one master program. The Enterprise Agreement structure includes the following three components:
- The Microsoft Business and Services Agreement is required. This is a master agreement that defines contract terms common to Microsoft licensing, service, and support agreements. The customer signs the Microsoft Business and Services Agreement only once with or prior to the Enterprise Agreement.
- The Enterprise Agreement defines the terms for Enterprise and Additional Product license acquisitions, subsequent orders, True-ups, and perpetual use rights.
- An Enrolment (Enterprise, Enterprise Subscription, or Server and Cloud) establishes the basic information an organization uses to buy product licenses under the Enterprise Agreement. It defines purchase details like the term of the licensing arrangement, products, subsidiaries, language options, and Enterprise Subscription Agreement (or Licensing Solutions Partner, where applicable).
Enterprise Agreement Key Attributes
At the onset of the agreement, pricing is based on a tiered volume discount structure, meaning the greater the size of an organization, the less they pay per license. If an organization adds devices or users during their agreement, the per device/user licensing costs remain the same, or may be reduced, given the Enterprise Agreement volume pricing levels during their three-year agreement term.
All Enterprise A greements include Software Assurance benefits that an organization can use to plan deployments, ready their users for new software, and support Microsoft products and services. An organization can spread the cost of their Enterprise Agreement across three annual payments, helping predict future budgets. If they add new users or devices during their Enterprise Agreement, an organization can equip them with software and services they are already using and then account for these changes once a year through an annual reconciliation process known as True-up.
An organization can choose to either purchase their software licenses through the Enterprise Agreement or subscribe to licenses through the Enterprise Subscription option, which offers lower short-term costs and the ability to increase or downsize their subscriptions annually.
Agreement Terms
Each Enrolment has a three-year term during which all the terms and prices of products covered in the initial order remain consistent. This means an organization can plan and budget for software license purchases up to three years in advance, reducing annual budget restrictions and easing fiscal year spending challenges. Each enrollment also has the option for a three-year renewal term.
True-up and License Reservation
During the time of enrolment in the Enterprise Agreement, an organization’s business will likely grow. When adding devices, users, software, or services to an Enterprise Agreement, an organization can immediately use the same software or services included at the beginning of the enrolment term. They report devices, users, software, or services through an annual process called a True-up order (or License Reservation for online services). True-up orders and License Reservation consolidate orders for additional quantities that are deployed during the year under one order annually (including the third year before any renewal). An organization can also true-up multiple times throughout the year as an added benefit in managing costs.
This feature is in addition to the annual True-up required each year. The annual True-up feature reduces time and expense by consolidating the report of multiple additional software use under one purchase order. If an organization does not add anything during the year, an update statement is reported to alert Microsoft not to expect a True-up order.
Enterprise Products And Platforms
Enterprise Products include on-premises licenses for Microsoft core desktop products, such as Windows Enterprise Upgrade, Office Professional Plus, and the Core and Enterprise Client Access License (CAL) suites. Under the Enterprise Agreement, these must be licensed on an organization-wide basis and can be ordered as individual product components or together as a platform (with an additional discount).
The following Enterprise Products are included in the Professional Desktop Full Platform:
- Windows Enterprise Upgrade.
- Microsoft Office Professional Plus.
- Core Client Access License Suite.
The following Enterprise Products are included in the Enterprise Desktop:
- Windows Enterprise Upgrade.
- Microsoft Office Professional Plus.
- Enterprise CAL Suite.
- Secure Productive Enterprise E3 and E5.
Secure Productive Enterprise E3 and E5
The Secure Productive Enterprise is a per user licensing option that includes Office 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, and Windows 10 Enterprise. It is available in two options, E3 and E5, and it provides licensing flexibility in a single, per-user SKU, including new cloud-first, on premises capable licensing rights to help subscribers transition from on-premises environments. Secure Productive Enterprise E3 and E5 are available through the Enterprise Agreement (EA), Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EAS), Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) for commercial and government customers, and in the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program for customers with cloud-only deployments.
Reference
For more information please visit Microsoft Website
Disclaimer: The information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. The use or reliance of any information contained on this site is solely at your own risk. All information has been provided in good faith, however we make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability or completeness of any information, as the information provided does not contain software licensing advice.