Microsoft Licensing Programs

Microsoft Licensing Programmes give you the possibility of greatly reducing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) when using software. Reducing TCO is a decisive criterion in ensuring competitive pricing and productivity. So software licences, like any other investment, are subject to a clear cost-benefit calculation.

The determining factor in this though is the knowledge of all the costs arising in connection with the use of software. For the application of software is subject to special conditions: TCO is not made up simply of the direct purchasing costs for hardware and software but also of the indirect costs for support services and user training, administrative purchasing costs, and software management costs.

Unlike hardware such as computers or server units, which you can buy and own outright, software is sold through license agreements.  A Microsoft software license gives you the right to use that particular software and determines how it can be used. Licenses include such things as deployment eligibility, the right to transfer software to other users and whether you can downgrade to earlier versions of the software. 

They come with one of two kinds of agreement which specify how you may use the software.

The range of licenses

Please see the left hand navigation for each type of License