Software Licensing Featured Articles

Microsoft Announces the Global Availability of MPSA

By Michael Guta, TMCnet Contributing Writer

The licensing agreement software companies have in place is designed to ensure their intellectual properties are protected and their customers have genuine applications. Even though some licensing agreements can be very complicated and expensive, companies are simplifying the licensing process and lowering price points in order to take advantage of the opportunities around the world. The global availability of information and communications technology (ICT) has increased the customer base for software companies, and addressing this market requires adapting some of the processes that are in place. During the recent Microsoft (News - Alert) Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), the company announced it is expanding to more countries with its Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA).

According to Microsoft, MPSA is a new foundational master agreement designed to simplify volume licensing agreements by bringing together, terms and conditions from standard Microsoft Volume Licensing Agreements into a single agreement for all organizations. The company wants to streamline the purchasing process so organizations can have more flexibility and control when they're looking to buy software and online services.

Microsoft recommends MPSA for commercial companies purchasing 250 or more licenses for online services or software that don't want an Enterprise Agreement. It is available in the US and 17 other countries, with global rollouts set to be finalized in 2015.

Microsoft also announced the retirement of Select Plus for commercial customers. Once MPSA becomes available globally on July 1, 2015, new Select Plus commercial licensing will not be sold. The platform will be phased out over three years, with Select Plus commercial account holders not being able to purchase additional Select Plus licensing after July 1, 2016. Academic and government customers are not subject to the same deadlines.

Once customers purchase the products and services, they will be able to manage their assets through the new Microsoft Volume Licensing Center. The new platform has been designed to give users access to Microsoft products throughout their organization with an intuitive and user friendly interface. Administrator will be able to generate reports and view everything in a single tool.