While the provider introduces its most powerful research and development, sales and marketing resources into the cloud, some Microsoft corporate customers are still stuck in on-premise implementations. This has led the provider to take aggressive steps to migrate these customers to the cloud. The results include several price and licensing changes, an increase in formal and informal licensing audits (often disguised as asset management software commitments) and increased complexity and rigidity of the contract. Under the right circumstances, this can be extremely valuable and extremely inexpensive. If you`re in the wake of an EA renewal looming, there are a few recent changes that you need to consider before starting negotiations with Microsoft. Changes in today`s business climate, coupled with Microsoft`s mission to relocate businesses to the cloud, are changing the way it does business with its largest customers. Companies considering renewing their enterprise agreements or acquiring supplier offers for the first time can use the forces that fuel Microsoft`s behavior at the negotiating table. I get this question all the time, because, let`s be honest, it`s an important decision. For example, a renewal of the Enterprise Agreement (EA) for a company with the main office suite on 10,000 PCs, for example, could cost about 1,500,000 USD per year. What do you have for this effort? You`ve already purchased a permanent license for relevant Microsoft products through your original EA, so the extension is just an extension of the maintenance element that Microsoft Software Software Assurance (SA) calls.

Like most of the terms used in Microsoft licensing, SA sounds like an industry standard concept, but has sufficient Microsoft-specific nuances that baffle customers. The main differences from the software maintenance offerings of most vendors are that SA: Most companies view the renewal of Microsoft EA as a unique event. They provide their smartest IT and sourcing resources to manage EA, but once it`s signed, those resources are actually “out of the woods.” It`s a mistake. Before the ink is dry during an extension, the Microsoft account team is working on the next one.