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Changes to Microsoft’s latest agreements | RSS
Posted on December 29, 2009 at 8:36am
Microsoft's Select and Enterprise Agreements have long provided for a 30-day grace period at the expiration of the Agreement, for customers to decide whether (or not) to renew Software Assurance.
However: In the latest version of Microsoft's Agreements, the 30-day grace period was eliminated. This now means that Software Assurance must be renewed before the expiration of the enrollment or customers may be required to purchase new licenses to remain in compliance with their Agreements.
The apparent goal of this change is to shift the balance of negotiations power to Microsoft at the time of renewal. Clients should be in a position to make final decisions 90-days prior to Agreement expiration, and the time required for a Client to fully review its Microsoft investments averages 90 days.
As a result, NET(net) now recommends an engagement start date of no less than six months prior to Agreement expiration for Clients to perform an initial assessment of their Microsoft Agreements and/or renewals.
In addition, the Change of Channel Partner (COCP) form for your Large Account Re-Seller (LAR) is also changing. The time between the date a customer signs the COCP and the day the COCP takes effect will increase from 30 to 90 days. This is another good reason why Clients want to be prepared to implement all changes 90-days in advance of Agreement expiration and/or renewal.
With the COCP change, we now recommend that EA customers review their LAR relationships annually, and if dissatisfied, there will be ample time to either remedy the LAR relationship or to change LARs before the next annual True-Up.
NET(net) will help Clients perform Microsoft Investment Optimizations and/or annual LAR evaluations, at least six months prior to Agreement expiration to ensure Clients have enough runway to achieve their Microsoft Investment goals and objectives.
Note- many Clients have annual true-ups in June, so January is a great time to get started. Stay tuned to this blog for more information on how you can make the most of your technology investments.
Scott Braden
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