Microsoft Licenses by Distribution - Microsoft Volume Licensing (3/3)

For many years, the Open License Program was Microsoft's basic volume licensing program for small and medium-sized businesses, where customers could open contracts through dealers and purchase licenses from as little as 5 pieces (first purchase). However, this year (2022) OLP was terminated by Microsoft and its function was fully taken over by the CSP program.

The Open Value program can still be used by commercial, public or academic institutions. The program is usually meant for 5 to 250 users or devices. The contract is for 3 years and the products offered here are always accompanied by Software Assurance. The sale takes place through a partner or distributor who is registered by Microsoft. No volume discounts are provided by the manufacturer. The VLSC portal manages these licenses

This program, as a replacement of OLP and meant for small and medium-sized organizations. The CSP program offers a complete portfolio of licenses, both on-premise licenses (eg Microsoft Office or Windows Server 2022 Standard) and cloud services (eg Microsoft 365).

The sale takes place through a Microsoft CSP partner, who performs the entire transaction with the help of his distributor. As part of the transfer of competencies from Microsoft to its distributors, the distributor can also be the so-called Global Tenant Administrator, under which licenses are maintained and can help in a situation such as a forgotten password.

No volume discounts are provided by the manufacturer in this program. The administration takes place on the Microsoft 365 admin center portal, where there is an overview of all licenses in the organization in the administrator account (so-called tenant).

Please note that, unlike the previous OLP program, the licenses distributed in the CSP program do not allow activation via the KMS (Key Management Service) server, so it is advisable to choose either licenses in the OVL program with SA or licenses from the free market.

This program is designed by Microsoft for companies with more than 250 users. It offers a complete portfolio of cloud services, on-premises licenses and also Microsoft Software Assurance services. Distribution takes place exclusively through partners with the so-called "LSP status" (Licensing solution partner) in the form of a transaction agreement, which is usually concluded for one year. However, it should be noted that there are very few Microsoft partners that are authorized to offer these volume contracts, which means that they do not always offer cost-effective solutions for customers.

The contract is intended for commercial, governmental, or academic organizations. With the help of purchase accounts, it is now possible to manage several types of organizations within one agreement. Microsoft sets the price level here, respectively, discounts are offered according to the type and size of the organization. They are managed on the Microsoft Business Center portal.

In the Select Plus program, the contract is concluded for three years with the possibility of subsequent extension. It is designed for companies with more than 250 users. Under the agreement, the customer can purchase on-premise licenses and Microsoft Software Assurance services. The contract does not allow the purchase of cloud services and is also carried out through LSP partners. Licenses are managed on the VLSC portal. The discount level is determined by the manufacturer according to the number of purchased licenses.

The program is aimed for organizations with more than 500 users in the case of the commercial sphere or over 250 users in the case of purchasing for the governmental administration. Even in this case, the contract must be registered through LSP partners and must be concluded for at least the next three years. Both software licenses with SA and cloud services, as well as Microsoft Software Assurance services stand-alone, can be purchased under this agreement. The price level set by the manufacturer is affected by the number of users / equipment. License management is done through VLSC portal.

When selling volume licenses, we are not bound by any Microsoft distribution rules or recommendations; therefore, we can focus on finding the most efficient solution at the lowest possible cost.

We buy licenses exclusively from MPSA, Select and EA contracts, which guarantees their easy transferability and complete transparency of transfers.

Unlike Microsoft programs, licenses for older (not outdated) versions of the software are also available on the open market, which allows you to find the most cost-effective solutions to licensing needs for a fraction of cost.