Reimaging rights

• Enterprise Agreement
• Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA)
• Open License and Open Value agreement
• Campus and School agreement
• Select Plus

Under this right, a customer who has purchased a volume license has the option to reinstall the boxed software (FFP) or the software purchased with the hardware (OEM).

The following table shows the differences in the right to reimage each type of license.

Legally owned license

• If you want to claim reimaging right, you must have a separate license for each product, which means that the same number of active instances must be covered with the same number of legally owned licenses.

The same products

• Reimaging may only be performed in the same range of products. It is not possible to perform reimaging for products of different editions. Microsoft lists some exceptions where it allows switching between editions. In the case of Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise with the downgrade to Windows 10 Pro, or SQL Server Enterprise with the downgrade to Standard.

The same components

• Reimaging also applies to Microsoft Office packages that must contain the same components. For example, Microsoft Office Home and Business, licensed through OEM/Retail channels, and Microsoft Office Standard, licensed through commercial licensing, do not represent the same components, and therefore reimaging is not possible.

Compliance with requirements

• Requirements related to the reimaging right for specific products should also be taken into consideration.

In 2017, a company acquired 150 Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus licenses under the Open License volume licensing program. Subsequently, in 2019, it purchased 100 Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus licenses under the same volume licensing program. In 2021, there was a need to purchase another 50 Microsoft Office Suite licenses. The company decided to use the option to purchase licenses from the free market, specifically Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus from the EA (Enterprise Agreement).

The company needs 300 active instances of Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus in 2021. What is the optimal, legal and easy way to activate/install/reinstall all licenses purchased so far?

Since the required final state is the unification of the infrastructure with Office Suite version 2016 and same edition, it is necessary to apply the downgrade right in the first place. As a result, mentioned company has the right to use an older version of the software, ie. from Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus, it gets the right to use Office 2016 Professional Plus. You can learn about the differences between Office 2016 and Office 2019 here.

Which resource should a company use to activate all products if it has 3 sources of licenses, product keys, and installation files for the same product (Microsoft Office 2016 Professional Plus)?

Used software licenses are usually delivered outside of the author's controlled distribution channels (or outside, for example, a VLSC evidence platform). In the case of licenses delivered by PREDNY SLM from the free market, such products are delivered via the SWTP platform™. Therefore, applying reimaging right, subsequently simplifies the installation, activation and registration of licenses.

For volume licensing solutions, downgrade and reimaging rights gives companies ways for efficient handling and management of software assets.

Similarly, when acquiring legal licenses from the free market with transparent chain of rights and history combined with the right to reimaging and downgrade, companies obtain a comprehensive licensing solution that allows them to respond flexibly and completely independently to software licensing needs with potential savings up to 80%.