Forrester

Why Read This Report

Microsoft announced Select Plus on July 1, 2008 — a significant improvement to its volume licensing program. Available to customers starting in October 2008, Select Plus enables customers to execute purchases at the business-unit level yet still get the volume discount earned by the enterprise as a whole, and all without having to submit any forecasts of future demand. Select Plus combines a more customer-friendly agreement structure and new pricing rules with consolidated license tracking that gives Microsoft both affiliate- and group-level views of license purchases. The new program is generally good news for Microsoft customers, but important pricing changes mean that some companies may end up paying more for their software. Enterprises that have Select agreements should seriously consider upgrading to Select Plus, provided that they can manipulate transaction timing to get the best possible license price and the most value from Software Assurance.