Open Value
For small to midsize organizations with five or more desktop PCs, Microsoft Open Value offers a convenient and affordable way to use and manage Microsoft licensed products under a single agreement.
What's New in Open Value
Recent changes to the Open Value program include the following:
- Special government pricing. Government organizations in more geographies can benefit from special government pricing through the Open Value for Government program. This program offers the same benefits that the commercial Open Value program offers, combined with government-appropriate pricing requirements.
- Agreement updates. The Open Value agreements have been updated to improve readability and navigation, and to provide consistency across all Volume Licensing agreements. These changes are based on customer and partner research that evaluated the simplicity of Volume Licensing programs.
- New eAgreements tool. With the eAgreements tool for Open Value 6.6 and Open Value Subscription 6.6, you can sign your agreement electronically. This saves processing time so that you can install your licensed products sooner.
- Fewer price points and SKUs. To help you find pricing information more easily, the Open Value Volume Licensing program now has fewer price points and SKUs. Individual-language SKUs with the same price have been combined into one SKU, called Single Language.
Why Choose Open Value?
The Open Value program offers your organization room to grow. Because the licensing costs are predictable, you can add licensed products throughout the year at a predetermined price. With Open Value you get simplified license management, better control over your investment, and better management of the cost of licensed products.
Microsoft Software Assurance, a comprehensive maintenance program that is included with Open Value, offers several benefits—including new version upgrades, technical training, end-user training, and partner services. These benefits are available throughout the term of the agreement. Software Assurance can help your organization improve software resource planning, measure return on your software investment, and increase productivity for workers, IT staff, and the entire organization.
Open Value Options
Microsoft Open Value provides three options for software acquisition and deployment: Open Value Company-wide, Open Value Non–Company-wide, and Open Value Subscription.
Option 1: Open Value Company-wide
With the Company-wide option, your organization receives the rights to run the software for as long as it is needed (perpetual). This option can provide significant savings and predictable costs on Microsoft technology with three-year spread payments.
Option 2: Open Value Non–Company-wide
With the Non–Company-wide option, you can license software on a portion of your desktop PCs or servers and manage your software costs by paying for your license in three annualized payments. If you have a Company-wide agreement, you can simplify managing your licenses by adding Non–Company-wide licenses to your Company-wide agreement.
Option 3: Open Value Subscription*
With the Subscription option, you can choose to pay a single price per desktop PC (minimum of five desktop PCs) to deploy Microsoft technology as the standard across your organization, just as with the Company-wide option. The Subscription option gives your organization the rights to run the software company-wide only during the term of the agreement with Microsoft.
* Open Value Subscription is not available in the United States or Canada.
Platform Options
The Open Value Company-wide and Open Value Subscription options enable your organization to standardize its desktop PC platform. The platform options provide a single license for each desktop PC instead of requiring individual licenses for Windows, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and server Client Access Licenses (CALs).
For additional savings on the Company-wide and Subscription options, you can choose either the professional desktop platform or the small business desktop platform to standardize your desktop PC licensed products with all three available products.
Professional Desktop Platform
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
Microsoft Core CAL
Windows Vista Enterprise
Small Business Desktop Platform
Microsoft Office Small Business 2007
Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) CAL
Windows Vista Enterprise
Benefits of Open Value
Open Value benefits include:
- The ability to run any software version. Tracking and managing licenses can be challenging, especially if your employees are running different versions of software. With Microsoft Open Value, you can control the upgrade cycle by running the latest software releases, and you can run any version of software, which can help you easily manage your licenses.
- Flexibility for business growth. As your organization grows and you need to purchase new desktop PCs, you can easily integrate the licenses from the new desktop PCs into your existing Open Value agreement through Software Assurance. However, you must purchase Software Assurance within 90 days of the date you purchased the desktop PCs.
- The ability to deploy the software you need now. With Open Value, you can run any version of the software so that you can stay current and upgrade when you want. The New Version Rights and flexible version management help you focus on implementing critical IT projects instead of on building a business case for the next upgrade.
- Predictable planning and budgeting. If your organization needs longer-term visibility into IT budget planning, Open Value offers predictable annual payments to help you make better decisions about which IT projects to implement each year.
- Spread payments. Open Value helps organizations that have a limited budget. You can amortize your software costs over three years. This is similar to financing—without the interest rates and associated fees. With reduced up-front costs and payments spread out over time, you can afford to get the software you need now.
Benefits of Open Value Company-wide
Open Value Company-wide provides additional savings opportunities and a single price for each desktop PC to organizations that want to standardize all their desktop PCs on one or more Microsoft enterprise products. The Company-wide option offers perpetual license use rights and includes the following additional benefits:
- Better manageability. If you manage multiple agreements, you can use company-wide purchasing to consolidate multiple Microsoft contracts into a single agreement, track licenses online, and standardize all of your desktop PCs on the latest software version. It gives you the confidence that you have your licenses under control.
- Easier license management. Managing software assets is a critical issue for many businesses. With Open Value, you can legitimately install new software as you need it and pay for it all at the end of the year.
- Minimize risk and remain compliant. You are responsible for managing new software installations by your IT team and end users. Having upgrade rights means your organization can install the latest version of software without worrying about accidentally becoming noncompliant. This makes it easier for you to reduce the business risk of noncompliance.
- More value for software. Open Value includes discounts on frequent upgrades and company-wide purchasing, so you get the best deal on your licensed product purchases. It also provides an agreement that helps you better predict your costs during the three years.
- Return on investment. Making a strategic choice to standardize on multiple Microsoft software solutions helps you receive additional cost savings. Open Value Company-wide provides discounts and upgrade rights when your organization licenses either the professional desktop platform or small business desktop platform products together on each desktop PC.
Compare Volume Licensing Programs
Microsoft offers several Volume Licensing programs that are designed to meet the needs of different organizations. You can compare the Open Value program with the other programs to find the one that is right for your organization.
Download a chart to compare Open Value with other Volume Licensing programs (Portable Document Format file, 496 KB)
How to Acquire
For more information about Open Value, contact Bryan Cochran with SYNNEX. He is the business development representative specializing in the Microsoft Open Value program.
His contact information is:
Bryan Cochran
800.456.4822 Ext 4351
BryanC@synnex.com