… and the Cloud Solution Provider program evolution. As we informed you mid last year, the Open License program is retiring on December 31, 2021 (and that is only 8 months from today….). What has changed since our last news update?
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Perpetual licenses in CSP
Perpetual software licenses for commercial customers are generally available in the CSP program since January 19th, 2021. For Microsoft public sector customers – Government, Educational Institutions and not-for-profits, these perpetual licenses will arrive in the CSP program starting July 7th, 2021.
Open Value pricelist expansion
Also starting July 7th, governmental and not-for-profit licenses will be added to the Open Value pricelist. For Educational customers the Open Value Subscription – Education Solutions (OVS-ES) will remain and there will be not educational additions to the Open Value program.
Microsoft Customer Agreement
One of the reasons for Microsoft to move away from the Open License program is their desire to streamline customer purchasing by reducing the amount of legal documents. With the Open License program, with each ad-hoc purchase customers entered into a new Open License Agreement. This is hard to manage (a proper Software Asset Management program will help). When purchasing licenses through the CSP Program, there is a one-time acceptance of the evergreen Microsoft Customer Agreement. When you have not purchased in the CSP program before (example Office 365 subscriptions), you will need to accept and sign the MCA. Be prepared, read the agreement over here.
Confused?
Is this change confusing you? We fully understand. When licensing isn’t your day-2-day business, it can be complicated. But don’t worry, we are here to help you. Drop us a note and we will get in touch.