UK SBSC : Licensing

Give us your feedback on the Microsoft Licensing Accreditations

UK SBSC — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

In March, we updated and launched the Microsoft Licensing Accreditations, which recognise those individuals who can recommend the most appropriate products and licensing options for their customers’ needs. In response to partner feedback requesting the simplification of our licensing accreditations, we have also created a new 'starter' accreditation - Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist (MLSS) Lite. If you’ve undertaken these accreditations, tell us what you think of them by emailing: sbscuk@microsoft.com. Or if you want to learn more about these accreditations, this video provides further detail.

Licensing’s Cool Event – Saturday the 13th June 2009

UK SBSC — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:21:14 GMT

Licensing’s Cool Event – Saturday the 13^th June 2009

Taking place on 13^th June 2009 at the Microsoft Campus in Reading, this Saturday morning workshop aims to dispel the myths around Microsoft Licensing being complex.

Workshop topics will focus on introduction to:

Microsoft’s Licensing Accreditations - Understanding the Microsoft licensing programs and how to identify the right licensing solution for your customers; Understanding the Microsoft licensing models and how to license your customers’ solutions correctly;

Microsoft Products: Fundamentals - Key Microsoft technologies and how you can cross and up-sell these products to your customers.

There will also be the opportunity to take the MLSS Lite exam. The course is ideal for anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft basics.

Limited spaces available – Please register on the Partner Learning Centre – Reserve your space HERE.

Changes to Open Licence Orders

UK SBSC — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:05:48 GMT

From the 1st May 2009 end customer e-mail address will be mandatory for all Open License orders. For non-Open customers, e-mail is already a mandatory field, but for Open customers, e-mail address must be captured at time of order to ensure we can validate the identity of the customer and provide them with product keys, software downloads and benefit administration through our portal.

How will this impact Resellers?

Resellers will be required to capture the end customer e-mail address from their customer along with the order details
The reseller e-mail address field will remain an optional field

How will this impact customers?

From May 15^th, 2009, the end customer e-mail address will become a mandatory field on all orders entered in our systems and we will be able to send all welcome letters via e-mail, we will no longer send hard copy physical welcome letters to our customers. We feel this will have a positive impact and it will significantly reduce the manual effort and costs involved in supporting this task. We will have a valid e-mail address and the welcome letter will be sent via e-mail. With the focus on digital distribution, we feel now is the right time to cease sending hard copy notifications to our partners, resellers and customers.

Visit the Volume Licensing Service Centre for information.

Opportunity to target smaller public sector organisations with discounted OPEN licence

UK SBSC — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:00:19 GMT

With the budgets in the commercial world becoming ever tighter, now might be the ideal time to look at opportunities in the public sector. Microsoft has recently launched a new discounted OPEN license specifically for smaller government and health organisations.

If you would like to find out more information about the new licensing and get access to marketing collateral please go to www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/olpg.

Generate Revenue from Open Value

UK SBSC — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:01:38 GMT

Microsoft has made available to partners new sales materials to help you generate revenue from selling Open Value agreements into the 5 to 500 PC market.

The Open Value programme is for small to medium-size organisations with at least five desktop PCs to use and manage Microsoft software licences under a single agreement. Open Value offers simplified licence management, better control over the upgrade cycle and more predictable software costs annually.

Click on the “Sales Resources” tab here for a datasheet, at-a-glance sales guide and customer mailer.

Get Genuine Windows Agreement for Small and Medium Organizations

UK SBSC — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:58:52 GMT

Take advantage of a new opportunity to drive revenue by legalising unlicensed copies of Microsoft software on your customers' PCs. Help them correct Windows desktop licensing deficiencies using the Get Genuine Windows Agreement (GGWA), a solution available through Microsoft Volume Licensing corporate programmes.

Educating your customers about the business risks of using unlicensed software could help them make licensing a higher priority and increase your licensing revenues. Studies show that companies using improperly licensed software encounter more system failures that result in data loss and downtime. In the end, these companies may be less profitable than businesses with fully licensed software.*

If a customer has purchased PCs without genuine Microsoft® Windows® operating system software pre-installed, or discovers they have unlicensed software because of counterfeit or improper use of a Volume License Key, they may need your help to become license compliant.

Don’t miss out on these licensing sales opportunities. Familiarize yourself with the Get Genuine Windows Agreement for Small and Medium Organizations (GGWA-SMO). GGWA-SMO is a Volume License legalization offering and gives you a way to address the legalization opportunity within your customers’ existing PCs. It can help you grow your Volume License business and strengthen your customer relationships.

For more information, visit https://partner.microsoft.com/40032275

*Third-party research performed by Harrison Group Inc., 2008.

Open Licensing Programme for Government

UK SBSC — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:54:14 GMT

Towards the end of September I wrote a post about a new Open licensing programme for government. I wanted to direct you back to the Partner Portal pages on this topic as they have recently been updated and there are now some great sales and marketing tools available to help you prepare for customer conversations, drive demand and increase sales. Here you'll find campaign materials - including brochures, emails, web banners, event in a box and call scripts, amongst others.

What's more, there is also a video that talks about the partner benefits.

Go to www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/olpg to find out more.

Unique Opportunity for SBSC partners to attend Distributor Bootcamps!

UK SBSC — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:29:20 GMT

Working closely with our authorised distributor partners, Microsoft will be supporting a number of Distributor Bootcamps across the country in the coming month. We would like to take this opportunity to extend the invite out to SBSC partners. Read on to find out how you can take part and why it's of benefit to you...

Who should attend? / Why should you attend?

These bootcamps are ideal for any individual working in sales or Sales Managers with little experience of Microsoft Volume Licensing.
They are targeted at those resellers who sell very little/ limited Microsoft Volume Licences, or not maximising the opportunity of Microsoft’s Open Licensing programme.
They are designed to take attendees through the main license options and when to apply each one.
These sessions will take attendees through scenarios looking at licensing of the key products on Open and how to make the most of cross sell opportunities.
These sessions will look at licensing of new products and changes to existing programmes such as Open Licensing for Government, SBS & EBS, Open Value 2008 – where you can now sell into orgs with upto 750 users.
These sessions will also be covering the license options in the current economic climate
These sessions will talk through MS Club and how resellers could qualify for marketing funds.
These sessions will take you through how the distributor and Microsoft can further support you in driving incremental business.

What is more, all attendees will qualify for a free exam vouchers for Windows SBS 2008 or Windows EBS 2008!!

What's on the agenda?

Session 1

Introduction to Licensing (10 mins)
- Overview of licensing programs
- Introduction to fundamental licensing concepts
Microsoft Licensing Programs (25 mins)
- Open License
- Open Value non company wide
- Open Value company wide
- Open Value Subscription
- Recommending the right agreement type
Microsoft Product Licensing (25 mins)
- Windows Vista
- Office 2007
- Server CAL model
- Licensing external users
- Choosing the right licenses
- Selling a server license

Session 2

Becoming a trusted advisor
- Selling the right licence
- The benefits of FPP, OEM, VL (Open)
- Building an annuity business
- Selling Open Value and Software Assurance
Growing your customer base
- Selling OLPG – what is it, who will be interested in it
- Selling new level C (now up to 750 users)
Growing the deal
- What to add to a ...
  - Server led sale
  - Office led sale
  - Server application led sale
- Extending the sale by recognising Microsoft’s solution
  - Unified Communications
  - BI, etc ...
- Understanding the infrastructure pull through
  - SharePoint always needs SQL etc ..
- Adding in Management and Security and security products
Closing the deal
- Microsoft Finance
- Open subscription
- SA spread payments
Summary and Q&A

When are they taking place?

The sessions will run between 09:30-13:00.

Date	Where	Distributor
Wed 12 November	Birmingham	Ingram Micro
Thurs 13 November	Birmingham	Bell Micro
Fri 14 November	Birmingham	C2K
Tues 18 November	Manchester	C2K
Wed 19 November	Manchester	Ingram Micro
Thurs 20 November	Manchester	Ingram Micro
Fri 21 November	Manchester	Ingram Micro
Thurs 27 November	Birmingham	C2K
Thurs 27 November	Haslingden	Bell Micro

How do you sign up?

To register please email my colleagues Ita McAndrew (Microsoft) and Ali Turhan (Microsoft) - they will send you the details and inform the relevant distributor of your intention to attend.

Introducing our new Partner Programme Videocasts

UK SBSC — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:14:28 GMT

Microsoft have just launched a series of videocasts to kick start your knowledge of the Microsoft Partner Programme and to help you get the most value from your partnership. All videocasts are accessible on our brand new Partner Player — you simply pick the videos you want to watch, be that learning about sales and marketing resources, getting the most from your internal-use licences, or hearing tips and tricks about how to successfully renew your programme membership.

Just visit the Partner Player and start watching the videos. Or if you prefer, you can filter the videos to your tier level (Registered, Certified or Gold Certified), your role or video type, or just pick a video from our recommended list.

Here's a couple of recommended videos to get you started:

Are there any specific videos you would like to see from a UK SBSC perspective? Send me your thoughts to sbscuk@microsoft.com.

New Licensing Learning Path available to Partners

UK SBSC — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:28:06 GMT

The Microsoft Partner Readiness team have recently created a new Learning Path for partners that is available on through the Partner Learning Centre.

Understanding Microsoft Licensing gives you the ability to advise your customers more effectively on the best ‘Way to Buy’ Microsoft software and also the best ‘Way to Manage’ that software and any benefits you are entitled to once you have bought from us.

This Licensing Learning Path outlines what training options you have and helps you decide what level of knowledge you need to do your job more successfully. You can start from a basic overview of our products and how to license them, and train all the way up to being a Microsoft Certified Professional in either Licence Delivery (helping customers buy software in the best way) or in Software Asset Management (SAM) (helping customers manage their licences and software post purchase). Or you can become an expert in both areas.

There are other Learning Paths available alongside the Licensing one, including Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Live, Windows Essential Server Solutions, Windows Server, Windows Vista and Microsoft Web Solutions. Go here to learn more.

SBS 2003 R2 Availability post SBS 2008 Launch

UK SBSC — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:23:22 GMT

Our Microsoft colleagues based at corporate in Seattle have recently advised us around the availability of Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 post the launch of Windows Small Business Server 2008. They have advised that in Volume Licensing (VL), SBS 2003 R2 media will be available until the version following 2008 is released, however SBS 2003 R2 license SKUs for sale will all go away when 2008 hits the price list (October). They tell us that customers have downgrade rights in VL, so there’s no need to keep versions previous to SBS 2003 R2 license SKUs on the price list.

For Fully Packaged Product's (FPP), SBS 2003 R2 SKUs will discontinue 60 days after software has RTM’d. (For English until October, for localized languages it may be available until early calendar year 2009).

Hope you find this information useful.

Open Licensing Programme for Government market opportunity

UK SBSC — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:34:11 GMT

Launching on 1 October 2008, the Open Licensing Programme for Government (OLPG) is an opportunity for Microsoft partners to sell discounted Microsoft Open Volume Licensing into eligible government and healthcare organisations with between 5 and 250 users. According to the IDC, this market is worth $177m and will achieve an 8% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the next three years.

This is an opportunity for Microsoft partners to now sell discounted Microsoft Open Volume Licensing into eligible government organisations with less than 250 users. Previously government organisations could only buy under Select or EA, FPP, OEM or standard OPEN agreements and therefore were unable to offer competitive OPEN pricing.

In addition the value of Open licensing in the government space enables you to build longer term customer relationships and help you to generate further revenue from the provision of service and support. What's more the order process and licensing set up for partners is a very similar order process to OPEN commercial licensing.

The advantages for your customers are very clear.Your customers can now benefit from Open Volume licensing with the following advantages:

Keep software up-to-date and minimise payments over two year

Easy way for centralising the management and tracking of licensing through Open Value and Open Value Subscription, reducing the need for multiple agreements with different anniversary dates

Reduce administration and costs

Manage your licensing costs more effectively

Gain the advantages of support and training which is not currently available through FPP or OEM

Government Agreed Pricing with OGC: the discount model means smaller Government Customers can procure at Government Pricing, where previously they were unable to or excluded

Increases the choice and procurement routes for Government bodies.

This new Open Licensing Programme for Government offers SBSC partners a great opportunity to tap into. Go here to learn more: Open Licensing Programme for Government.

Open License Media fulfillment via Distribution Partners

UK SBSC — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:35:34 GMT

Recently a couple of SBSC partners have contacted Microsoft to alert us to issues they have around obtaining media kits with open licensing. Some of the issues have arisen from lack of clarity around the process - some have arisen through fear of delay in fulfillment. In the latter case, please be aware that we are escalating these issues with the appropriate parties internally to address the problem. I will submit another post on this when I have further insight from our Volume Licensing Fulfillment team and can give you an update. In the meantime, here's the overview of the process you should follow.

Since the 11th July 2008 the open license media order management process has no longer be managed via the Distribution channel. Distributors should now redirect their customers to Microsoft on-line tools eOpen/Volume License Service Centre (VLSC) for their open license deployment requirements (product download and/or media purchase).

With the above in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the correct process to follow when buying Open License Software:

1. Place an Open License Order with a Volume Licensing Reseller. For more information on the Open License program, visit http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/open.

2. Register your License Details on eOpen.

You will receive an Authorisation and a License Number on your Order Confirmation which is published via email direct from Microsoft (It is important that you provide your email alias on the Open License order) or received via your Reseller. Use these details to register your License on https://eopen.microsoft.com.

A Windows Live ID (formerly Passport ID) is required for authentication to the eOpen website. You can use an existing Windows Live ID or create a new one at http://get.live.com/getlive/overview/.

Sign in to Windows Live ID on eOpen
Add your license details in the "Add Agreement" section"
Sign your Open License Agreement terms and conditions

3. Download your Software.

Once you have signed your Open License Agreement, you have access to the Product Downloads section on the Volume Licensing Service Centre (VLSC).

This allows you to download software products based on your Volume Licensing entitlements:

Upgrade to new software
Quickly view all your downloads

Steps:

Click on the "Product Downloads" section in eOpen
View all Products available on VLSc
Specify Download Settings (Language and Connection Speed)
Launch the Download Manager for efficient installations, timesaving features and automatic restarting if the download process is interrupted.

If you would prefer CD rather than the download version of the software you can purchase a Media Kit through the Product Downloads page.

Steps:

Click on the "Product Downloads" section in eOpen
Choose a Product for Download on VLSC
Specify Download Settings (Language)
Click on the "Purchase the MediaKit Version" link beside the "Continue Download" button.

Products not available to download:

There are a few product families that are unavailable to download on-line due to the fact that the product has retail PID keys placed on the media kit.

Windows Small Business Server Std
Windows Small Business Server Premium
Windows Server for Small Business
Microsoft Math
CRM Professional Server 3.0 (latest version Dynamics CRM Professional Svr available for download)

Note: If the product is not available for download on VLSC, the open media kit is not available to purchase on-line.

The customers can contact the customer support centre to purchase these products manually at no cost.

Doc kits can be purchased manually at cost through contacting the customer support centre.

Delivery:

If you request one of the following SKU's then I am told that delivery should take place within 48 hours:

Customer Support contact details:

You can contact the Support Centre by e-mail at eopenhelp@msdirectservices.com.

Telephone: 0800 9179016

Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist recordings available on the Partner Learning Centre

UK SBSC — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:22:04 GMT

Did you know that Microsoft have announced the release of Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist recordings on the Partner Learning Centre?

The Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist (MLSS) accreditation is made up of seven modules. Each module has a test that you must take which has 25 questions and you have 30 minutes to complete. In order to pass the module you require an 80% pass mark.

There are 5 core modules:

Microsoft Product Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Licensing

Product Licensing: Windows and Office
Product Licensing: Server Applications
Selling Software Assurance

For the remaining two modules you have the choice of focusing on either Small & Medium Businesses or Large Organisations. The Small and Medium businesses focus on the different versions of Open licensing. The Large Organisation modules focus on Select and Enterprise -

Either

Microsoft Volume Licensing for Small and Medium Businesses: Core

Microsoft Volume Licensing for Small and Medium Businesses: Advanced

Microsoft Volume Licensing to Large Organisations: Core
Microsoft Volume Licensing for Large Organisations: Advanced

All the above recordings also have a PDF slides (accessible on the Learning Path or from the links above) that could be easily downloaded and/or printed to create licensing handbook for quick reference or to write notes on while sitting the recording. It should take between 30 and 60 minutes to read review each module prior to sitting the test.

We do have a case study available too... Computacenter believe that as a result of putting their employees through this qualification their Open Sales business has increase 200%.

The recordings can be found on the Partner Learning Centre by either searching for ‘MLSS’ or from the following link –

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/search_adv.aspx?ssid=360d30e2-c7c0-49bc-8778-f8dad90965f4

Microsoft Authorised Distributors

UK SBSC — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:40:24 GMT

One of topics that has recently been discussed at both the SBSC user group meetings and amongst the SBSC PALs and user group leads, is around how Microsoft tracks the revenue generated by SBSC partners.

It is very hard for Microsoft to truly reflect the revenue that our SBSC partners generate as we can only accredit revenue to an SBSC partner if they buy through an authorised distributor. This is because that sales data is made available to Microsoft. Obviously we know many of our partners do not buy solely through authorised distributors as purchasing decisions are often price based and partners choose to shop around. As such, we know there are times when partners buy through a "sub-distributor" or through retail. In these cases, as we cannot track who has purchased the products, the revenue generated is accredited to the the company the partner purchased from and not to the individual SBSC partners.

I am not sure if there is much we can do to rectify this situation so long as SBSC partners purchase through channels other than authorised distributor. That said, we do intend to explore this further.

If you would like to see who Microsoft's authorised distributors are for UK and Ireland please go here. It also shows the types of licence authorised distributors can sell - Full Packaged Product (FPP), Open (OL), Open Subscription (OSL) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) licences.