Select Plus Licensing Guide

Select Plus has been retired

New Select Plus commercial agreements are no longer available. Customers with Select Plus agreements that have not been retired can continue to purchase through the agreement until further notice. If you have a commercial Select Plus agreement and want to begin purchasing through a different agreement such as the Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft Products and Services Agreement, or license cloud services through a Cloud Solution Provider, please work with your Microsoft partner to identify the right licensing vehicle for your needs.

This does not apply to Select Plus agreements for government and academic customers or in some regions.

Overview

Microsoft Select Plus is for large organizations with multiple affiliates that want to acquire their software licenses and services at any affiliate level, while realizing advantages as one organization

Select Plus features

Beyond reducing the price that organizations pay for software licenses over full packaged product prices, Select Plus offers other opportunities to help maximize the value organizations receive when you purchase through the agreement. Benefits include:

Reduced purchasing complexity through:
• Simplified purchasing agreements. Organizations are provided with a single agreement under the Master Business
and Service Agreement (MBSA). This agreement never expires for transactional purchases, providing more flexibility,
while eliminating the need to renegotiate and renew every three years.
• Affiliate purchasing. Select Plus purchases are associated to a unique customer ID per affiliate. All purchases are tied
to a single agreement and Lead Affiliate customer ID that allows organization-wide reporting or detailed affiliate level
reporting.
Improved asset management with:
• License management. Enhanced self-service, online tools give customers and partners better management
capabilities.
• Downgrade rights. Organizations can now standardize on versions. Downgrade rights offer the right to license the
latest software version available, yet still run a previous version.
Added value by offering ways to:
• Save money. Simple, automated, volume-based discounts can be applied to licensed product purchases across the
entire customer organization at the corporate and affiliate locations.
• Realize more value from Software Assurance. Organizations receive a full value for their benefits with proration of
coverage to the third affiliate account anniversary, providing between 25 and 36 months of coverage.
Note: For complete details, reference the Select Plus agreement.

Software Assurance with Select Plus

Microsoft Software Assurance for volume licensing helps boost productivity across your organization by enabling you to get the most out of your Microsoft software with 24×7 support, deployment planning services, end-user and technical training, and the latest software releases and unique technologies, all in one cost-effective program.
With Select Plus, you have the option to include Software Assurance with your software licenses. When you add Software Assurance, Microsoft will prorate your coverage to your third affiliate anniversary so you only pay for the coverage you are using, providing greater value for your Software Assurance coverage.
For more information about Software Assurance benefits, please visit www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance.

Purchase options for Software Assurance
The Spread Payments benefit for Software Assurance offers a more flexible way to manage technology expenditures by
allowing you to spread payments annually over the term of the Software Assurance coverage. Select Plus offers both Affiliate Anniversary (similar to Agreement Anniversary) that allows you to spread payments annually and Order Anniversary that allows you to spread payments over full-year increments. This can help reduce initial upfront costs and provide annual budget predictability.
Software Assurance may also be purchased on its own when:
• System or server software product licenses are purchased through retail full-packaged product (FPP) or from an
original equipment manufacturer (OEM). There is a 90-day enrollment period during which time Software Assurance
may be added to these purchases.
• Microsoft Office 2013 or newer version licenses are purchased through an OEM. Again, there is a 90-day enrollment
period during which time Software Assurance may be added to these purchases. The versions must be identical.

Extending Software Assurance coverage
It is easy to continue the benefits enjoyed through Software Assurance after the initial term ends. Because Select Plus is an ongoing agreement that does not expire, Software Assurance may be extended through the existing agreement. When extending multiple Software Assurance orders that were purchased through Select Plus at different times, the coverage period is adjusted to a common date, and the prices prorated to reflect the coverage period, in order to simplify management and facilitate annual budgeting cycles.
To ensure that upgrade protection remains uninterrupted through Software Assurance, you may extend Software Assurance coverage through your authorized reseller by placing a renewal order by the expiration date of your Software Assurance term.
If Software Assurance purchased under another agreement is about to expire, it may be renewed into your Select Plus
agreement by working with your authorized reseller to obtain Software Assurance coverage under your Select Plus agreement.
In cases where Software Assurance coverage lapses, new License and Software Assurance purchases are required before Software Assurance may be acquired again.
To learn more about Software Assurance, visit www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance.

Microsoft Financing
Microsoft Financing provides a range of flexible payment solutions that enable you to structure your IT product and service spend to meet your specific business needs. Whether your IT solution is Microsoft only, or combines products from other supplier and Microsoft Partners, Microsoft Financing can help you manage your total cloud, software, hardware, and deployment costs; all while leaving your existing credit lines and cash free to invest as you choose.
Go to www.microsoft.com/financing for more information.

Agreement structure

The Microsoft volume licensing agreement structure makes it easier to negotiate the terms and conditions for multiple
affiliates. A Select Plus agreement has three components: (1) the Microsoft Business and Services Agreement (MBSA); (2) the agreement itself; and (3) the Select Plus affiliate registration form.
Microsoft Business and Services Agreement. The MBSA is a perpetual agreement between the customer and Microsoft. It contains high-level terms and conditions that are applicable to all agreements signed under it, such as use and ownership, confidentiality, and warranties. It must be signed either with or prior to the effective date for the Select Plus agreement.
To add flexible contract maintenance for Microsoft licensed products, a separate license or Services Agreement work order is signed to cover specific terms of the Select Plus or services agreements. A key benefit to this structure is that the agreement terms common to Microsoft licensing, service and support agreements and Select Plus only need to be signed once.
Note: Select Plus for Academic and Select Plus for Government do not include the MBSA.
Select Plus agreement. This enrolls your organization in the volume licensing agreement so that you can purchase products and services at volume discount prices.
The Select Plus affiliate registration form. This one-page form identifies buying affiliates within your organization and
registers them in the program. As a result, they can acquire software licenses and services under the Select Plus agreement.
The Licensing Solution Provider that works directly with the affiliate is also identified on the affiliate registration form. Having a separate Select Plus agreement and Select Plus affiliate registration structure allows greater flexibility for registered affiliates located in different countries and regions, while providing a single, organization-wide purchasing agreement with improved reporting and management. Although purchasing is conducted independently, all licenses are managed under one master agreement.

Affiliate structure for Select Plus agreements
With Select Plus, a single agreement and Lead Affiliate customer ID is established with the public customer number (PCN) of an organization’s lead affiliate. The PCN is associated with the PCNs of any number of affiliates, linking them to the same agreement. This framework is used to calculate price levels based on the organization’s volume purchases and helps streamline purchasing, Software Assurance benefit delivery, and licensing reporting.
A Select Plus agreement cannot be initiated without an MBSA, and a Select Plus affiliate registration cannot be initiated
without a Select Plus agreement.

Licensing scenarios

Pricing

Establishing price levels for commercial organizations
Select Plus categorizes software products into three distinct product pools: applications, systems, and servers. The price level for each pool is based on product points that you earn for automatic tiered discount levels.
• Applications. Examples of Microsoft applications include Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Microsoft Skype for Business, and Microsoft Outlook.
• Systems. An example of a Microsoft desktop computer operating system software program is Windows operating
system upgrades such as Windows Pro.
• Servers. Examples of Microsoft server software programs include the Windows Server Essentials, Exchange Server,
System Center Endpoint Protection, and associated Client Access Licenses (CALs).
Each software product carries a point value. For example, Office Professional Plus is worth 2 points, a Microsoft Online Services Subscription is 1 point, and Windows Server Essentials is 5 points. The Software Assurance component of License & Software Assurance is worth half the total point value of its accompanying license annually. For example, if Office Professional Plus is worth 2 points, Software Assurance is worth 1 point for each year it is maintained during the term of the Select Plus agreement for a total of 3 points during the three-year term of the coverage (prorated between 25 and 36 months).
You can acquire points for each product pool with these three options:
• Acquire new Licenses.
• Acquire License & Software Assurance.
• Renew Software Assurance for products already covered with Licenses & Software Assurance from a previous order or
where Software Assurance is purchased based on the eligibility rules.
Your organization will automatically move to a lower price level whenever one of these events occurs:
• You increase the amount you spend through your Select Plus agreement and purchase enough points to take you to
the next price level.
• You associate your Select Plus agreement with an existing Enterprise Agreement, Campus and School Agreement, or
Select License agreement that has a lower price level.

Price level adjustment
If your Select Plus agreement is associated with an active Enterprise Agreement or Campus and School Agreement, you do not need to comply with annual point minimums. However, if your Select Plus agreement has been associated with a Select License or other volume licensing agreement to set the initial price level, you must meet the point minimums for each subsequent annual compliance check.
Your initial order, which can be submitted by a registered affiliate, qualifies your organization for the corresponding price level.
Once you are qualified for a price level, you can purchase at that level for the remainder of the year or until you qualify for the next price level through increased purchase volume. Purchases made under your Select Plus agreement by registered affiliates are aggregated and continuously factored into point minimums per pool to achieve the most beneficial price level. You will attain the next price level for a pool as soon as your organization meets the corresponding annual point minimums. The order that qualifies you for a discount (e.g., Level A to Level B) receives the discount. Price levels for each product pool are reviewed every year on the agreement anniversary date. Any points that you have achieved in each year that are more than the current price level but below the next price level will be carried over to the next year to be counted toward that years’ compliance.
Note: For eligible academic and government organizations, there is one price level, and the price level adjustment does not apply.
If you purchase below the annual point minimum in a product pool during any given year, your organization’s price level changes one level (e.g., moving from Level C to Level B) for that pool the following year and no points will be carried over to the next year. Your pricing level can only descend a maximum of one level each year.
If you are at Level A (or an academic or government customer) and achieve fewer than 500 annual points in a product pool for a given year, the pool will be put on hold until you reach the 500-point level again. An order for the minimum annual points automatically reactivates the product pool, with no need to sign new forms or renegotiate the agreement terms.

How to qualify for Select Plus
There are two ways you can qualify the agreement:
• Option 1. Qualify with an active Enterprise Agreement or Campus and School Agreement.
When you associate your Select Plus agreement with a qualifying Enterprise Agreement or Campus and School
Agreement contract, you receive the corresponding price level for your Select Plus agreement through the duration of
your qualifying Enterprise Agreement or Campus and School Agreement contract. When the associated qualifying
Enterprise Agreement or Campus and School Agreement licensed term expires and is not renewed, you can still
receive the corresponding price level on Select Plus until the agreement anniversary date, at which time a compliance
check of your organization’s purchase history determines the ongoing price level (or, in the case of Select Plus for
Academic and Select Plus for Government, your ability to continue to purchase under your Select Plus agreement).
• Option 2. Qualify with other volume licensing agreement.
If you have an existing volume licensing agreement, and have acquired 500 points or more over the past 12 months
under that volume licensing agreement, the initial price level for each pool is determined based on the points from
the previous 12 months. To continue purchasing under a given product pool after your next agreement anniversary,
you are required to reach an annual minimum of 500 points for that product pool. In general, if you have passed your
most recent compliance check for the Select agreement you will be given the corresponding price level in Select Plus.

Download the document:

(© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)