Microsoft continues to streamline enterprise licensing, adding Enterprise Advantage on MPSA in 2017

At the beginning of the month, Microsoft officially announced their new licensing solution for mid-sized organizations. Starting in 2017, the Enterprise Advantage will be the most efficient means to purchase and distribute Microsoft products through their business.

The Microsoft Products and Services Agreement is already the easiest way for commercial customers to buy all of the software and cloud services that an organization could need with a single simplified agreement. With the Enterprise Advantage, businesses can take advantage of a three-year duration that will provide a new way for mid-sized businesses to distribute large volumes of licenses to their employees.

This announcement goes hand-in-hand with the updated policy concerning Enterprise Enrollments that also took effect on the first of the month. As announced earlier this year, the minimum commitment for commercial customers to sign up for Enterprise Enrollments was increased from 250 to 500 users/devices. Microsoft mentioned as a reminder in their blog post that those with 250 to 499 would be more interested in the already established MPSA and Cloud Solutions Provider instead.

With the Enterprise Advantage on MPSA, organizations can gain value with additional benefits such as:

• Mix perpetual and subscription software with cloud services like Office 365, Azure, and CRM Online, organization-wide
• Purchase any time, whatever you need, with no additional enrollments
• Enjoy budget predictability and price protection
• Buy how you want, taking advantage of your combined purchases across the organization to maximize value
• More easily manage your assets, including true-up and true-down of subscriptions and services, to meet ever-changing business needs

The new licensing solution will include all of the same products, pricing, and coverage as the current Enterprise Agreement with the flexibility of MPSA. Enterprise Advantage will be made available for all commercial customers where MPSA is already available, and will support up to 2,4o0 users or devices.

The Enterprise Advantage won’t be rolled out until next year, but they already have plans for it to develop further. In fact, we just might see the additional Government Advantage and Education Advantage rolling out in the same year. On top of that, Microsoft plans to build, support, and add more opportunities as they move forward to expand availability of their products and services for commercial customers.