This lets you understand Microsoft Enterprise Subscription Agreement
Microsoft Enterprise Subscription Agreement is intended for medium to large companies with centralized decision-making who wish to report annually and purchase licenses with Software Assurance.
An Enterprise Subscription Agreement is a rental agreement in which the software is rented for a period of 3 years. This makes this agreement extra attractive for customers who want to be able to shrink in numbers, who want to keep costs low in the short term and who would like to take software investments as Operational Expenditure (OPEX).
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Traditional On-Premises Products in Enterprise Subscription Agreement
These are the components of the traditional platform, the Professional Desktop.
- Office Professional Plus
- Windows Enterprise E3 / E5 of VDA,
- Core CAL, including
- Windows Server CAL
- Microsoft SharePoint Server Standard CAL
- Microsoft Exchange Server Standard CAL
- Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager Client Management License
- System Center Endpoint Protection (antivirus client and subscription service)
- Microsoft Skype for Business Server Standard CAL
It is also possible to replace the Core CAL with the Enterprise CAL Suite. The Enterprise CAL includes all components of the Core CAL Suite, with the addition of:
- Exchange Enterprise CAL with Services*
- Exchange Online Archiving for Exchange Server
- SharePoint Server Enterprise CAL
- Skype for Business Server Enterprise CAL
- Windows Server AD Rights Management Services CAL
Your first 15% discount in an Enterprise Subscription Agreement
Together with Office Professional Plus and Windows Enterprise or VDA, this is call the Enterprise Desktop. Of course it is also possible to purchase one or two separate components instead of the complete platform. With standardization on all three components, the price of new licenses and upgrades with Software Assurance is 15% lower than the sum of the three individual components.
All products in the Enterprise Agreement are version independent: any desired version may be installed during the contract period. At the end of the contract period, the customer receives perpetual use rights for the versions that were commercially available at the end of the contract period.
Additional discount in an Enterprise Subscription Agreement
Apart from the standard discount levels in ESA, an additional Microsoft discount is possible when negotiated well. This can be achieved during your renewal period. An additional discount depends among other things, on the products you add to your contract and the size of the contract. You get a maximum discount by outsourcing the negotiation to an external and independent Microsoft negotiation team.
Additional products in Enterprise Subscription Agreement
In addition to the platform products, it is also possible to purchase additional products, such as Exchange Server, Visio or Project. These products are purchased according to the Enterprise Agreement principle; i.e. purchase on a 3-year basis. There is no obligation for the additional products to be purchased for all workplaces or employees in the company.
Cloud products and services in an Enterprise Subscription Agreement
A full cloud platform includes the following components;
- Office 365 E3 or E5.
- Enterprise Mobility & Security E3 or E5.
- Windows Enterprise E3 or E5 or VDA
- These 3 components are available in a bundle, called Secure Productive
Enterprise (SPE) E3 or E5. SPE E3 contains the E3 variants of Office 365, EMS, and SPE E5 contains the E5 variants of these solutions.
An Enterprise Subscription Agreement based on only Cloud components (combination of Office 365, EMS or the SPE bundle) has no purchase obligation for qualified users, provided that the minimum of 500 subscriptions is met.
Hybrid cloud platform and the offered rights in an ESA
The components of Secure Productive Enterprise offer the same on-premises access rights compared to the Enterprise CAL from the Enterprise Desktop.
Online Services provided in an ESA
The same applies to the ESA as to the EA, with the main difference that this contract is a subscription contract. Both the on-premises and the online licenses are prepaid in this contract and rented for a year. The applicable number of licenses and subscriptions must be prepaid at the beginning of each of the three contract years.
What is the entry and discount level in Enterprise Subscription Agreement
The Enterprise Agreement program is available from 500 PCs. There are 4 different price levels.
Price level Number of PCs
- ESA level A ….. 500 – 2,399
- ESA level B ….. 2,400 – 5,999
- ESA level C ….. 6,000 – 14,999
- ESA level D ….. 15,000+
Today Microsoft is pushing all customers onto the Cloud. This means when you play your cards well, the discount on your Enterprise Subscription Agreement can be good.
Reorder in an ESA and its importance
For the Enterprise products included in the ESA, the customer submits the order through Licensing Solution Partner to Microsoft only once a year for the following year. The customer then receives an invoice for the specified quantities at the start of the new year. The customer can therefore grow or shrink. Additional products must always be reported in the month of commissioning.
Purchase obligation and exceptions in the ESA
An Enterprise Subscription Agreement is based on workplace standardization throughout the enterprise. Every desktop in the entire enterprise must be counted. The obligation therefore applies to all PCs in the organization.
Exceptions are computers that function as servers and are not used as PCs, for example, Industry devices, devices that run an embedded operating system (for example, Windows Phone 8.1) and do not use a virtual desktop infrastructure, or devices that are not directly or indirectly provided by the Company of the Enrolled Affiliate are managed and/or administered.
The Enrolled Affiliate may add a device excluded above (for example, an Industry Device) as a Qualified Device.
Right to updates as a user on ESA
All on-premises License and Cloud products are purchased with Software Assurance, which entitles you to roll out the most recent version.
Software Assurance and technical support in an ESA
Because an Enterprise Subscription Agreement is based on Software Assurance, ESA customers are entitled to technical support. The type of support depends on the products that are housed in the ESA.
How long does an Enterprise Subscription Agreement last ?
The duration of the Enterprise Subscription Agreement is 3 years. After these three years you have three (3) options. These are…
- Renew the Enterprise Subscription Agreement for three years;
- Buy out; for a predetermined fee you can still purchase the perpetual license rights after the end of the agreement via a buy-out option.
- Switch to a different license form (for example, Enterprise Agreement).
Financial opportunities with your Enterprise Subscription Agreement ?
Are you still looking for more information on ESA or EA? Are you new to Microsoft Enterprise contracts or are you renewing your Enterprise Agreement contract?
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