REDMOND, Washington, July 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Built on customer criteria, Select Plus facilitates centralised and decentralised purchasing of Microsoft software and services with a single, organisationwide agreement.

The new Microsoft Select Plus Volume Licensing programme offers larger companies with multiple business units flexibility in purchasing, streamlined licence management, and reduced time and potential costs of renegotiating licensing agreements.

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The flexible licensing programme enables customers to automatically realise price advantages for volume purchasing across the entire company at corporate and affiliate locations. It can also track both the contract and ordering processes under a single customer ID, making it easier to manage software licences throughout an organisation. Informed by customer research, the new programme helps Microsoft Corp improve the way it brings products and services to market and supports its ongoing relationships with customers.

Select Plus provides customers with additional options for purchasing and represents a fundamental shift in how customers and partners can manage the acquisition of software licences. Through a unique set of customer benefits and features, Select Plus can simplify purchasing with a single agreement under the Master Business Agreement while eliminating variances based on purchase timing.

"Select Plus is a tailored response to customer feedback for greater flexibility and enhanced manageability in purchasing," said Joe Matz, corporate vice president for Worldwide Licensing and Pricing at Microsoft. "We depend greatly on our customers' input to gain a deep understanding of the features and benefits they're looking for. We want to enable an optimal purchasing experience, not to mention simplify the ongoing management of their software licences so they get the most value out of their investment."

Select Plus is a natural add-on to customers' existing Enterprise Agreements and an alternative to the traditional Select License to consolidate transactional purchasing across multiple agreements. Customers can easily purchase and manage additional licensed products and services on a per-project basis as well as instantly qualify for the next discounted price level through increased purchase volume. Because Select Plus agreements never expire for transactional purchases, customers can experience more flexibility while eliminating the need to renegotiate and renew their contracts. In addition, customers choosing to add Microsoft Software Assurance (http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa/default.mspx) can do so at any time and receive the full 36 months of Software Assurance benefits such as deployment planning services, support and training.

Pricing and Availability

Like the Select License, the Select Plus programme categorises software products into three distinct product pools:

-- Applications. Examples of Microsoft applications include Microsoft Office Professional 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007 spreadsheet software and Microsoft Office Project 2007. -- Systems. An example of a Microsoft desktop computer operating system software programme is a Windows operating system upgrade such as Windows Vista Business. -- Servers. Examples of Microsoft server software programmes include the Windows Server operating system, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server database software, and associated client access licences (CALs).

Each software product carries a point value, and the price level is based on product points earned for automatic tiered discount levels. To ensure that customers receive the appropriate price level for greater volume purchasing, the price-level adjustment is based on actual purchase volume across the organisation. Eligible government organisations and qualifying academic institutions receive special pricing.

To qualify and participate in the Select Plus programme, customers can avail themselves of any of three channels:

-- Existing Enterprise Agreement, Enterprise Subscription Agreement, Campus Agreement or School Agreement. In this method compliance is waived as long as the agreement is active. -- Another Volume Licensing agreement. By providing an existing Select License agreement number, customers have the option to migrate to the new programme at the same price level. -- New customer. New customers qualify with an initial order totalling 500 points in a given product pool.

Select Plus is expected to be available in the fall of 2008. More information about Select Plus and other Microsoft Volume Licensing programmes is available at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)

Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft employs more than 16,000 people in over 64 subsidiaries, delivering products and services in more than 139 countries and territories.

This material is for informational purposes only. Microsoft Corp disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to use of the material for other purposes. Microsoft Corp shall not, at any time, be liable for any special, direct, indirect or consequential damages, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of the material. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting any kind of warranty.

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com

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