Do you really know what you are buying and what it could be costing you?
Are you currently purchasing your Microsoft software via Retail Boxed product? You know, those fancy boxes you see on the shelf at a local retailer. If you are, did you know that you are probably paying too much money for those Microsoft products? Also, if you are ordering them over the internet from some site you found through a search engine, this is a very good chance that not only are you spending too much, you may also be purchasing counterfeit software which is absolutely worthless in value and can lead to very large fines if you are ever audited?
STOP WASTING YOUR MONEY!!!!! and take advantage of the cost savings available to you today! What cost savings are these you ask? Did you know that if your company has 2 PCs or more you probably qualify for a Volume License discount from Microsoft that not only saves you money but also gets you additional user rights and many additional benefits that you do not receive when you purchase their software through OEM or Retail Boxed product? It’s TRUE!
First, if you think that an OEM or Retail Box license of Microsoft software is the same as or gets you the same rights as a Volume License of Microsoft software, you are VERY WRONG! Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself at: http://www.mssmallbiz.com/questions/LicType.aspx. Let’s take a look at a few examples…
First, if you have ever
purchase a Retail Box of Microsoft Small Business Server, you have
definitely paid too much. The estimate retail price of Microsoft Small
Business Server 2003 Standard is $599. Sounds like a good deal, until
you notice you could have purchased the Open Business (Volume License)
license for Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Standard for an
Estimated Retail Price of $521! That’s a $78 savings! Plus, the Open
Business license provides you more user rights, an electronic license
you cannot lose, and much more. Take a look side-by-side:
Now some of you may be thinking, “But don’t I need to buy (5) licenses to qualify for Volume Licensing? Because of that, buying just (1) SBS Server means I would not qualify, right?” FALSE! Ever looked at what you are buying when you buy a Retail boxed Microsoft server product? Take a look:
Did you know that? So in actuality, WHY WOULD ANYONE BE PURCHASING MICROSOFT SERVERS SOFTWARE VIA RETAIL BOXED PRODUCT! Anyone who does is voluntarily spending more money than they need to for less licensing rights and volunteering to take responsibility to track a paper license instead of receiving an electronic license that can never be lost. What sense does that make???
I know, you found a “great deal” online somewhere… Why do you think it is such a low price? Microsoft intentionally offers lower pricing through their Volume Licensing programs than their Retail Boxed products to give discounts to their business customers (who typically buy more software than consumers). As such, if you find a lower price on a Retail Boxed version of their software than the Volume Licensing price, red flags should be going up all over. How did that vendor find a lower price than all of the major distributors? Do they buy in higher volume? No. Do they know someone that the distributors don’t? No. So what’s the catch? Often times, it is illegitimate or counterfeit software which is not worth the paper it is printed on. Don’t get fooled by such nonsense!
What about Microsoft Office? There is a HUGE difference between OEM, Retail Box, and Open License of Microsoft Office. Just take a look:
It’s not even CLOSE when you compare what you receive with an Open License Version of Microsoft Office vs. a Retail Box version! Plus, Open License saves you $21 ERP PER LICENSE! (Again, if you are seeing a lower price online than the Open License price, you really need to ask yourself, “Why is that price so low?” Red flags, red flags…) So look at all of the additional benefits you receive by purchasing your Microsoft Office licenses through Open License instead of Retail Box gets you:
1) Open
License provides an electronic license, which means you can never lose
it! With a Retail box version of Microsoft Office, it is YOUR
responsibility to keep track of that paper End User License Agreement
you received inside the Retail Box. If you lose it, your license is
GONE! Here’s an example of how important keeping track of that license
really is:
Let’s say you purchased an Office 97 license several years ago and have
been purchasing the Version Upgrades via Retail Box since then to
upgrade to the newer versions. What would happen if you were to lose
that paper Office 97 Retail Box license? You might be surprised by the
answer:
That’s right! You own NOTHING! If you lose the full Microsoft Office paper license, none of the upgrades you purchased for that license are worth anything since you no longer have the full license to qualify for the upgrade. So, how many of your paper Microsoft Office licenses can you find today? Why take on the headache of tracking paper licenses when you can take advantage of electronic licenses that can NEVER BE LOST through the Microsoft Open License Program and save money in the process since Open License costs LESS than legitimate Retail Boxed versions of the software?
2) In addition to saving money and getting an electronic license of Microsoft Office that you cannot lose, you also get the Professional Plus Version of Microsoft Office when you purchase the Open License version of Microsoft Office Professional 2007. Because of this, you will receive a license to run Microsoft InfoPath 2007 (A $199 value!!!) plus: Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, Integrated Enterprise Content Management, Integrated Electronic Forms, and Advanced Information Rights Management and Policy Capabilities included in your Microsoft Office 2007 Professional licensing rights at NO additional charge! That’s right! A $199 product included for FREE, plus a whole collection of other items just for choosing the Open License program instead of Retail box (And you are saving the $43 ERP and getting the electronic license you cannot lose!) So again, why would any business be purchasing the Retail Boxed version of Microsoft software???? Why throw away your money on a lesser product that you are responsible for keeping track of?
3) Another benefit of purchasing your Microsoft Office licenses via Open License instead of Retail Box is downgrade rights. What are downgrade rights you ask? Well. downgrade rights give you the rights to install a prior version of Microsoft Office than the one you purchased. Why is this important? Well, let’s say you’ve standardized on Office XP in your company and you need to buy an additional license of Office for your company. If you purchase an Office 2007 license via Open License, because it includes downgrade rights (the ability to install a prior version), you could load Office XP on that machine today, and then when you are ready to move up to Office 2007, since you already have an Office 2007 license, you could install Office 2007 on that machine for NO ADDITIONAL COST!
If you had chosen to purchase your Microsoft Office license via Retail Box, you would have had to purchase a Microsoft Office XP license (since the Retail Box licenses does NOT include downgrade rights, if you purchase a Microsoft Office 2007 license via Retail Box, you MUST install Office 2007, not another version). Now, when you are ready to move to Office 2007, you would now have to go out and spend even more money to purchase an upgrade license to Microsoft Office 2007 from that Microsoft Office XP license in order to get the rights to install Office 2007! You’re spending more money and you better be sure you have not misplaced that original Microsoft Office XP license that would qualify for the Version Upgrade license you just purchased. Not to mention the fact that Microsoft stopped producing Microsoft Office XP licenses many years ago, so what are the odds that the supplier you found just happened to have a LEGITIMATE and LEGAL license of Microsoft Office XP in stock? Common business sense says that when a product is being discontinued, clear out your inventory. What is this company still doing with that product in stock? Either they have very poor business sense by still carrying this in their inventory (so why would you want to do business with them) or the item they have is not legitimate (again, why would you want to do business with them). If you truly believe that you are lucky enough to have found that one “diamond in the rough” on the internet with a legitimate old version of Microsoft Office still sitting on the shelf waiting for you, remember that the lottery takes place every week and you may want to consider spending your money there.
Bottom line, STOP WASTING YOUR MONEY on Retail Boxed product, start getting MORE licensing rights, start getting the added protection of electronic licenses, and start taking advantage of all of the advantages that Microsoft’s Open License programs offer to you today! (And be sure to look into the Open Value program for even MORE benefits such as 3 years of upgrade protection, free media, eLearning courses for your Microsoft products, additional savings through Company-wide options, a single part number offering for your core Microsoft product needs at HUGE price savings, employee purchase programs, and more!)
Some additional resources you should look into:
1) Save up to 28% with the Small Business Desktop Advantage for Small Businesses!
- Read about it at: http://www.lessthanfries.com or http://www.lessthancoffee.com
2) Learn more about the Microsoft Open Business Program at: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/open/default.mspx
3) Learn more about the Microsoft Open Value Program at: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/open/openvalue.mspx
4) See more comparisons of Retail Box vs. Open License at: http://www.mssmallbiz.com/questions/LicType.aspx
5) Make sure you are also familiar with all of the limitations of the OEM licensing program as well:
- OEM Windows: http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2005/09/07/461950.aspx
- OEM Office & Servers: http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2005/09/07/461961.aspx