A question I have been seeing quite a bit lately is, “I have a client that currently owns their licenses through the Open License Program and now they are interested in moving into the Open Value Subscription Program. How do I do this?” The answer to this is really quite straight forward and pretty easy. Here is how you would do it.

First, remember that all Open Value Subscription orders are based on one simple premise and three easy steps:

Premise: Initial Open Value Subscription order must be company-wide for at least one Enterprise product.

3 Easy Steps to Open Value Subscription:

1. Count total # of computers client has in their company
• Because the initial Open Value Subscription Agreement must be company-wide, you must know how many computers there are in the company to know what quantity “company-wide” is for that client
2. Choose Enterprise product(s) you want to subscribe to
• This is where their existing Open License (or OEM or Retail Box) items come into play. Remember, they can get the 50% up-to-date discount on the Enterprise products they choose if they own any licenses that would qualify them for it. So if their existing Open Licenses are for any of the qualifying products, those could be used to qualify them for the 50% up-to-date discount. Also, remember that they are NOT forfeiting those licenses if they use them to qualify for the discount.
• You can choose one or multiple Enterprise products to start an Open Value Subscription Agreement
• If they want, they can also add Additional Products to their initial order as well (for instance, SBS, Windows Server, CRM, etc.)
3. Place order through any Volume License Distributor

That’s all there is to it. There are no authorizations you need to get to sell Open Value Subscription or special permits, etc. You can all sell it to your clients today. Something to remember when selling Open Value Subscription to your clients is that you can combine Open Value Subscription with the existing promotions and offers we have available right now, such as:

1. $100 per Open Value Subscription Agreement sales rep spiff (Ends June 27^th!)
2. Big Easy Partner subsidy promotion (Ends June 27^th!)
3. Microsoft Financing
4. Open Value VAR Rebate (Ends June 27^th!)

I hope that helps answer the question of how to use existing Open License products to transition into Open Value Subscription.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights