What if I told you that you could save $150* on your purchase of Windows Server 2008 Standard today? Or what about saving $890* on your purchase of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise today? Would that get your attention? Let me show you how:

As you know, at Microsoft we offer a few different ways to acquire licenses to run our software depending on your needs and interest:

1. OEM – For software acquired with a new PC or Server (consumers or businesses)
2. Retail Box – For end consumers
3. Volume Licensing – For business customers
4. Online services – For those desiring hosted solutions (Software + Services, such as the Business Productivity Online Suite, or any other Microsoft hosted technology hosted by Microsoft Partners or Microsoft itself)

When it comes to Microsoft Windows Server 2008, many clients will acquire it pre-installed through OEM licensing on new server hardware; however, some choose not to go this route for a few reasons:

1. They want to have transfer rights for their Windows Server license in the future and OEM licenses do not have transfer rights
   • Please remember, you could add Software Assurance to your OEM Server license within 90 days of the OEM software purchase to accomplish this. See how this works here.
2. They choose to manage all of their licenses online through their Volume License agreements for electronic license protection. See more about this here.
3. They already own the server hardware they are going to install the software on
4. They want a physical box of software (Retail Box).  Remember though, if you choose this option, DON’T lose our physical paper license that comes in the box or you no longer have a license to run the software anymore.
5. Any number of other reasons

If you are acquiring your Windows Server 2008 Server not pre-installed on your new server hardware, then your two options are:

1. Acquire a Retail Box of Windows Server 2008 software
2. Acquire licenses for Windows Server 2008 through Volume Licensing (like Open License, Open Value, Open Value Subscription, Select, or Enterprise Agreement), with or without Software Assurance.

When choosing between these two options, the decision should be relatively easy, and one will save you a lot of money, which is the purpose of this post. Here is how:

Take a look at the Estimated Retail Prices for Retail Box versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise. (NOTE: I am using U.S. dollars in this example, so you would need to check the ERPs in your country if you are outside of the U.S.) You will see that the Estimate Retail Price for Windows Server 2008 Standard with 5 Client Access Licenses (CALs) is $1,029 and for Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with 25 CALs is $3,999. Now, compare that with the Estimated Retail Prices of those same products offered through the Open License Volume Licensing program (U.S. Open License Retail Price List here): Windows Server 2008 Standard (Part #P73-04982) is $726, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise (Part #P72-04219) is $2,358, Windows Server 2008 User CAL (Part #R18-02709) is $30, and Windows Server 2008 Device CAL (Part #R18-02729) is $30. So if you total them up:

• Windows Server 2008 Standard Server with 5 CALs is: $726 + (5*$30) = $876. This is a $153 savings (that’s almost 15% off!) over the Retail Box ERP for the same items, plus it gets you electronic license protection for your licenses so you cannot lose them, plus you can now acquire all of your Microsoft software, with no minimum purchase amounts, through Open License since the Windows Server fulfills your minimum initial order amount. If you want the additional benefits of Software Assurance, then you would choose the Open Value Volume Licensing program instead of Open License.
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Server with 25 CALs is: $2,358 + (25*$30) = $3,108. This is an $891 savings (that’s over 22% off!) over the Retail Box ERP for the same items, plus it gets you electronic license protection for your licenses so you cannot lose them, plus you can now acquire all of your Microsoft software, with no minimum purchase amounts, through Open License since the Windows Server fulfills your minimum initial order amount. If you want the additional benefits of Software Assurance, then you would choose the Open Value Volume Licensing program instead of Open License.

In addition to the flat savings listed above simply by choosing Volume Licensing for your Microsoft Windows Server 2008 purchases, you may also be eligible for ongoing Microsoft promotions to get even more savings, such as the Microsoft Big Easy Partner Subsidy promotion.

So as you can see, by utilizing the Volume Licensing programs for your business, you can save money and get additional benefits for your business. Hopefully this post is able to help you and your colleagues out.

*NOTE: All prices referenced are U.S. Estimated Retail Prices. Prices may vary by reseller.

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER and RSS
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights