Small businesses acquire technology in much the same way I acquire Disney merchandise. There are a few shirts that I got at the Magic Kingdom because they looked cool and I just had to have them. Most of the gadgets on my table were given to me as gifts over the years but there are quite a few things I bought at the Disney Store because they were great deals. And then there are the shorts I bought when I got soaked on the Splash Mountain. You get the idea.

Small businesses tends to accumulate software and hardware the same way. They picked up the printer at Costco, had a scanner thrown in when they made a huge purchase from Dell, bought an eMachine laptop when they hired the sales person and inherited a few old systems from a business they acquired a few years ago.

There is nothing wrong with this ever-present scenario, as a small business you have to take advantage of every deal you can get. However, taking advantage of productivity benefits that come with latest software is impossible when the office is not "standardized" - meaning different versions of basics: Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Standardized platform reduces security threats, software update maintenance costs, technical support and research when problems come up.

Until Monday bringing that diverse "collection of software" to a standardized platform has been a difficult sales task, not only because of the price but because of the complexity associated with the upgrade. Major selling point of standardization is giving the business owner a piece of mind that everything is the latest and greatest and they can move forward. However, if you broke down the costs, listed part numbers or even begun to explain what would be involved you revealed just how complex Microsoft licensing really is.

Nobody has ever used the words simple and clear in the same sentence as Microsoft Licensing. With Open Value 2.0 that is a possibility, as is your ability to finally standardize small business IT on the same platform that is supported, legal and assured to be the latest and greatest for at least three years.

Standardizing Workstations

Microsoft's Open Value 2.0 licensing allows for a very specific, simple and yes, affordable way to standardize small business on the latest platform release and assure it for the next 3 years. As I alluded to above, explaining the current upgrade licensing charges to the small business owner can be quite complex and the expense will instantly turn them off. The new "Small Business Desktop Platform" gives you a single SKU (in case you're wondering, that's the "stock keeping unit" which just means a single line on the invoice) for your standardization purposes. Whats in the SKU:

• Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition (brand new license)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional (upgrade license)
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 CAL (brand new license)

Note: If you're not doing this for the Small Business, there is also a Professional Desktop Platform #A07-00206 which includes Microsoft Office 2003 Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Professional upgrade and a core CAL)

Software Assurance

Because you are licensing every single desktop in the company, the cost of standardization is significantly lower than purchasing upgrade components one by one. This license also includes Software Assurance which lets the business owner spread payments on it over the course of the next three years - thus reducing up front costs. For the ultimate peace of mind, they also get three years of free upgrades for the software included in the package. When Microsoft releases Windows Vista next year, that upgrade will be provided absolutely free of charge. If you bought it today and Microsoft Office launched in 2007 - you would get that for free.

If you're concerned about the "upgrade" license associated for Windows XP Professional keep in mind that this is the right to upgrade to Windows XP Pro. You don't have to worry about having a copy of software from at least the previous two release cycles - You can upgrade from virtually anything - even a Macintosh or SGI Irix.

How do I go about this?

Remember that the one of the reasons you are doing this is to standardize all the desktops in the company. Make sure all your PC's can run Windows XP (or upgrade the hardware where necessary) and order the following part number for each PC in the office: #B6K-00050. If the small business only has 5 PC's and wants Windows XP Professional, Office 2003 Small Business you order 5 #B6K-00050. It is that simple. But what if they also want a server? Simple enough, just order the server SKU for either Professional (#T72-00878) or Standard (#T75-00925) edition of Windows Small Business Server 2003.

But what if you're not authorized to sell Open Value, don't like sending customers out to purchase their own licensing, want to mark up the price and earn a commission on the software sale, or hate signing 30 page agreements? Well, I've got good news for you: Everyone can sell this, you can set your margins, present the business owner with a paper that doesn't need to be reviewed by 8 different lawyers and yes, you can still get them to split the payments over the 3 years through Software Assurance.

Putting it together, the used car salesman way!

Spending money is not always fun so lets make this entertaining. Alright, so you're sold on the idea and the only detail left is the price. What is the best deal? Well, let me talk to my manager and I'll be right back.

Here's the deal. You've got five computers and to bring those computers to the latest and greatest will cost you about $922 each. We'll work out a financing deal and let you split it over three years which will make it about $1536.67 a year or roughly $4.21 a day over the course of the next three years.

Whats that? That box in the corner that nobody uses is actually your file server running Windows Small Business Server 2000? Not a problem, we'll tack on the #T72-00878 and now your annual fee is $1841.67 or roughly $5.05 per day. Think about purchasing a few more laptops that need to be on this as well - not a problem, just multiply that number with $922 as all the others, split over 3 years and that's your price.

Joke aside, that is a very simple way to offer and sell a standardized platform to the business owner. No pricing surprises and you can ever be as bold to say that they will not be paying a dime towards licensing of Office or Windows for the next three years because all new releases are covered under Software Assurance. That kind of assurance makes it hard to say no.

But what if you added a PC a year in, or two years into your Software Assurance contract? Would you pay for all 3 years even though the contract will only cover 1 or 2 years? No. You can buy it for the remainder of the contract - either the full three years, one year (B6K-00054) or two years (B6K-00051). Now, thinking really long term - what do you do once the three years are up - do you have to buy everything again at $922? Not at all, you can just renew the agreement for $560 per PC (#B6K-00076). If they are happy with the platform at that point, they do not lose the right to use their software - they own it and can keep on running it for as long as they want to without paying any additional fees. You're not "locked" into this.

What's the catch?

There really is no trick to this and it is the licensing programs partners and customers have been demanding from Microsoft for years. It is very hard to explain to the business owner why they have to "buy Windows XP again" to work with SBS, show the benefits of going from a "machine that just works" or fight with the incremental upgrade creep - we'll upgrade those PC's in six-to-twelve months. If you've heard or thought these before then the part B6K-00050 is the answer to your prayers (or B6K-00052 to spread payments over 3 years). You can go to nearly any small business and tell them exactly what the upgrade will cost - and not just the upgrade but the peace of mind for the next 3 years.

Cost per PC is $922, spread over three years for Office, Windows XP, server CAL and all the upgrades they can eat for three years. At the end they either keep their software or renew the subscription so they can get the latest software for three more years. Licensing is not glued to the back of the PC or sitting on a shelf somewhere - it is easy to track electronically. Show them the price of their entire software platform per day, they likely spend more money per day on their cell phone or coffee - and this stuff runs their business!

Important Note: B6K-00050 is the "SBE" bundle described above, but that part number is for the full payment up-front. If you would like to split the payments over 3 years, use the part B6K-00052.

More Information

Microsoft Gear Up - Partner Licensing Configurator

Microsoft Small Business Channel Community LiveMeetings/Webinars
Microsoft TS2 Community for Partners
Microsoft Software Assurance
Software Piracy Protection (for Partners)