Benefits of Volume Licensing

Monday, December 14, 2009 by Daniel White
When buying equipment for offices, some companies commonly over look the high price of software.  The price of the computer hardware is traditionally trumped by the price of software such as Microsoft Office, Anti Virus Protection, and Company Specific Software. Compound that cost ratio by purchasing several computers at the same time and it very quickly becomes a significant line item.  One way to combat this is through the use of volume licensing to help companies manages software and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).  We often play the role of educator for our Network Support Services clients and software is a significant addition to our new computer support Indianapolis client curriculum.

Volume licensing is an alternative method of buying software in volume from vendors as opposed to buying retail box copies of software or OEM.  Common applications are operating systems, anti virus, Microsoft Office, Adobe and other production packages.  We commonly help our Network Support Services clients realize the following advantages of volume licensing:

Volume Discounts

Buying from retail stores or buying retail box copies costs more!  A copy of Microsoft Office for business users can cost $499. If the same software is bought via volume licensing, then it would cost $456.  Volume licensing get even cheaper with higher numbers of users and computers.

Transferability

Volume licenses are transferable between machines.  Unlike OEM copies which die with the computer, volume licenses do not.  Many businesses or government/educational entities replace hardware every three years.  If volume licenses were purchased, then that company could legally transfer the software license to the new machine.  We find many small businesses buy OEM copies of software when they purchase the hardware from Tier 1 hardware distributors.  For some people who use laptops, that cycle might even be shorter, which means in either case that the owner is paying multiple times for the same software package when they could have saved that money by going with volume licensing.

Spread Pay Option

For purchases greater than five units with some Microsoft products and larger quantities for other packages, you can opt for spread payment options that run for three years to help minimize the impact to cash flow.  This benefit helps even the larger of our computer support Indianapolis clients. 

One Product Key

Instead of having a different key for every product on every computer, you are given a single license key to use. Using one key will help administrators and owners use and maintain there software licenses.  In our Network Support Services practice, we have found this to be very helpful because owners typical have better things to concern them with than keeping track of software license keys.

License Safety

Companies like Microsoft as wells as other vendors have tools to help the end user keep track of who is using the software.  This is to aid the client in preventing internal theft of copies typically being used for non-business use.

So next time you are considering buying software, please consider volume licensing and enjoy some of the benefits it brings.  For most common Microsoft products, volume licensing qualifies in quantities as low as five units, which would allow even some of the smaller businesses to qualify.

If you liked this Blog Post, then check out other IT Related Posts:
  1. 5 Reasons To Deploy a Small Business Server
  2. Doesn't The Phone Company Extend The Demarc
  3. 10 Handy and Free Software Programs
  4. Don't Over Pay For Your Router and Network Hardware
  5. 5 More Features of Windows 7
  6. Free Microsoft Antivirus Software

Comments for Benefits of Volume Licensing

Leave a comment





Captcha