Our mission at ScholarBuys is to provide the academic community with expert level technology procurement support that is both timely and reliable while maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction. I wanted to spend time today reviewing the Consolidated Microsoft EES Agreement. While this isn’t anything new to the academic community, it’s a huge value to many of the institutions I work with.
There are two subscription based licensing programs Microsoft makes available to academic institutions:
Open-Value Subscription for Education Solutions (OVS-ES)
Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES).
Both programs are an easy, cost effective model which provide academic institutions a simplified way to acquire Microsoft software. Rather than counting the machines on campus, an institution reports their Faculty/Staff FTE. By doing so, all institution devices are covered with the software licensed under their agreement. Subscription based licensing programs allow institutions to recognize instant savings and eliminates the need to track licenses on every device. This also provides budget predictability and ease of administration. Both programs provide student advantage benefits. For instance, by licensing Office by your full Faculty/Staff FTE, your students are provided Office 365 at no cost. This provides 15 installs of Office on their laptops, desktops, mobile phone and tablets. One of the last benefits is Software Assurance (SA).
Included below is a chart which outlines entitlements of SA:
While there are many similarities in the two licensing programs, as noted above, there are also some differences. I’ve noted a few below:
- OVS-ES is designed for institutions that have a 5 – 1,000 Faculty/Staff FTE. EES is designed for institutions that have a 1,000+ FTE.
- EES provides customization of paperwork and the ability to make special requests, OVS-ES does not
- EES customers have the ability to prorate add-ons orders for applications, systems and servers by up to six months and online service orders up to the month. OVS-ES customers are unable to pro-rate their add-ons.
For those that are not aware, consolidated Microsoft Agreements are the core of our business and a large part of my focus. We have a proven track record of increasing the value and participation in Microsoft Agreements. We do this through several areas, but I believe the most important is the coordination of onsite meetings. It’s been my experience that institutions find huge value in these. It provides them the opportunity to meet with other academic peers, meet with Microsoft and ask question to Microsoft experts.
While many competitors view the Microsoft EES as just an annual renewal, we do not. Our customer service approach is not static during the term of the enrollment. We try to stay in constant contact with each customer to provide assistance in many areas. From answering questions, providing updates on new products/services exclusive to education, to key code delivery, program administrative assistance, compliance and reporting. Our service is unparalleled, customers can expect a response to calls and emails within four hours, often times it’s within the hour.
My goal is for my customers to realize the full value of their investment with Microsoft. I try to keep customers informed so they may utilize what’s available today and better prepare for what’s to come next.
