January 2022

Microsoft Open Value

Licensing guide

Contents
Benefits of Open programs ...........................................................................................................................................................................2
Open Value options .........................................................................................................................................................................................3
Open Value..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Open Value Organization-wide option............................................................................................................................................. 3
Open Value Subscription....................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Microsoft cloud services .................................................................................................................................................................................4
Client Access Licenses (CALs) and Bridge CALs .................................................................................................................................. 4
Offerings for eligible education, government, and nonprofit organizations ...............................................................................5
Education ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Government ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Nonprofit ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Software Assurance ..........................................................................................................................................................................................5
Acquiring Software Assurance ................................................................................................................................................................. 6
License management.......................................................................................................................................................................................6
Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Placing an order ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Additional resources ........................................................................................................................................................................................7
Appendix .............................................................................................................................................................................................................8
Determining the licenses you need ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
Product Pool .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Product ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
Version......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Edition.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Online Service ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Product Type ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Software Assurance ................................................................................................................................................................................. 9

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Microsoft’s Open Value program and Open Value Subscription option offers a convenient, simple way for small-
and medium-sized organizations to acquire the latest Microsoft technology and cloud services. Choose the Open
Value or Open Value Subscription option to help track your licenses, reduce compliance risk, and gain more time to
focus on your organization.

Benefits of Open programs

The Open Value agreements offer many benefits, including:
Licensing simplicity. Place an order and start using licensed products immediately. The flexible pay-as-you-go
model helps eliminate the need for forecasting.
Licensing flexibility. Open Value gives you a single platform option, which allows you to choose components from
the Windows Desktop Operating System Upgrade, Microsoft Office, Office 365, and Client Access Licenses (CAL)
under a single platform.
If your organization requires enterprise solutions, the latest version of Microsoft Office Professional Plus, Office 365
or Microsoft 365 plans, Enterprise CAL, and Windows Enterprise are available.
Licensing manageability. Online tracking tools make managing licenses easy and convenient. With the Volume
Licensing Service Center (VLSC), you can view licensing information, download Microsoft licensed software, and
manage Software Assurance benefits and subscriptions from one convenient online location.
Licensing affordability. Stretch software procurement budgets further than retail purchase options. With a simple
transaction, you can pay for what you need when you need it, giving you the flexibility to manage your software
needs.
Purchase cloud services subscriptions. Customers purchasing through the Open Value program can purchase
some Microsoft cloud services in the same agreement as on-premises software, so you can transition to the cloud at
your own pace. Purchase online services subscriptions through Open Value and you can seamlessly use services
such as Microsoft 365 in or away from the workplace and across multiple devices. Geographic restrictions apply.

Note: For government, academic, and nonprofit organizations that license software in multiple quantities and
manage software across multiple devices, Microsoft volume licensing agreements may provide the most cost-
effective way to acquire licenses and online services. Talk with your services provider partner for more information.

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Open Value options

Microsoft recognizes that small- and medium-sized organizations have a variety of license acquisition needs. Open
Value and Open Value Subscription agreements share many of the same program features but give you different
license purchasing options. These options ensure that you are getting an agreement that fits your specific needs.

Open Value
Open Value is recommended if you have a small to midsize organization with five or more users/devices and want
to simplify license management, manage software costs, and get better control over your investment. Open Value
includes Software Assurance, which helps you get the most out of your software spending through each phase of
software management. In addition, access to valuable benefits such as training, deployment planning, software
upgrades, and product support help you boost the productivity of your entire organization.

Open Value organization-wide option

The Open Value organization-wide option offers commercial and government organizations an additional discount
when they standardize all their users/devices on one or more Microsoft enterprise products. By choosing the Open
Value Organization-wide, you get the rights to the latest Microsoft licensed products with a single platform option.
The Organization-wide option isn’t available through Open Value for Academic agreements.
With the single platform option, you can customize your device as you choose components from the Windows
operating system, Microsoft Office, Office 365/CAL product pools, plus additional products selected in your
agreement that include the latest version of platform product options as outlined in the Product Terms.

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Open Value Subscription

Like the organization-wide option, with Open Value Subscription you pay a single price per desktop PC to deploy
Microsoft technology as the standard across your organization. Open Value Subscription provides the lowest up-
front costs of the Open Value options with the flexibility to reduce the total licensing costs in years when the
desktop PC count declines. This gives your organization the rights to run the software throughout your organization
only during the term of the agreement with Microsoft. You also can add the single platform option to an Open
Value Subscription agreement. Open Value Subscription is not available to nonprofit organizations, but it is offered
to education institutions through the Open Value Subscription for Education Solutions agreement.
An “Up-to-Date Discount” is available through Open Value Subscription for ordering licenses for products during
the first year of your agreement if you have a license for the corresponding qualifying product.
Note: Government customers: A one-year Open Value Subscription option is available for eligible government
customers. This option better aligns with government procurement requirements by giving you the flexibility to
choose from a one-year or three-year term. The Up-to-Date Discount is not available for the one-year option, and
you must have purchased Open Value Subscription for a continued period of three or more years at the time of
buyout.

Open Value for Government is not available in all regions. Please contact your Microsoft reseller for availability in
your country.

Microsoft cloud services

As your IT strategy evolves to include the many benefits of cloud computing, Microsoft can help you extend the
capabilities and functionality of your existing technology investments with cloud services delivered as a subscription
service hosted by Microsoft. With any Open Value agreement, you can choose software and services for different
user types, optimize technology spend by purchasing subscriptions that map to IT and user needs, and streamline
software compliance and asset management across all Microsoft software and services. After you place an order,
both you and your reseller will receive email information detailing how to activate the online services. For more
information, please refer to the Online Services Terms.
Licenses for Cloud Services are User Subscription Licenses that give you the right to use the online service for as
long as you subscribe. The subscription term is 12 months, and the term start and end date is independent from
your licensing agreement.

Client Access Licenses (CALs) and Bridge CALs

If the workstations in your organization are networked, you are likely to depend on network server software to
perform certain functions such as file and print sharing. To access this server software, a CAL may be required. A
CAL Suite is a single license that provides use rights equivalent to multiple licenses for on-premises deployment.
CAL Suites simplify licensing and tracking by reducing the number of licenses necessary to access Microsoft
products on servers. CAL Suites may also provide pricing that is more attractive than licensing the equivalent
components separately.

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Microsoft CAL Suite Bridges are used when you are transitioning from a CAL Suite (on-premises) to a comparable
product and Online Service combination. Bridge CALs are available through Open Value and Open Value
Subscription and offer an easier, more cost-effective way to move from on-premises software to cloud services
while maintaining your platform coverage. Bridge CALs give you a way to license and retain access to those CAL
Suite workloads not already licensed with the cloud service to which you will subscribe; for example, a Microsoft 365
plan.
Get more information about CAL Suites and Bridge CALs.

Offerings for eligible education,

government, and nonprofit organizations
Eligible public and private organizations may receive special pricing levels. These offers aren’t available in all
countries. Check with your reseller for availability.

Education
Microsoft is committed to providing licensing solutions for education customers. Learn more about licensing
options for education customers, including Open Value for Academic and Open Value Subscription for Education
Solutions at www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-programs/licensing-for-industries.
See eligibility requirements at
www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/DocumentSearch.aspx?Mode=3&DocumentTypeId=7.

Government
Qualified government organizations are eligible for Open Value for Government. Learn more about licensing
options for government organizations at www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-programs/licensing-for-industries.
See eligibility requirements at
www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/DocumentSearch.aspx?Mode=3&DocumentTypeId=6.

Nonprofit
Eligible nonprofit organizations may qualify for Open Value for Nonprofits pricing. Learn more about licensing
options for nonprofit organizations at www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-programs/licensing-for-industries.
See eligibility requirements at
www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/DocumentSearch.aspx?Mode=3&DocumentTypeId=19.

Software Assurance
Microsoft Software Assurance helps boost productivity across your organization by helping you to get the most out
of your Microsoft software and online services with deployment and productivity benefits and the latest software
releases and unique technologies all in one cost-effective program. Here are some ways that Software Assurance
benefits can help your organization:
• Reduce software and services costs with rights to new software releases and cost-efficient upgrades.

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

• Gain access to unique tools and use rights available only to Software Assurance customers.
• Allow users to work where they choose and on a broad range of licensed devices to help enhance work
styles with virtualization and Roaming Use Rights for Windows and Office.
• Improve operational efficiency and maintain an available and responsive IT infrastructure through access to
unique technologies, licensing rights, and support resources.
While each customer experience is unique when it comes to deploying, managing, using, and migrating software
and services, all customers can benefit from the ability to optimize their business performance through Software
Assurance. By offering a simple set of helpful benefits coordinated across on-premises software and online services,
we can better support your needs as your organization grows and adapts.

Acquiring Software Assurance

Software Assurance coverage is included for the entire term of an Open Value or Open Value Subscription
agreement. Information on Software Assurance benefits available through Open Value can be found at
www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance.
Software Assurance may also be purchased on its own if system or server software products are purchased through
a retail full-packaged product or from an original equipment (hardware) manufacturer. There is a 90-day period
after purchase during which time Software Assurance may be added.

License management
Managing software licenses is easy with our online tools.

Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center

The Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center is where you manage your Open Value agreements, download
licensed products, and access product keys for your software licenses. The site features your customized Microsoft
License Statement—an easy-to-use report that provides a real-time calculation of Volume Licensing entitlements
across agreements. You can also use it to quickly identify, activate, and assign Software Assurance benefits. Access
the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center at www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/home.aspx.
Please note that a Microsoft work or school account is required to sign into the Volume Licensing Service Center.

Placing an order
If you are interested in volume pricing through the Microsoft Open Value program, locate a reseller near you. To
find a Microsoft reseller, call (800) 426-9400 in the United States or (877) 568-2495 in Canada. Outside the United
States or Canada, please visit partnerdirectory.microsoft.com/solution-providers/search to find a reseller.

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Additional resources
Open Value:
www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-programs/open

Microsoft Volume Licensing:

www.microsoft.com/licensing/

Software Assurance:
www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance

Microsoft Product Terms:

www.microsoft.com/licensing/product-licensing/products

Volume Licensing for Government, Education, and Nonprofit organizations:

www.microsoft.com/licensing/licensing-programs/licensing-for-industries

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Appendix
Determining the licenses you need
A software product license can be broken into five main elements: product pool, product, version, edition, and
product type.

Product Pool
Microsoft software programs and cloud services fall under one of the following three product pools:
Applications: Examples of Microsoft applications include the Office suites, Microsoft Visio drawing and
diagramming software, and Microsoft Project. Developer tools and utilities, such as Microsoft Visual Studio
development system, are also part of the Microsoft applications pool.
Systems: An example of Microsoft desktop PC operating system software programs is Windows Professional
Upgrade.
Servers: Examples of Microsoft server software programs are Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server
database software, Windows Server operating system, and Office 365 Subscriptions.

Product
The product software is, for example, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, Windows, or SQL Server.

Version
Versions differentiate various releases of the product (for example, Microsoft Office 2019 and Microsoft Office
2021).

Edition
The edition specifies the level of features and/or applications included in a product (e.g., Microsoft Office Standard
2021 includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software, Microsoft Outlook messaging and
collaboration client, Microsoft PowerPoint presentation graphics program, and Microsoft Publisher, where as
Microsoft Office Professional 2021 includes Word, Excel, Outlook with Business Contact Manager, PowerPoint,
Microsoft Access database software, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Publisher.

Online Service
Microsoft products delivered as a subscription service hosted in the cloud by Microsoft. Examples of Microsoft
Online Services are Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

Product Type
License: Provides the right to run a specific version of the product ordered (for example, Microsoft Office
Professional 2021). The Open Value program provides perpetual use rights. Customers with Software Assurance will
have perpetual use rights to the latest product version available at the time the contract expires. Open Value
Subscription provides use rights for the latest products version for the duration of the agreement’s term.

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Microsoft Open Value: Licensing guide

Software Assurance
Software Assurance may be ordered for any underlying licensed product and provides the right to upgrade to and
run the latest version of that product that Microsoft makes available during the covered period. Software Assurance
is automatically included in the Open Value program and Open Value Subscription.
Note: Options and rules differ across products.

© 2022 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN
THIS DOCUMENT. This information is provided to help guide your authorized use of products you license; it is not your agreeme nt. Your use of products licensed
under your volume license agreement is governed by the terms and conditions of that agreement. In the case of any conflict between this information and your
agreement, the terms and conditions of your agreement control. Prices for licenses acquired through Microsoft resellers are d etermined by the reseller.

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