An Enterprise Agreement subscription is also based on ea and offers the ability to legas on-premise licenses instead of purchasing them. This could bring tax benefits to clients. The price levels are the same as for the normal EA. When signing the contract, the customer must define and communicate the number of desktop computers or qualified users and the desired Microsoft Enterprise or Enterprise Online Services products. This information is the first purchase. Each anniversary is due to a Collection Order (True Up Order) for additional desktop computers or qualified users, on the basis of which the total cost of the previous year is calculated. Under a traditional on-premise-Microsoft enterprise agreement, the customer is allowed to license enterprise products individually or as a standard platform. However, at least one enterprise product must be standardized company-wide. On October 1, 2018, Microsoft removed programmatic discounts for A-level customers on EA (customers between 250 and 2399 seats).

Without these built-in discounts, EA doesn`t offer higher prices than other volume licensing programs without your Microsoft team taking care of negotiating your discounts. EA pricing is now very much on par with other programs like CSP, which have much lower minimum requirements to launch the deal. For similar pricing, companies should start seriously evaluating ea`s pros and cons compared to other options. For example, an EA has more complex contract paperwork, high annual advance fees, and minimal flexibility to reduce your subscriptions. Even if your company qualifies for an EA and has more than 500 jobs, these changes could prompt you to look for other options. Both agreements have advantages and disadvantages and are not a one-size-fits-all, but these recent changes may force companies to consider other alternatives. The EDOS program is ideal for large enterprises and government organizations with more than 5,000 users. An EA allows customers to subscribe to Microsoft online services such as Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online.

The services do not have to be licensed throughout the company, but can be reserved in addition for each user. The licensed customer is either the Standard Edition or the Enterprise Edition of each service. The duration of EDOS is three years and is linked to an EA. Alternatively, the customer can sign an enterprise online service agreement with Microsoft. This option does not require enterprise-wide standardization. The customer must acquire at least 500 licenses of enterprise online services. At the end of the day, while EA`s qualified companies can make sense of pricing, they still have to expect to pay upfront each year and don`t have the option to reduce the number of subscriptions in the middle of the year. However, it`s worth having all your products, both in the cloud and in the field, in one agreement. EA is a great option for this, but with distant programmatic reductions, the benefits diminish over CSP. The aspects that used to make ea hard to deny no longer exist, especially for users with fewer than 500 seats.

It would be worthwhile for companies to at least do their homework when it comes to alternatives. For companies that employ more than 2,400 people, Microsoft offers an additional programmatic discount that would widen the gap. In a three-year contract, the number of qualified offices and users can be adjusted to each anniversary of the contract. This allows for greater flexibility to meet changing requirements. The rights of use are limited and end when the contract expires….