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Knowing when you
are and aren’t legal with Microsoft products has become a large concern for
businesses, no matter their size. It isn’t a surprise, considering that
Microsoft seems to change its licensing every two years or more, depending
on the product and the team supporting it. Although there are many, many
different licensing modes, there are three that we will be covering in this
article; OEM, Retail, and Volume licensing.
Original
Equipment Manufacturer, or “OEM”, is considered to be the software that is
shipped with the purchase of new equipment. This equipment can be anything
from a new computer or handheld device, to just a hard drive or system
memory. OEM licensing for Microsoft products is typically lower than Retail
and Volume licensing because it is normally sold in bulk to the
manufacturers of the equipment you are really purchasing. The manufacturers
pass some of this savings on to the consumer, but there is one catch. The
license of that software must stay with whatever system or hardware you
purchased! In other words, if you replace that software with something
else, technically you can’t just sell it or give it away to someone else to
use on another system. OEM licensing may sometimes have minimum quantities
that you must purchase, but it is very rare.
Retail licensing
of Microsoft products is typically the most expensive, but also the most
flexible. If you purchase a Microsoft Retail license, you can use that
software on any single machine or hardware source. If you choose to move
that license (install it somewhere else), you may do so, just as long as you
remove it from the previous hardware. This allows you to upgrade your
systems or hardware as often as you need to, but still keep the existing
licenses. The additional bonus of Retail licensing is that there are no
minimum quantity requirements. If you need one, two, or three licenses, you
can just purchase the quantity desired.
Volume licensing,
which is typically used for medium to larger businesses, has become a lot
more popular in the past few years for smaller businesses. This is due to
the wide demand of Microsoft product compatibility from larger companies
and the requirement to be able to compete with competitors. Volume
licensing can greatly reduce overall software costs for volume purchases.
With Volume licensing, you must meet minimum purchases to receive price
breaks. The more you order, the better your price will be. With Volume
licensing, you are really only purchasing the licenses, which come to you in
the form of paper or an email. This is really only an activation code for
the software and/or just a legal document. You must order the ‘media’
separate, which is a nominal charge. The media kit is usually only one or
two CD’s of the software you ordered, and only requires one installation key
for all the systems. The software may be installed, re-installed or moved
from system to system at any time, just as long as you use no more than
number of licenses you purchased. The major benefits of Volume licensing
are flexibility and cost. This is only of course if you can afford or need
to purchase a higher volume of licenses. Most Volume licensing starts at
about 5 licenses, and after that initial purchase, some programs allow you
to purchase additional licenses in single packs. The rule of thumb though
is packs of 5 or 10 licenses at a time.
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Phone: (717) 932-5395
Phone: (717) 932-5395