Microsoft Select 3-Tier Licensing Agreement 

• Microsoft Business and Services Agreement (MBSA) is required for any and all Select purchases. This is the master agreement that outlines contract terms common to Microsoft licensing, service, and support agreements and needs to be signed only once with or prior to the Select License Agreement.  
  
• Select License Agreement establishes the details of an organization's software needs, including forecasts and product pools. This covers affiliate companies, which will lead to further volume discounts.  
  
• Select License Enrollment supplies the basic information for affiliates to acquire software product licenses under the Select License Agreement.

We get a lot of questions on the 3-tier licensing agreement.  We hope that this clarifies that the three agreements need to work together.  

Service Provider License Agreement Program Requirements

Like the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) licensing requirements, there are certain requirements that need to be met to qualify for cost savings found in the Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA) Program.  

1. Your organization must be enrolled in the Microsoft Partner Program or as a Certified Partner of a Registered Member in the Hosting Program.
   
2. You must also comply with Microsoft's Services Provider Use Rights (SPUR) and any export requirements.  In addition, you must provide technical support for licensed products delivered to customers. 
   
3. Monthly reports on licenses are expected, regardless of activity. 

Licenses acquired under the SPLA are monthly, non-perpetual licenses that can be used during the term of the agreement and are available through two models: 

• Subscriber Access License (SAL). A SAL is required for each unique individual user or device that is authorized to access or otherwise use the licensed products. With the SAL option, you don't need a separate Server License.
  
• Per Processor License. Each Processor License allows an unlimited number of users to access the software that is installed on that processor for products licensed through a per processor model. 

The complexity of Microsoft's licensing models - or any other software vendor for that matter - is constantly in flux.  However, some truths remain the same: licensing rules are complex and constantly changing.