It can be difficult for organizations to manage their Microsoft contracts and achieve the best possible price, terms, and conditions for their business needs. Miro’s expert analyst team has reviewed thousands of Microsoft contracts and participated in hundreds of contract negotiations on behalf of our clients for over 20 years. We can support your contract negotiation team or manage the negotiation with Microsoft on your behalf.
Miro can review an organization’s Microsoft contracts (newly proposed and current) to determine:
If your organization is looking to enter into a new Microsoft contract and need help identifying the best type of purchase arrangement that suits your current and future needs, then Miro can help guide you. This is useful when looking to enter into a new agreement, trying to choose whether or not to renew or when trying to plan for any challenges that may be experienced as a result of merging, divesting, or acquiring a new entity.
Contact us to learn more about how our contract review and negotiations services can support your organization stay compliant and achieve the best possible pricing, terms and conditions.
Once you better understand the needs of your current or near- future environment, you may need to acquire additional licensing. Fortunately, there are more purchasing options today than have ever existed before. Unfortunately, Microsoft may steer you towards agreements and products that suit them best versus having your best interest at heart.
This consists of buying a license through Microsoft or a Microsoft License Solution Provider (formerly a “LAR” or Large Account Reseller). However, it is important to note that a software license is a ‘right-to-use’ product. You do not own software from a vendor; you own the ‘right-to-use’ the software in a very specific way. You own this right even if you choose not to include Software Assurance. Support is considered a purchase right as opposed to a Software Assurance benefit. However, the right-to-use for a subscription – be it on-premise or cloud-based – only lasts while the subscription is in effect.
The obvious desire of most Microsoft customers is to get the best possible price. However, it is also critical to ensure flexibility – that is, that any options meet your current and future needs. These options can often dramatically affect an organization’s cost of Microsoft ownership, so they shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is always important to position yourself with the most options for the evolution of your organization’s needs.
In most cases, it is not possible to know exactly what a company will need to do with their licensing in the future, which is why you should avoid locking yourself into a single path. Again, flexibility.
Many companies are developing “Cloud First” strategies. A cloud-first strategy is an organizational commitment to evaluate cloud-based solutions before considering other alternatives. Unlike a cloud-only strategy, it doesn’t entirely eliminate other solutions, allowing for greater flexibility. Cloud first doesn’t mean “cloud only.” This is a sounder approach than simply assuming that all business solutions will move to a Cloud platform. Whether or not a solution should be run from an on-premise environment or from the Cloud depends upon the specific business and functionality requirements of the solution.
Overall, there are many good reasons to leverage a Cloud solution, but it is important to see it as just another consideration along the path of implementing a new solution for your organization.
Typically, an Enterprise Agreement includes a three (3) year term. But this is very negotiable. Longer terms can be had, but there are caveats to virtually any term. Among these are “sticker shock”. The Enterprise Agreement acts as a price hold when the agreement is written. So the prices that would be paid, say, for True-Ups or for Step-Ups, would have already been pre-determined. When the renewal comes, these price points can rise significantly – sometimes as much as 35%. And even if only Software Assurance is being renewed (versus the product’s right-to-use and Software Assurance), the cost is based on the product’s cost that is as much as 35% higher!
There are also three (3) year terms associated with the other agreements from Microsoft, including the Enterprise Subscription Agreement or the Microsoft Products & Services Agreement (formerly the Select or Select Plus agreements). But these are for the right-to-use and for Software Assurance, respectively. There is also the Server & Cloud Enrollment that, for the right reasons, could be of benefit to an organization. And these are for commercial organizations!
There are also separate agreements (and price points) for Government, Educational, and Charitable organizations. Which you are eligible for and in what manner you invest in Microsoft products and services can be navigated by a Microsoft licensing expert like Miro. Miro has a number of offerings – one of which will fit your organization’s needs, from a License Position Assessment to Negotiation Support to our Second Opinion Service.
If you have an urgent question regarding your software licensing or a software audit, please contact Miro right away.
Miro is a leading global provider of software asset management services, specializing in license management, audit advisory, negotiation tactics, support management, and cloud services. We help our clients maximize ROI on their software license investments, stay in compliance, and minimize the impact of audits. Miro's performance guarantee promises that our long-tenured, diverse, and passionate team of expert analysts provides insightful and actionable advice to help our clients achieve the best possible outcomes.
Miro’s no risk Performance Guarantee is that the amount of cost savings that we uncover will be more than our fees.