Microsoft Office Licensing

Licensing editions

Office 365

Office 365 is Microsoft’s most complete, secure suite of cloud productivity services designed for the cloud. Office 365 is sold as suites available for every organization irrespective of their size. Some suites include Office 365 Pro Plus, which delivers the full downloadable Office client as well as a set of web-based applications (including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), business-class email, file sharing, meetings and communications solutions, and an internal collaboration social network. Each Office 365 suite helps keep your data private and protected from potential threats by focusing on security needs at every level. Office 365 gives users access to the productivity solutions from anywhere, provides simple management IT solutions, and comes with a financially backed Service Level Agreement.

The following Online Services are included in the Office 365 suites, available through Volume Licensing.

Detailed information on how to buy and license Office 365 is available in the Office 365 Licensing Guide.

Office 2016

Office 2016 is Microsoft Office’s latest software that gives you access to your familiar Office applications, email, calendar, HD video conferencing, and most up-to-date documents.*

Software Assurance customers benefit from an efficient migration path to Office and can take advantage of training, deployment planning, technical support benefits, and more to get the most out of the software.

*An appropriate device, internet connection, and supported Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari web browser are required. Use of some devices or functionalities may require the purchase of separate licenses.

The following software is included in the Office 2016 suites, available through Volume Licensing.

Software Assurance for Microsoft Office

Microsoft Volume Licensing customers get more productivity value through their agreement with active Software Assurance. Take advantage of the new version software rights and the deployment and productivity benefits included with Software Assurance. Learn how Software Assurance can help you.

How to buy

Microsoft Office is available through a variety of licensing models to meet customers’ needs. Office 365 products are available as user subscription licenses (USLs) and Office 2016 products are available as software licenses.

Office 365

USLs are licensed on a per-user basis, where each user that accesses an Office 365 subscription must have a USL. There are four types of USLs: Full USL, From SA USL, Add-on USL, and Step-up USL.

Full USLs: Are for new customers who have not previously purchased a corresponding solution from Microsoft and for Office on-premises software customers who do not have Software Assurance.

Add-on USLs: Are for Office on-premises software customers who want to try an Office 365 cloud solution without giving up their on-premises solution or who are not ready to fully transition to the cloud. Add-on USLs provide the full benefits of Office 365 at a fraction of the cost. To purchase Add-on USLs, customers must have and maintain Software Assurance on their qualifying on-premises solution. Add-on USLs must be purchased on the same agreement or enrollment as the qualifying licenses.

From SA USLs: Are for Office on-premises software customers who want to transition to the cloud. From SA USLs recognize your investment in Microsoft solutions and are offered at a discounted price. From SA USLs also offer cloud-relevant Software Assurance benefits, such as deployment planning services, Home Use Program, online end user training courses, and additional support incidents. To purchase From SA USLs, customers must have and maintain Software Assurance on their qualifying on-premises solution. From SA USLs may be purchased only at contract renewal and on the same agreement or enrollment as the qualifying licenses.

Step-up USLs: Are for Office 365 customers who want to upgrade the level of their service during the term of the enrollment or agreement. These licenses must be purchased on the same agreement or enrollment as the base license from which the customer is upgrading.

Office 2016

Office 2016 products are on-premises software licensed on a per-device basis.

Volume Licensing

Microsoft offers volume licensing programs to help reduce administrative overhead and software-management costs for your organization, while enabling product licensing on an ongoing basis at considerable discounts. The various licensing options enable you to choose the program that works best for your management and operational needs.

Next steps

• Contact your local reseller for assistance
• See if your organization qualifies for Microsoft financing options
• Volume Licensing reference guide for Office 365 (PDF, 451 KB)
• Volume Licensing reference guide for Office 2016 (PDF, 366 KB)
• Licensing Microsoft Office 365 Pro Plus subscription service in Volume Licensing (PDF, 219 KB)

Contact a local reseller to confirm availability in your area. Prices for licenses acquired through Microsoft resellers are determined by the reseller.

FAQ

Buyer’s Guide