Microsoft UK Public Sector -

The new Public Sector Agreement (PSA09) offers the public sector the best value for money from Microsoft to help meet the new and changing requirements of locally delivered public services. It is available to all public sector organisations. This is particularly valuable at a time when the public sector is required not just to manage performance within budget, but to demonstrate a more visible commitment to “joined up” service delivery and partnership working.

Microsoft is offering public sector organisations the opportunity to establish greater consistency in the use of Microsoft software across different organisations, but critically with predictability of cost. As a result, government departments, agencies, and local authorities can budget more accurately for their software needs.

Public sector organisations that participate in PSA09 will benefit from significant discounts. In terms of value for money, organisations joining the new agreement can achieve savings of up to 16 per cent compared to previous licensing agreements.

PSA09 offers new Public Sector packages that help organisations to make software choices based on function or role requirements, as an alternative to the traditional standard product sets from Microsoft.

The packages cover desktop productivity, collaboration and information sharing, and unified communications requirements.

PSA09 offers organisations the flexibility to include up to one third of users in a special package for workers who require minimal access to ICT, such as ancillary workers (e.g. drivers, refuse collectors, gardeners, care assistants etc).

Under PSA09, customers can continue to choose Microsoft Desktop packages, or choose new Public Sector packages, for their Enterprise Agreement (EA).

An innovative feature of PSA09 is the introduction of new transferability benefits to permit broader movement of Microsoft licences across the public sector. As a result, organisations can build a more flexible ICT environment with fewer worries about increasing their overheads.

The benefits from licence transferability, helping the public sector to reallocate licences where possible, are likely to build up over time as the PSA09 becomes more widely implemented. The ability to transfer licences between organisations helps to ensure that the public sector achieves maximum value from its investment in Microsoft software.

The new attractive discount model for Enterprise Agreements (EA) and Enterprise Subscription Agreements (ESA) offers the opportunity to further reduce annual costs and better manage cash flow. The distinction between whether a customer does or does not want to own the perpetual licence after a three-year period is part of the overall choice Microsoft is offering its public sector customers.

Customers purchasing under PSA09 also benefit from additional Microsoft software assurance benefits including favourable terms for home use of Microsoft Office and e-learning programmes to help improve the digital skills of all employees.

PSA09 provides the public sector with new opportunities for all participating organisations to purchase optional support services from Microsoft at an advantageous price. PSA09 has the flexibility to introduce new products and offerings as these become available.

The innovative range of features contained in PSA09 paves the way for future models of software consumption, such as the new Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). BPOS is based upon the Microsoft Software plus Services model that helps organisations to migrate from on-premise to cloud-based services.

The Microsoft Software plus Services model ensures that public sector organisations have the choice and flexibility of several licensing models depending on their specific business needs.

Microsoft strives to be a custodian of the environment by adhering to solid environmental principles and business practices. Microsoft recognises that organisations that provide public services have their own challenging carbon footprint reduction targets.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft is extending its new Digital by Choice programme to all organisations that purchase through PSA09. This moves the delivery of software to completely electronic distribution, and allows organisations to opt out of physical shipments of disk-based media kits.

For more information on how best to apply PSA09 to the needs of your particular organisation, contact Buying Solutions, your Microsoft business manager or Microsoft reseller.

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