For government customers who license software in quantity and manage software across multiple devices, Microsoft volume licensing agreements may provide the most cost-effective way to acquire licenses and online services. Microsoft offers several Volume Licensing agreements for eligible government organizations, including the Enterprise Agreement, Select Plus agreement, Microsoft Products and Services Agreement, Open License agreement, and Open Value agreement.

Note: Availability may vary by region.

When it comes to licensing software and getting the most value from software investments, customers have asked for a Microsoft volume licensing solution that offers more flexibility, better asset management, and a way to balance growing technology needs with predictable costs. Select Plus for Government is for midsize and large government customers that want to acquire their software licenses and services at any affiliate level—such as an agency or department— while realizing advantages as one organization.

Helping your organization get the most value from your software investment, Select Plus for Government benefits include:

• Select Plus for Government uses a single, organization-wide agreement that supports both centralized and decentralized purchasing of licensed products on an as-needed basis. The agreement never expires and allows for consistent, predictable pricing that simplifies budgeting for short- and long-term projects.

• With Select Plus for Government, you’ll have far fewer agreements to track and manage. Because all affiliate purchases are tied to their own unique customer IDs, you’ll have a clear view of your entire license and software asset portfolio—either in a comprehensive report containing all affiliates or an individual report with the ability to drill down into a specific affiliate. Self- service tools also make it easier for you to register and access all the information you need about your agreement. In addition, there is no need to renegotiate and renew agreements every three years with Select Plus for Government.

• Software Assurance is a comprehensive maintenance offering that helps you deploy, manage, and migrate software. It combines the latest software and the latest IT tools and technology to help your organization increase business productivity, accelerate performance, and realize a greater return on your software investment.
• Select Plus for Government helps you maximize your return on investment by giving you prorated value of your coverage when you acquire Microsoft Software Assurance, regardless of the timing of your purchase. Software Assurance is automatically prorated to your third affiliate account anniversary, eliminating the need to track multiple Software Assurance coverage expiration dates.

Beyond reducing the price that organizations pay for software licenses over full packaged product prices, Select Plus for Government offers many other opportunities to help maximize the value organizations receive when you purchase through the agreement. Benefits include:

• Simplified purchasing agreements. Organizations are provided with a single agreement under the Master Business and Service Agreement (MBSA). This agreement never expires for transactional purchases, providing more flexibility, while eliminating the need to renegotiate and renew every three years.
• Affiliate purchasing. Select Plus for Government purchases are associated to a unique customer ID per affiliate. All purchases are tied to a single agreement and Lead Affiliate customer ID that allows organization-wide reporting or detailed affiliate level reporting.

• License management. Enhanced self-service, online tools give customers and partners better management capabilities. Self-service tools also make it easy to register and access all the information you need about your agreement
• Downgrade rights. Organizations can now standardize on versions. Downgrade rights offer the right to license the latest software version available or run a previous version.

• Realize more value from Software Assurance. Organizations receive a full value for their benefits with proration of coverage to the third affiliate account anniversary, providing between 25 and 36 months of coverage.

Microsoft Software Assurance for volume licensing helps boost productivity across your organization by enabling you to get the most out of your Microsoft software with the Microsoft Workplace Discount Program and the latest software releases and unique technologies, all in one cost-effective program.

With Select Plus for Government, you have the option to include Software Assurance with your software licenses. When you add Software Assurance, Microsoft will prorate your coverage to your third affiliate anniversary so you only pay for the coverage you are using, providing greater value for your Software Assurance coverage.

For more information about Software Assurance benefits, please visit www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance.

The Spread Payments benefit for Software Assurance offers a more flexible way to manage technology expenditures by allowing you to spread payments annually over the term of the Software Assurance coverage. Select Plus for Government offers both Affiliate Anniversary (similar to Agreement Anniversary) that allows you to spread payments annually and Order Anniversary that allows you to spread payments over full-year increments. This can help reduce initial upfront costs and provide annual budget predictability.

Software Assurance may also be purchased on its own when:

• System or server software product licenses are purchased through retail full-packaged product (FPP) or from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). There is a 90-day enrollment period during which time Software Assurance may be added to these purchases.
• Microsoft Office 2013 or newer version licenses are purchased through an OEM. Again, there is a 90-day enrollment period during which time Software Assurance may be added to these purchases. The versions must be identical.

It is easy to continue the benefits enjoyed through Software Assurance after the initial term ends. Because Select Plus for Government is an ongoing agreement that does not expire, Software Assurance may be extended through the existing agreement. When extending multiple Software Assurance orders that were purchased through Select Plus for Government at different times, the coverage period is adjusted to a common date, and the prices prorated to reflect the coverage period, in order to simplify management and facilitate annual budgeting cycles.

To ensure that upgrade protection remains uninterrupted through Software Assurance, you may extend Software Assurance coverage through your authorized reseller by placing a renewal order by the expiration date of your Software Assurance term.

If Software Assurance purchased under another agreement is about to expire, it may be renewed into your Select Plus for Government agreement by working with your authorized reseller to obtain Software Assurance coverage under your Select Plus for Government agreement.

In cases where Software Assurance coverage lapses, new License and Software Assurance purchases are required before Software Assurance may be acquired again.

To learn more about Software Assurance, visit www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance.

The Microsoft volume licensing agreement structure makes it easier to negotiate the terms and conditions for multiple affiliates. A Select Plus for Government agreement has two components: (1) the agreement itself; and (2) the Select Plus for Government affiliate registration form.

This enrolls your organization in the volume licensing agreement so that you can purchase products and services at volume discount prices.

This one-page form identifies buying affiliates—such as departments, agencies, and municipalities— within your organization and registers them in the program. As a result, they can acquire software licenses and services under the Select Plus for Government agreement. The Licensing Solution Provider that works directly with the affiliate is also identified on the affiliate registration form. Having a separate Select Plus for Government agreement and Select Plus for Government affiliate registration structure allows greater flexibility for registered affiliates located in different countries and regions, while providing a single, organization-wide purchasing agreement with improved reporting and management. Although purchasing is conducted independently, all licenses are managed under one master agreement.

With Select Plus for Government, a single agreement and Lead Affiliate customer ID is established with the public customer number (PCN) of an organization’s lead affiliate. The PCN is associated with the PCNs of any number of affiliates, linking them to the same agreement. This framework helps streamline purchasing, Software Assurance benefit delivery, and licensing reporting.

A Select Plus for Government affiliate registration cannot be initiated without a Select Plus for Government agreement.

Note: Businesses can sub-license to affiliates without affiliate registration; i.e., affiliate registration is not required.

The following scenarios can help you determine when Select Plus for Government is right for your organization.

A state government has multiple agencies that purchase their own licenses. The organization has signed an Enterprise Agreement to standardize the IT infrastructure with each agency purchasing licenses using a separate Select License agreement to support unique IT projects. This situation can create a few possible problems:

• Purchasing can get out of control.
• Decentralized purchasing can cause fragmentation, so there no easy way exists to accurately track and manage licensed assets.
• Renewing multiple agreements occurs at different times, increasing administrative overhead.
• Managing the procurement process takes time and can be costly.

With Select Plus for Government:

The Enterprise Agreement remains the optimal way to standardize the desktop environment and Select Plus for Government is a great way to consolidate purchases across divisions or units to take advantage of volume pricing and improved asset management.

The state agencies have a single, state-wide agreement that does not have to be renegotiated and renewed. This gives them:

• Affiliate-level purchasing under a single master agreement.
• A single Lead Affiliate customer ID to provide organization- wide purchase benefits and asset reporting.
• Licensed product purchasing at both centralized and decentralized procurement locations.
• A single price level for all volume purchases with automatic, tiered volume discounting.
• Easy tracking and reporting on all software license assets across the organization—all the way to the affiliate level.
• The Microsoft Licensing Statement to combine all of the organization’s software assets, including numbers for affiliates, in one report.
• An organization-wide asset view to help determine how to efficiently deploy newly licensed products.

A state government has multiple agencies that purchase their own licenses. The organization has signed an Enterprise Agreement to standardize the IT infrastructure with each agency purchasing licenses using a separate Select License agreement to support unique IT projects. This situation can create a few possible problems:

• Purchasing can get out of control.
• Decentralized purchasing can cause fragmentation, so there no easy way exists to accurately track and manage licensed assets.
• Renewing multiple agreements occurs at different times, increasing administrative overhead.
• Managing the procurement process takes time and can be costly.

With Select Plus for Government:

The Enterprise Agreement remains the optimal way to standardize the desktop environment and Select Plus for Government is a great way to consolidate purchases across divisions or units to take advantage of volume pricing and improved asset management.

The state agencies have a single, state-wide agreement that does not have to be renegotiated and renewed. This gives them:

• Affiliate-level purchasing under a single master agreement.
• A single Lead Affiliate customer ID to provide organization- wide purchase benefits and asset reporting.
• Licensed product purchasing at both centralized and decentralized procurement locations.
• A single price level for all volume purchases with automatic, tiered volume discounting.
• Easy tracking and reporting on all software license assets across the organization—all the way to the affiliate level.
• The Microsoft Licensing Statement to combine all of the organization’s software assets, including numbers for affiliates, in one report.
• An organization-wide asset view to help determine how to efficiently deploy newly licensed products.

Select Plus for Government is offered through the Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) channel that can help you evaluate your organization’s needs to make the right choice for your organization. You can find a local partner at https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/partner-dir.

Eligible government organizations receive volume pricing for all government entities within a country. This will most often be equivalent to the lowest Select Plus price level (Level D) offered to commercial organizations. Government eligibility definitions vary by region.

Government eligibility requirements are available at www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs. To find your regional Microsoft Volume Licensing website, go to www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/worldwide.

Select Plus for Government categorizes software products into three distinct product pools: applications, systems, and servers. While there is one price level for eligible government organizations, you must still purchase a minimum of 500 points per pool to maintain an active agreement.

• Applications. Examples of Microsoft applications include Microsoft LTSC Office Professional Plus ,Visio LTSC Professional 2024, and Microsoft Outlook.
• Systems. An example of a Microsoft desktop computer operating system software program is Windows operating system upgrades such as Windows Pro.
• Servers. Examples of Microsoft server software programs include the Windows Server Essentials, Exchange Server, System Center Endpoint Protection 1606, and associated Client Access Licenses (CALs).

Each software product carries a point value. For example, Office Professional Plus is worth 2 points, a Microsoft Online Services Subscription is 1 point, and Windows Server Essentials is 5 points. The Software Assurance component of License & Software Assurance is worth the delta between the total point value  of the License and Software Assurance For example, if Office Professional Plus is worth 2 points and the License plus Software Assurance is 4 points,  Software Assurance is worth 2 points for each year it is maintained during the term of the Select Plus for Government agreement for a total of 3 points during the three-year term of the coverage (prorated between 25 and 36 months).

You can acquire points for each product pool with these three options:

• Acquire new Licenses.
• Acquire License & Software Assurance.
• Renew Software Assurance for products already covered with Licenses & Software Assurance from a previous order or where Software Assurance is purchased based on the eligibility rules.

The points you earn apply to all your affiliates registered under the agreement. For more information and to see a full product point list by software category, please visit www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/productoffering/software.

If you purchase below the annual 500-point minimum in a product pool during any given year, your account will be put on hold for that pool until you reach the 500-point level again. An order for the minimum annual points automatically reactivates the product pool, with no need to sign new forms or renegotiate the agreement terms. Purchases made under your Select Plus for Government agreement by registered affiliates are aggregated and continuously factored into point minimums per pool to maintain purchasing ability. Product pools are reviewed every year on the agreement anniversary date.

If your Select Plus for Government agreement is associated with an active Enterprise Agreement or Campus and School Agreement, you do not need to comply with annual point minimums. However, if your Select Plus for Government agreement has been associated with a Select License or other volume licensing agreement to set the initial price level, you must meet the point minimums for each subsequent annual compliance check.

You’ll find more information in the Outsourcing Software Management licensing guidance and Flexible Virtualization Benefit licensing guidance.

There are three ways an eligible government organization can qualify for a Select Plus for Government agreement.

When you associate your Select Plus for Government agreement with a qualifying Enterprise Agreement contract, the minimum purchase compliance check for Select Plus for Government is waived as long as the qualifying Enterprise Agreement is active.

Qualify with any other Volume Licensing agreement under which a minimum of 500 points have been acquired over the last 12 months. Subsequent annual minimum purchase compliance checks are required. To continue purchasing under a given product pool after your next agreement anniversary, you are required to reach an annual minimum of 500 points for that product pool.

If you do not qualify through an existing volume licensing agreement, you may start a Select Plus for Government agreement by meeting the minimum purchase requirements during your first year. For each pool, in your first year of your Select Plus for Government agreement you must meet a minimum of 500 points to continue purchasing in that pool. You can purchase under a single pool; however, if you purchase under multiple pools, you must reach an annual minimum of 500 points under each pool. You are subject to annual compliance checks.

Microsoft offers detailed information about the Select Plus for Government agreement and other volume licensing agreements on the Microsoft Volume Licensing website at www.microsoft.com/licensing.

To learn more about Software Assurance:
www.microsoft.com/softwareassurance

Government eligibility requirements:
www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs

Volume licensing for government organizations:
www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/licensing-programs/licensing-for-industries.aspx