Monthly Microsoft News
________________________________
November
19, 2008
Brought to you by En Pointe Technologies
Feature
Article
The
IT you need - the financing to make
IT work. Microsoft's FY09 SmartPay
Promotion.
Valid 7/1/2008 - 6/30/2009
Get a quick start on your path to success.
You have the drive, the talent and the passion. Microsoft has the vehicle
to get you to your IT solution- right now. With SmartPay from Microsoft,
you get the tools you need to make your business grow, without paying a
dime for six months. After the promotional period, the remainder of your
loan is paid in regular monthly payments aligned with the term of the
loan agreement. Contact your partner today for a solution that fits your
needs. Save your cash - stay on track.
Want more information on Microsoft's SmartPay Promotion and
the FAQ's of Financing?
As part of Microsoft's efforts to extend and evolve the
value Microsoft Software Assurance for Volume Licensing brings to
customers, Microsoft is pleased to announce two new Packaged
Services offerings.
The new service offerings also referred to as voucher engagements, will be
available in November 2008. These services are designed to help customers
develop plans that will facilitate implementation and maximize their use
of Microsoft software, and will be available in 3, 5, 10 and 15 day service levels.
Exchange Deployment Planning Services (EDPS)
The EDPS engagement is designed to help guide customers through the deployment planning stages of
a Microsoft Exchange implementation. Structured engagements are conducted by En Pointe Technologies,
who will share best practices, analyze organizational requirements, and help create comprehensive
deployment and implementation plans.
Microsoft Office Project 2007 helps project managers easily plan and
manage projects, and communicate project status to stakeholders. The
right blend of usability, power, and flexibility in Office Project
2007 makes it a robust, easy-to-use project management tool that
enables project managers to efficiently and effectively:
Create and maintain an optimized project execution plan
Forecast and manage detailed project costs and track variances
against the budget
Track and analyze project progress according to the project plan
Communicate and report project plans and progress effectively
with useful reports and graphical representations of project information
Plus, Project 2007 can be used with existing Project files and previous
versions of Microsoft Office applications, so you can start enjoying
the benefits right away.
Project Professional 2007 also provides collaborative enterprise project
management capabilities when used with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007.
Project 2007 enables users to better:
Create and Maintain Plans
Schedule projects to get productive quickly and ensure that projects
are delivered on time and within a budget.
Set up projects quickly to lower project cycle time
and improve efficiency
The Project Guide, a step-by-step interactive guide, has been improved
to quickly and easily enable users to set up projects, manage tasks,
resources, and task status, and report project information. This feature
helps start projects faster and manage project elements effectively.
Save time with templates and promote consistency
throughout the project to increase overall effectiveness
A rich set of out-of-the-box templates in Project 2007 helps accelerate
the project creation process. A Project template pre-populates task and
resource information, and applies formatting, macros, and other
project-specific settings. These templates make Project 2007 a highly
effective tool soon after it is put into use by applying consistency
across the project portfolio.
Microsoft Application Virtualization
4.5 (App-V) for Terminal Services
(TS) launches on the Volume
License price list in November
2008. App-V for TS enables applications
to be virtualized and streamed
for use on Windows Server 2008
and Windows Server 2003 Terminal
Services.
Details
An App-V CAL for TS is required for every user or device that connects
to a terminal server managed by App-V. Two types of App-V CAL for TS
Licenses are available:
A device based App-V CAL for TS permits one device (used by any user)
to access a Windows Session managed with App-V on any of your
terminal servers
A user based App-V CAL for TS permits one user (using any device)
to access a Windows Session managed with App-V on any of your
terminal servers.
A Windows Session is defined as a session during which the server
software hosts a graphical user interface on a device. You may choose
to use a combination of device CALs and user CALs simultaneously
with the server software.
Windows Server License:
The Windows Server 2008 licensing model requires a server license for
each copy of the server software installed. Terminal Services
functionality is included in the server license. App-V for TS is
not part of Windows Server 2008 but any terminal server on which
you install App-V for TS must have a valid Windows Server 2008 license.
Windows Server Client Access License:
In addition to a server license, a Windows Client Access License (CAL)
is required for every user or device that accesses any terminal server
with App-V for TS.
A first step in a longer term vision, Select Plus is a new program
offer designed for large commercial, government, and academic customers
that desire purchasing flexibility, better software license management,
and a way to balance growing technology needs with predictable costs.
The Enterprise Agreement remains the optimal way for enterprise organizations
to standardize the desktop environment, and Select Plus is a great way
to consolidate purchases across business units to take advantage of
volume pricing and improved asset management. Select
Plus builds on the existing Select License program, at no price
change, and introduces:
Accessible, flexible purchasing
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 and
simplified purchasing.
Better manageability
Far fewer agreements to track and manage
Because all affiliate purchases are tied to their own unique
customer IDs, customers will have a clear view of their entire license
and software asset portfolio in either a comprehensive report containing
all affiliates or an individual report with the ability to drill down
into a specific affiliate
New self-service tools also make it easier for customers to
register and access all their agreement information
Maximized value
Price-level adjustment is based on actual purchase volume
across the organization
Customers no longer need to wait for an anniversary date to
achieve a better discount, as the order that puts their organization
to the next price level instantly receives the correct discount you as
a reseller set
A full 36 months of Software
Assurance to their licenses
purchased - without proration
or regard to purchase timing
Effective October 1, 2008 existing customers with active MSDN subscriptions for either Visual
Studio Team System Development Edition or Visual Studio Team System Database Edition will be
allowed to download and use the other edition from the MSDN Subscriber Download Center.
New customers can also enjoy this benefit by purchasing either a license of Visual Studio Team
System 2008 Development Edition with MSDN Premium Subscription or a license of Visual Studio Team
System Database Edition with MSDN Premium Subscription.
In a future version of Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio Team System Development Edition
will be combined with the Visual Studio Team System Database Edition.
Customers who purchase at least
10 licenses of Microsoft Office
Visio Professional 2007 or
Microsoft Office Project Professional
2007 through a new or true-up
Enterprise Agreement or Select
License Agreement with Microsoft
Software Assurance can earn
up to 15% back on ERP* in Microsoft
partner subsidy funds.
Customers can use these funds
to purchase additional hardware,
software or services from a
Microsoft Partner of their choice.
Sept. 29, 2008 through March
27, 2009
Microsoft Office Visio Professional
2007 or Microsoft Office Project
Professional 2007 www.microsoftincentives.com/superpro
Microsoft is pleased to announce
'The Big Easy Offer 2.0'. The
Big Easy Offer 2.0 covers most
of the core Microsoft products
and solutions. When you make
a qualifying purchase, you will
receive partner subsidy dollars
to be used toward purchasing
more products and services for
a more complete solution.
Designer and Developer
Tools (Microsoft Expression,
Microsoft Visual Studio,
Microsoft Visual Studio
Team)
Microsoft Dynamics
CRM
Microsoft Exchange
Server
Microsoft Forefront
Security Products
(ISA Server, Forefront
Security for Exchange,
Forefront Security
for SharePoint)
Microsoft Office
Communications Server
Microsoft Office
System (Small Business,
Professional Plus,
Enterprise)
Microsoft Project
and Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft Systems
Center (Configuration
Manager, Essentials)
Microsoft Windows
Server System (Windows
Server, Small Business
Server)
Microsoft
Volume Licensing Programs
and License Agreement
Types:
This promotion is available
for the following Volume
Licensing programs and
license agreement types:
Open License: Corporate
and Government (specific
products)
Open Value: Corporate
Software
Maintssenance Options:
Software
Assurance is required
for this promotion.
Microsoft
Software Assurance for
Volume Licensing
provides upgrades, new
versions of software,
and technical support
to customers. Software
Assurance benefits vary
with each Volume Licensing
program. In addition,
server licenses come with
benefits that are different
from those for desktop
licenses.
As a limited time offer from February 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008, Open Value and Select customers are eligible to acquire User Subscription Licenses (USLs), Device Subscription Licenses (DSLs), and Services Subscription Licenses (SSLs) for Forefront Client Security at potential savings.
For a limited time (October 1, 2008 - December 31, 2008), customers who purchased Windows Small
Business Server 2003 R2 with new PCs through OEMs or as a Full Packaged Product Prior to
December 31, 2008 will be allowed to acquire Software Assurance coverage for those licenses.
This promotion is applicable for the following programs and for the following Microsoft
Windows products only:
Open Value and Open License
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition
Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Premium Edition
Business Productivity Online Standard (BPOS) Suite
As of November 1, this promotion has been extended to Government.
As a limited time offer from October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009,
Enterprise Agreement and Enterprise Subscription customers are eligible
to acquire Business Productivity Online Standard Suite USLs from CoreCAL
Suite and Business Productivity Online Standard Suite USLs from ECAL Suite
at potential savings.
This offer is available for Commercial and Government customers.
As a limited time offer from August 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009, Open, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement
customers are eligible to acquire Identity Lifecycle Manager (ILM) CAL 2007 with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer is available for Commercial and Government customers only.
As a limited time offer from October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009, Select and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire PerformancePoint Server 2007 CAL with Software Assurance at potential savings. This offer applies only to customers purchasing at least 1,000 PerformancePoint Server 2007 CALs in a single order.
As a limited time offer from November 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009, Open License, Open Value, Select and Enterprise Agreement customers are eligible to acquire System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings.
This offer applies only to customers also purchasing Windows HPC Server 2008 and to customers with rights to Windows HPC Server 2008. Customers can acquire a maximum of 300 licenses of System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise at the promotional price. The licenses acquired under the promotion must be utilized for High Performance Computing workloads.
As a limited time offer from November 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009, Open License and Select customers are eligible to acquire Windows HPC Server 2008 and Windows HPC Server 2008 OS licenses and licenses with Software Assurance at potential savings. The same offer is also available for licenses acquired for SPLA customers.
This offer applies only to customers purchasing at least 8 licenses of Windows HPC Server 2008 and/or Windows HPC Server 2008 OS. Customers can acquire a maximum of 1,000 licenses of Windows HPC Server 2008 and/or Windows HPC Server 2008 OS at the promotional price.
Policy
provides consistent and predictable guidelines for product
support availability at the time of product release and
throughout the product life. By understanding the product
support available, customers are better able to maximize
the management of their IT investments and strategically
plan for a successful IT future.
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#Support%20Lifecycle%20FAQs
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