Anyone willing to trade a cup of coffee for Microsoft Office Pro 2003?

Imagine, if you will, that every morning we ran into each other at the local coffee shop to get our morning “cup of joe,” to start our day. One day I approached you and said, “Tell you what, instead of us both waiting in line every day, if you buy my morning cup of coffee for me, I’ll give you a free license of Microsoft Office Pro 2003.” Taking a quick glance at the menu board (even though we both know it by heart), you see that the daily cup of coffee is only 78¢. Would you take me up on it?

Now what if I offered to also throw in three years of free upgrades for the license of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 as well? Now would you take me up on it? Still thinking about it? Ok, tell you what… I’ll also throw in a second license of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 for you to use at home, just for getting me my daily 78¢ cup of coffee. Deal? Still debating?

Since it is the holidays and we’re all so happy it is 2005, I’ll even throw in three years of free upgrades on that license of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 for your home as well. And while we’re at it, how about if I also give you three years of “How to use Office” electronic training courses to help you get the most from that license of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 I’m offering you for work and the one for your home?

Oh, let’s do even better… I’ll even give you a free license of InfoPath 2003 (https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010857921033.aspx) to use at work as well. Now, do we have a deal?

What if I told you that this offer is already available to each and every one of you and you can take advantage of it today? Here is how you can do it…

If you purchase a License for Microsoft Office Professional 2003 through the Open License Value Program (Part# 269-05557) today, what does this get you?

1) A new license for Microsoft Office Pro 2003
2) Three years of upgrades for that license of Microsoft Office Pro 2003
3) Three years of all Software Assurance benefits for that License of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa), which include:

- A Home Use License of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/productivity/home_use_rights.mspx)

- Upgrade protection for three years for both the Microsoft Office Pro 2003 License at work and the Home Use License of Microsoft Office Pro 2003 (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/productivity/version_rights.mspx)

- Three years of eLearning courses for your Microsoft Office 2003 Professional (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/training/elearning.mspx)

- The ability to spread your payments of the purchase price out over three years (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/programs/sa/productivity/spread_payments.mspx)

4) A license for InfoPath 2003 (https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010857921033.aspx) since you will actually be receiving the Microsoft Office 2003 Enterprise Edition (https://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/enterprises/), which includes InfoPath 2003, just for purchasing the Pro version through Volume Licensing.

As you can see above, all of the things I offered above are included in the list of items you get in the Open License Value license of Microsoft Office Professional 2003. Now for the 78¢ part... The ERP (in U.S. dollars) for Microsoft Office Professional 2003 License + Software Assurance through Open License Value is $855. The $855 is spread out over three years (paid in three equal annual payments) as listed in the sub-points of #3 above. There are 1,095 days in a three-year period; therefore, $855/1095 = 78¢ per day.

Remember, this is NOT a lease or a “rental” of the software. You OWN the License of Office 2003 Professional. You just get the benefit of spreading out your payments because that is a benefit of the Open License Value Program.

As a strong believer in the power of coffee (I actually was up to 5 POTS of coffee per day at one point back when I owned my own company and I still get Starbucks Gift Certificates from friends and family at every holiday), I know how important a cup of coffee can be to many during the day; however, looking at how much I use and get from Outlook, Word, Excel, FrontPage, etc. in my daily tasks, weighing the benefits of Microsoft Office Professional 2003 for a person or a Small Business far exceeds that which you will receive from a single cup of coffee (yes, even the XXXXL one).

Just for kicks, take a look at the “Office Pro Espresso” doc in the MS Small Biz Shared Documents section of the Small Business Community Site (https://www.mssmallbiz.com) for a quick one-page flyer on this offer. And for anyone who does not think that Volume Licensing is for a Small Business, be sure to read my previous post regarding this topic.

And, if we ever do run into each other in a coffee house somewhere, sometime, let’s be sure to grab that cup of coffee anyway and talk about Small Business or anything else you might have on your mind…

Have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Small Business Development Manager – U.S. Central Region

This posting is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights