Who says Software Assurance can’t be fun? With X-Box, Zunes, games and more for those with the Small Business Desktop Advantage and other Company-wide Agreements, it sure can be!

What does X-Box 360, Halo, Zunes, keyboards, mice, and more have to do with the Small Business Desktop Advantage & Software Assurance? Everything now!

If you have ever attended any of the “Introduction to Open License for Partners,” “Introduction to Open License for Partners,” or Small Business Desktop Advantage Sales Forums Live Meetings I have presented, one of the slides I show is the side by side listing of some of the more popular Software Assurance benefits included in Open Business, Open Value, and Open Value Company-Wide Licensing Programs. When you look at that slide, you will see that under the Open Value Company-Wide option, there is a “Yes” listed next to all of the Software Assurance benefits because the Company-Wide Agreements provide the most Software Assurance benefits and price discounts. One of those Software Assurance benefits is the Employee Purchase Program.

The Microsoft Employee Purchase Program benefit gives your employees discounts from retail pricing on the most popular Microsoft productivity and consumer products. Employees can get the flexibility of being able to use the same software at home that they use at work, and they can save money on great software products for home management and entertainment. Products are purchased at the Employee Purchase Program Web site, a secure, Microsoft-hosted e-commerce site. This program is a great addition to your organization's work/life initiatives.

For your clients that have a Company-Wide Agreement (like the Small Business Desktop Advantage), have them check out the Employee Purchase Program benefit page for their Agreement to have a look at some of the new items added to the program in July. Just added to the Employee Purchase Program in July are things like: Variety of Xbox 360 bundles, variety of new Xbox games, variety of new hardware like keyboards, mice and more, and refurbished Black Zunes. This is in addition to the already available discounts on Microsoft software they have already been able to get.

Be sure to have your clients activate and take advantage of the Software Assurance benefits they have available to them. Here are some resources you can use:

· How to Activate Benefits

· View Benefit Activation Training

· Benefits Comparison Chart

· Software Assurance Home Page

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights