Software licenses for Registered Member Partners – Microsoft Action Pack

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In my, “Software licenses benefit for Certified and Gold Certified Partners,” post I told you about the software license benefits that Certified and Gold Certified Partners receive by being a part of the Microsoft Partner Program. But what if you are a Registered Member of the Microsoft Partner Program?

No worries, the Microsoft Partner Program provides many benefits to your organization as well, including the ability to subscribe to the Microsoft Action Pack to access Microsoft software for your business. Making sure you are utilizing these benefits is an important step to ensure you are getting the most out of your Microsoft Partner Program membership.

So what is Microsoft Action Pack Subscription (MAPS)? The Microsoft Action Pack Subscription is an annual subscription that provides Registered Members of the Microsoft Partner Program internal-use, full-version software (desktop operating system licenses are upgrade licenses) and sales resources to help you meet your sales goals, stay competitive, and grow your business. NOTE: This is an ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION (non-perpetual licenses), not perpetual licenses. This means that if/when your subscription expires, so does your right to use the software included in the subscription. So if you want to continue using the software included in MAPS, be sure you renew your subscription each year. For more on the difference between perpetual and non-perpetual licenses, take a look at: Perpetual vs. non-perpetual licensing. What’s the difference?

The licenses provided in a MAPS subscription are licensed for use at your Company’s primary business location only and must be used only for your Company’s internal business purposes, application development and testing. The licenses are NOT intended for employee personal use at home, for hosting customer’s applications, or for installation at a customer site, and may NOT be resold, transferred, or assigned to any third party. Also, only Registered Members of the Microsoft Partner Program whose primary function is to sell, service, support, or build solutions on the Microsoft platform, as well as to provide solutions based on Microsoft products and technologies to independent third-party customers qualify to subscribe to and use a Microsoft Action Pack Subscription.

Examples of companies that would be eligible for MAPS would be: Consulting services provider, Independent hardware vendor, Independent software vendor (ISV), Large account reseller, Original equipment manufacturer (OEM), Support provider, System builder, System integrator, Value-added provider, or Value-added reseller.

Examples of entities that would NOT qualify for MAPS would be: nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, students, government offices, or businesses whose primary focus is not IT-related. Installation and use of MAPS subscription software at a non-qualifying entity would result in unlicensed software running at the entity, not a valid licensed installation of software. During the MAPS subscription process, the purchaser must agree to the terms of the Subscription. Violating the terms of the subscription (including not being a qualified entity making the purchase) can invalidate your subscription license. (So to be clear, if a non-qualifying entity were to manage to purchase a MAPS subscription, that does not make their installation of the software a licensed install since they are still not a qualifying entity and would be in breach of the license agreement; therefore, they are not eligible for MAPS, so the installation would be an unlicensed installation of the software.)

Here are some links to some more information on Microsoft Action Pack to help you out if you are interested:

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

 

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