churchIT: Microsoft Licensing and Charities

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I have been doing a little bit research over the past few months about different Microsoft licensing programs. I was first intrigued about Microsoft SoftGrid software virtualization and its use in our environment. So I started researching the licensing options for this product and it turns out that this product is licensed as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack. This pack includes Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization, Microsoft Asset Inventory Service, Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management, and Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset; all of which are technologies Microsoft acquired through recent acquisitions.

According to the FAQ, It turns out that the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack is a non-perpetual offering that is tied to your Windows XP/Vista Client license with Software Assurance but only when that Software Assurance is licensed under an EA, EA subscription, Select, Academic Select, Open Value, Campus Agreement, and School Agreement volume license programs. You will notice that Open Charity, Open Business and Open Government programs are not listed. I assume that all churches acquire their Microsoft volume licensing through the Open Charity program. We do and I actually do purchase Software Assurance with all of my licenses and that helps me stay on current technology on all of my workstations. If you want to use any of the Desktop Optimization Pack you will have to purchase Windows Client Licenses with Software Assurance on the Open Value program. This means that you will lose Microsoft's charity pricing, because it is not offered with the Open Value program.

For those of us that want to deploy Microsoft's Forefront security products, those products are offered as non-perpetual, subscription services and are not offered under the Open Charity program. So to acquire Forefront Client or Server Security you will purchase those licenses through the Open Value program and charity licensing is not available.

In addition to these two instances, yesterday I called my sales representative with DesktopStandard. You see, DesktopStandard was acquired by Microsoft, October 2006 and its products are being integrated into Microsoft's portfolio. The DesktopStandard product I manly used was PolicyMaker and it is used to extend the functionality of Group Policy policies. It turns out that PolicyMaker will be integrated into the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack later this year. At that point, we will, most likely, have to choose to upgrade our client licenses to Open Value with Software Assurance ($$$) or migrate PolicyMaker's functionality to another product.

As you can see some of Microsoft's newest product offerings are not offered under any charity pricing program. Does this mean that Microsoft will increasingly offer advanced features that will be available to customers only under Software Assurance agreements? That is almost a certainty. As Microsoft adds value to Software Assurance, there will be more necessity in using Software Assurance. As that happens, us non-profits will see our Microsoft licensing cost skyrocket, unless Microsoft could offer us a charity licensing program under Open Value. Have you looked at the price difference between Open Business and Open Charity? According to Provantage.com it is about 7X more expensive to buy Office Professional with Software Assurance through Open Business versus Open Charity.

So, what do you think? Am a crazy? Is this relevant to your ministry? Do you have a different opinion? I'd just like to see some dialogue on this issue, so speak up!