Microsoft simplifies licensing for SMBs

New Delhi

March 12th, 2008

Microsoft has announced the staggered payment option for software purchases
in India through its Open Value Licensing program, especially for Small and
Medium sized Businesses (SMBs).

This licensing program would allow businesses to implement IT solutions for
benefiting their businesses while diverting their funds instead to other
critical capital expenditure.

This program would also simplify software license management and allow
automatic access to upgrades of latest products, Microsoft said in a statement.

For the first time in India, SMBs will be able to spread their payments for
software solutions over a three-year period rather than make an upfront payment.

A recent Microsoft- AMI Partners report on IT adoption in the Indian SMBs,
found that 48 percent customers stated 'pricing pressures' in the market a
critical challenge.

Open Value also protects the customer from product price fluctuations during
the license period.

During the three-year period, Open Value Licensing also provides Software
Assurance, a feature that allows access to valuable benefits such as training,
IT planning, software upgrades and product support.

Rajeev Mittal, group director, Small and Medium Enterprise, Microsoft India,
said, "We believe that this simplified licensing management will not only
give SMBs greater control over their software costs and investments, but also
make it more affordable so as to allow them easy access to software."

Microsoft offers a variety of licensing options spanning across the Enterprise
agreement for large enterprises, the Open Business and now Open Value Licensing.
They are each designed to meet the special requirements of different business
groups.

The Open Value was conceived as support to the SMB community and it takes
Microsoft's commitment to them a step further.