What in the world is SPLA and why should I care???

Ask Dr. SPLA

Dear Dr. SPLA What is SPLA?

Well, if you are a Microsoft partner, you should care because you need to be aware of alternative licensing programs Microsoft is offering - affectionately called, Microsoft Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA). If you are a prospective customer looking to save on CAP-EX expenditures (who isn't these days), then you need to be an informed consumer and be made aware of a relatively unknown alternative to purchasing Microsoft software.

SPLA is a licensing program that enables service providers and ISVs with a hosted offering to license Microsoft products on a monthly basis to provide services and hosted applications to their end customers. As a SPLA partner, here's your benefits:

• No upfront costs.
• Most current product versions.
• You have access to the most current versions of the products available in the program.
• Pay based on usage Monthly usage-based cost means you pay only for what was made available the previous month.
• Worldwide distribution Use Microsoft licensed products to sell your services in any part of the world.
• Customer evaluations: Use licensed products to provide software services to your prospective customers on a trial basis for up to 60 days.
• Customer demonstrations: You can have up to 50 active user IDs for demonstration purposes

For full details on SPLA licensing and to determine whether SPLA is right for you, contact your local Microsoft Partner or visit http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/licensing/default.mspx