Financial Benefits

Software Assurance delivers high ROI by lowering purchase costs, spreading payments, upgrading products, and delivering services that enable faster and more efficient productivity.  The SA program includes the following features.

Spread Payments
Software Assurance offers a more flexible way to manage technology expenditures by enabling you to spread payments annually over the duration of the agreement.  For qualifying customers, the Spread Payments benefit offers the option of paying for purchases in three installments: the first upon signing up for SA and the other two on the first and second anniversary dates.  Each one of the installments also includes the SA charges for the corresponding period. 

New Version Rights
Every CompuCom client with SA receives access to new versions of licensed software as released during the term of the agreement.  Having new version rights to the latest Microsoft software provides flexibility and simplifies the software procurement process, shortens the business planning cycle, and enables you to deploy solutions at your own pace.  With the New Version Rights benefit, you can also lower the costs associated with acquiring new version releases and take immediate advantage of the latest technology.

Desktop Deployment Planning Services
The single largest cost your company faces in managing hundreds of desktops is the human resources it requires to deploy, support, manage, and maintain an efficient infrastructure with a modern desktop environment.  A successful deployment can lead to higher usage and productivity.  It can also result in lower infrastructure costs and improved return on your software investment.  Your SA investment pays for the CompuCom ITIQ Software Support Group to provide from one to 15 days of Deployment Planning Services to deploy, support, manage, and maintain an efficient infrastructure with a modern desktop environment.   

Training Vouchers
Software Assurance customers receive training vouchers for courses from more than 1,600 Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions.  Training includes official Microsoft Learning courses and e-learning in addition to consultative learning services for IT professionals and developers.

Software Assurance E-Learning
Official Microsoft E-Learning courses are now delivered through Microsoft E-Learning Online.  They offer a visually engaging, guided learning experience with highly interactive features, including user-selected learning style, assessments, rich simulations, hands-on labs for practice, audio, and multimedia.  With the Software Assurance E-Learning benefit, you get accurate, relevant, and engaging training on Microsoft technologies directly from the source.

Windows Vista Enterprise
Qualified SA customers are eligible to download Windows Vista Enterprise from Microsoft Volume License Services.   

Home Use Program
Employees can get a licensed copy of Microsoft Office desktop applications to install and use on a home computer.  The Home Use Program benefit enables you to offer employees flexible workspace options that can boost their productivity and enhance their overall work satisfaction.

Employee Purchase Program
The Employee Purchase Program benefit gives your employees discounts on the most popular Microsoft productivity and consumer products.

Realizing the greatest return on your Microsoft investment requires that your people have access to the products quickly, and to future upgrades.  The products must be configured to provide the maximum utility and enable enterprise collaboration.  The Software Assurance program provides services from Microsoft and CompuCom to make deployment fast and painless.

Desktop Deployment Planning Services
The single largest cost your company faces in managing hundreds of desktops is the human resources it requires to deploy, support, manage, and maintain an efficient infrastructure with a modern desktop environment.  Computer configurations require that your IT professionals have the skills, knowledge, confidence, and agility to work with mobile devices, desktop computers, or laptops.  Manual administration takes time, money, and staff, so minimizing the challenge is always a top priority.  A successful deployment can lead to higher usage and productivity.  It can also result in lower infrastructure costs and improved return on your software investment.

Your SA investment pays for the CompuCom ITIQ Software Support Group to provide from one to 15 days of Deployment Planning Services to deploy, support, manage, and maintain an efficient infrastructure with a modern desktop environment.  These services introduce the most advanced techniques, processes, and tools to your company.  They provide the fundamental analysis, business case, process, and technical procedures you need to execute a comprehensive desktop deployment project.  These services extend the business value of your Microsoft software upgrade.

CompuCom adheres to Microsoft best practices, including the Zero Touch solution, which allow network and desktop administrators to automate the deployment process, reducing cost and errors.

Microsoft Windows Pre-installation Environment
The Microsoft Windows Pre-installation Environment (Windows PE) makes IT professionals more productive by providing powerful preparation and installation tools for Windows Vista, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003.  With Windows PE, CompuCom developers or your IT staff can build custom solutions that speed deployment through automation, allowing them to spend less time and effort keeping desktops updated.

Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, available exclusively to SA customers, is a small-footprint Windows-based operating system solution designed for CompuCom clients that have legacy computers running early operating systems and that are not in a position to purchase new hardware.

With Software Assurance, your employees have the latest tools and training from Microsoft.  Those tools are deployed faster so that employees are productive sooner.   Phone and online technical support resolves problems quickly.  Program features that make your people more productive include:

Training Vouchers
Software Assurance customers receive training vouchers for courses from more than 1,600 Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions.  Training includes official Microsoft Learning courses and e-learning in addition to consultative learning services for IT professionals and developers.

Software Assurance E-Learning
Official Microsoft E-Learning courses are now delivered through Microsoft E-Learning Online.  They offer a visually engaging, guided learning experience with highly interactive features, including user-selected learning style, assessments, rich simulations, hands-on labs for practice, audio, and multimedia.  With the Software Assurance E-Learning benefit, you get accurate, relevant, and engaging training on Microsoft technologies directly from the source.

Home Use Program
Employees can get a licensed copy of Microsoft Office desktop applications to install and use on a home computer.  The Home Use Program benefit enables you to offer employees flexible workspace options that can boost their productivity and enhance their overall work satisfaction.

Employee Purchase Program
The Employee Purchase Program benefit gives your employees discounts on the most popular Microsoft productivity and consumer products.

24x7 Problem Resolution Support
As a SA customer, you have access 24x7 to Problem Resolution Support via telephone.  This support offering gives you the peace of mind of a direct connection to CompuCom and Microsoft any time a support need arises for most products, while lowering your total cost of support over time.

“Cold” Backups for Disaster Recovery
With this benefit, you know that mission-critical IT solutions are protected and preserved in disaster recovery situations.  In the event of a disaster, your organization receives complimentary licenses for “cold” backup servers (those that are turned off until an emergency situation requires them to be activated) so that users can continue to access critical data and applications.

Product Support Benefits

Microsoft and CompuCom are committed to delivering products and services that provide valuable solutions for our clients.  The Software Assurance program funds several initiatives that support our clients’ success using Microsoft solutions.

Information Work Solution Services
Information Work Solution Services are funded by the Microsoft SA and delivered by the CompuCom ItIQ Software Support Group.  This benefit helps you identify where and how you can add immediate value to your organization’s productivity and more fully take advantage of the capabilities of your IT infrastructure.

CompuCom’s expertise helps you evaluate your business issues and current technology to identify and prioritize the information work solutions that best meet your goals.  Our consultants design a solutions architecture that is based on your IT infrastructure to align your business and IT strategy.

Enterprise Source Licensing Program
With the Enterprise Source Licensing Program (ESLP) benefit, eligible customers with 1,500 or more licensed desktops can access Microsoft Windows source code for internal development and support.

Corporate Error Reporting
Corporate Error Reporting helps IT professionals monitor and review error information so that they can control the deployment of fixes and resolutions.  Corporate Error Reporting enables applications and the operating system to collect and report data to the IT administrator so that systems that are failing can be identified and diagnosed.  Administrators are connected to up-to-date knowledge and fixes so they can determine the next steps for escalating an issue.

24x7 Problem Resolution Support
As a SA customer, you have access 24x7 to Problem Resolution Support via telephone.  This support offering gives you the peace of mind of a direct connection to CompuCom and Microsoft any time a support need arises for most products, while lowering your total cost of support over time.

TechNet Subscription through Software Assurance
The TechNet Subscription provides convenient online access to Microsoft experts and to information about software and technology.  With this comprehensive support resource, your team keeps technical skills sharp, solves mission-critical and day-to-day issues, maintains security more easily, and evaluates new Microsoft technologies without time limits.

Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, available exclusively to SA customers, is a small-footprint Windows-based operating system solution designed for CompuCom clients that have legacy computers running early operating systems and that are not in a position to purchase new hardware.