Microsoft Volume Licensing
Software asset management (SAM) tools
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What is Microsoft Volume Licensing
Microsoft Volume Licensing is Microsoft’s enterprise licensing and purchasing framework for acquiring Microsoft software and cloud services under organization-wide agreements. It supports procurement, entitlement tracking, and license documentation through portals and contract artifacts used by IT asset managers, procurement teams, and compliance stakeholders. The offering centers on Microsoft-specific products and agreement types (e.g., enterprise and subscription agreements) rather than broad, vendor-neutral discovery and normalization.
Authoritative Microsoft entitlements
It provides the primary record of Microsoft license entitlements tied to an organization’s agreements and purchasing history. This helps teams validate what has been purchased and what rights are granted under specific contract terms. For Microsoft-only scope, it reduces ambiguity compared with maintaining entitlements solely in spreadsheets or third-party tools.
Standardized enterprise agreements
It supports common enterprise purchasing models and contract structures used for Microsoft products, including centralized purchasing and agreement-level governance. This standardization can simplify renewals, true-ups, and internal chargeback discussions when Microsoft is a major spend category. It also aligns licensing artifacts with Microsoft’s compliance and audit expectations.
Integration with Microsoft ecosystem
Volume licensing data and agreement constructs align with Microsoft’s broader admin and purchasing ecosystem, which can streamline procurement-to-deployment workflows for Microsoft software. Organizations that primarily deploy Microsoft platforms can keep licensing processes consistent across business units. This can reduce operational friction compared with mixing multiple licensing programs for the same vendor.
Not a full SAM platform
It does not function as a complete, vendor-neutral SAM tool with cross-vendor discovery, normalization, and reconciliation. Organizations typically still need separate tooling and processes to inventory devices, detect installations/usage, and manage non-Microsoft software. As a result, it covers entitlement management more than end-to-end software asset lifecycle management.
Complex licensing interpretation
Microsoft licensing rules vary by product, metric, and agreement, and interpreting effective license position often requires specialized expertise. The licensing artifacts alone may not translate directly into actionable compliance positions without additional analysis. This can increase reliance on licensing specialists or external advisory services.
Limited operational asset workflows
Compared with dedicated SAM and IT asset management suites, it offers limited capabilities for operational workflows such as automated reclamation, software request/approval, and policy-driven optimization. Reporting is oriented toward agreements and purchases rather than continuous optimization across endpoints and SaaS usage. Teams may need to integrate other systems to manage day-to-day software asset operations.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Agreement (EA) | Custom pricing — contact Microsoft / Authorized Reseller | Best for organizations with 500+ users or devices; typical 3‑year term; includes Software Assurance options and volume-based price levels (managed through Enterprise Enrollment, Server & Cloud Enrollment). See Microsoft for eligibility and enrolment details. |
| Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) | Custom pricing — contact Microsoft / Authorized Reseller | Flexible agreement for organizations to purchase Microsoft products and services; price lists and billing managed via Volume Licensing Partner Center / VL Central. |
| Open Value / Open Value Subscription (OV / OVS) | Custom pricing — contact Microsoft / Authorized Reseller | Organization‑wide and non‑organization‑wide options; typical minimum is 5 desktops (3 for Japan); includes Software Assurance; extra products and monthly subscriptions handled per product SKU rules. |
| Select / Select Plus (legacy) | Custom pricing — contact Microsoft / Authorized Reseller | Select Plus has been transitioning/retiring to the New Commerce Experience; customers retain acquired rights; availability varies by sector (see Microsoft guidance). |
Notes: Microsoft does not publish fixed, universal list pricing for Volume Licensing on public pages — pricing is provided via customer price sheets, partner/partner center downloads, or through Microsoft account teams and authorized resellers. Price levels and availability can vary by country and agreement type.
Seller details
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, Washington, United States
1975
Public
https://www.microsoft.com/
https://x.com/Microsoft
https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft/
