SA - VLK = SOL
I have so many gripes about Microsoft licensing programs that I have created a special category in The Schlog for posts on this subject. Here’s the latest:
When does Microsoft Software Assurance NOT include version upgrades? I don’t know what the rule is, but it seems to have happened to me. One of my clients had ordered a bunch of laptops with an OEM version of Microsoft Office 2003 Professional installed. Knowing that Office 2007 was on its way, we then ordered 7 licenses of Software Assurance for Office Professional Plus through the Microsoft Open Value program (within 90 days of buying the laptops, of course). I went to view the agreement at https://licensing.microsoft.com to find out what product key I would use to upgrade these machines from Office 2003 to Office 2007. (Not that I’m ready to do that just yet, but I wanted to make sure I could when the time comes). I was quite surprised when I clicked on the Volume License Product Keys page to read that “This agreement does not include product(s) with Volume License Product Keys.”
OK, Microsoft. Can you please tell me how exactly I’m supposed to apply this upgrade if you don’t give me the new serial number?
My distributor is looking into it ….Â
[see comment for update]
Update: what we *think* happened was that this SA contract was generated after the release of Office 2007 to manufacturing. Thus, Microsoft’s system would have “assumed” that we didn’t need product keys because we were only buying SA for a product we already installed, as opposed to an upgrade. Perhaps if we had purchased this SA contract in October, the product keys would have appeared automatically with the agreement.
Fortunately, the client in question happened to have another Open Value agreement in place that included one copy of Office Professional, and that agreement *does* show the Office 2007 product key. So we can use that product key to install the upgrades and we’ll be legally covered by the SA agreement if anyone ever asks why we used the product key from agreement number 1 to install the software purchased through agreement number 2.