Re: [Fsfe-uk] [ALUG] Microsoft and schools (fwd)

[ian]

On Sat, 2003-12-06 at 20:13, Alex Hudson wrote:
> On Sat, 2003-12-06 at 18:36, Philip Hunt wrote:
> > > Or that UK Schools have agreed to licence more software, but at a
> > > better discount - i.e., spending 60M instead of 50M, but getting 70M
> > > worth of software: there's a 10M saving right there!
> > 
> > The Becta page <http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/press_out.cfm?id=3099>
> > says it's up to individual schools to buy what they want, so no such
> > deal has been made.
> 
> A-ha. I think I get it now:
> 
>         "If you purchase software under Microsoft Academic Open
>         Licensing then to get the best pricing under the Becta Microsoft
>         Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) you should move to either
>         Select Licensing or School Agreement Licensing."
>         
> If I'm right - and forgive me, I don't know the MS licensing models
> inside out - this means that in order to get access to discounted
> software, schools have to sign up to a subscription-based licence?

Not quite. Microsoft select is a system to buy at discounted prices from
certain vendors that run select schemes for consortia or groups of
schools. In fact a lot, perhaps most already use this. For example, the
Specialist Schools Trust uses a company called Ramesys so that its
affiliated schools (Probably about half the secondary schools in the
country with a government target for about 95% over then next couple of
years) can by through Select. So without this MoU virtually all the
schools in the country could buy through Select, and indeed the prices I
was quoting were based on Select so there is absolutely no discount.

> They're moving people away from MS Open - which isn't necessarily
> subscription-based, as I understand it - and Student Select, which also
> isn't. They seem to basically be allowing people to access the volume
> channel (i.e., software assurance) scheme without having the volume. 

Correct except most hae access to the volume through LEA and other
schemes anyway.

> Also, MS appear to be playing something of a blinder within the reseller
> channels. Rather than pass the saving on to the customer, they're
> passing it on to the reseller, who will be taking a slice of the action.

Not really. Its hardly worth retailing MS software anyway. Competition
in the resellers usually forces the margin below any economic profit
level particularly if they give *any* support. 

> This probably makes selling an all-MS solution far more attractive now,
> so it wouldn't surprise me if schools started buying more MS stuff over
> the next few years. All on subscription. Nice.

I think it will make no difference at all. Essentially nothing has
changed of any great significance. The projected savings are wildly
exaggerated for political effect both on the part of BECTA, the
Government and MS. Once again its a case of the Emperor not having any
clothes. 

-- 
ian <address@hidden>