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Microsoft flogs subscriptions to the unwary and confused

Bad omens

The Vista catch

Finally, just how simple can you make something before people actually bite? Windows Live OneCare was launched by Microsoft with the promise that it would improve computer security because it automatically took care of the updates for them. Windows Live OneCare already comes with a subscription - $49.95 per year for three PCs.

Are people using the service? Probably not, as unfortunately for Microsoft and anyone else pimping this service, Windows Live OneCare is tied to Windows Vista.

The enterprise-focused Select Plus Volume Licensing represents firmer ground for Microsoft as it's been here before. This time around Microsoft claims it's trying to simplify. Only it's not.

OK, you get a single ID for all your organization's licensing needs and the promise of a lower software bill if you purchase in bulk. But this is not just any old bulk buying deal: each product will carry a point value, and the price level is based on product points earned for automatic tiered discount levels.

There's no word yet on how that points system will work or how customers are going to get that through their purchasing departments. Also, it's not clear whether Select Plus Volume Licensing will replace or work along side Microsoft's existing volume-licensing programs.

Select Plus Volume Licensing is another attempt to push Software Assurance (SA), which has been an uphill struggle for Microsoft since its clumsy introduction several years back. Customers who spend more by signing up to a 36-month-period of SA will get additional deployment planning services, support and training from Microsoft.

It's the same old soft offer of "planning services, support and training" Microsoft has been pushing since about a year after it launched SA to encourage uptake. The tangible discounts or guarantees that the products customers are paying to have supported will be upgraded during the lifetime of their SA contract are - once again - missing.

Mysterious moving parts

At last year's partner summit Microsoft employees were cheerleading for online services in session after session. We saw many partners walk out of these sessions in silence at the end, showing no reaction.

There's little reason why anybody should jump onboard Microsoft's software-based services because this is a moving train that's still being built. Let MS finish shifting the pieces around before you risk your business. And as for enterprise licensing subscriptions: there's little here but another layer of sediment on top of Microsoft's other programs, which have helped choke the software licensing river. ®

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