DISTRIBUTION, SALES, AND MARKETING
We distribute our products primarily through the following channels: OEM; distributors and resellers; and online.
OEM
We license our software to OEMs for distribution as pre-installed software on new PCs. The most significant part of the OEM business for us is licensing of the Windows operating system. We also license certain server operating systems, desktop applications such as our Office productivity suite, and consumer software products and we market hardware devices, and software as services including our Windows Live Essentials suite to OEMs. We have OEM agreements covering one or more of our products with virtually all of the major PC OEMs, including Acer, ASUSTek, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, NEC, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba. A substantial amount of OEM business is also conducted with system builders, which are low-volume, customized PC vendors operating in local markets.
Distributors and Resellers
We license software to organizations under arrangements that allow the end-user customer to acquire multiple licenses of products. Organizations license our products primarily through large account resellers (“LARs”) and valueadded resellers (“VARs”). Many organizations that license products through enterprise agreements transact directly with us, with sales support from our Enterprise Software Advisor channel partners. These Enterprise Software Advisors typically are also authorized as LARs and operate as resellers for our other licensing programs. Although each type of reselling partner reaches organizations of all sizes, LARs are primarily engaged with large organizations and VARs typically reach the small- and medium-sized organizations. Some of our distributors include Ingram Micro and Tech Data, and some of our largest resellers include CDW, Dell, Software House International, and Insight Enterprises. Our Microsoft Dynamics software offerings are licensed to enterprises through a global network of channel partners providing vertical solutions and specialized services. We distribute our finished goods products primarily through independent non-exclusive distributors, authorized replicators, resellers, and retail outlets. Individual consumers obtain our products primarily through retail outlets, including Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart. We have a network of field sales representatives and field support personnel that solicits orders from distributors and resellers and provides product training and sales support.
Our arrangements for organizations to acquire multiple licenses of products are designed to provide them with a means of doing so without having to acquire separate packaged product through retail channels. In delivering organizational licensing arrangements to the market, we use different programs designed to provide flexibility for organizations of various sizes. While these programs may differ in various parts of the world, generally they include:
Open licensing
Designed primarily for small-to-medium organizations (5 to over 250 licenses), these programs allow customers to acquire perpetual or subscription licenses and, at the customer’s election, rights to future versions of software products over a specified time period (two or three years depending on the Open program used). The offering that conveys rights to future versions of certain software products over the contract period is called software assurance. Software assurance also provides support, tools, and training to help customers deploy and use software efficiently. Under the Open program, customers can acquire licenses only, or licenses with software assurance. They can also renew software assurance upon the expiration of existing volume licensing agreements.
Select licensing
Designed primarily for medium-to-large organizations (greater than 250 licenses), this program allows customers to acquire perpetual licenses and, at the customer’s election, software assurance over a specified time period (generally three years or less to align to the end of the agreement term). Similar to the Open program, the Select program allows customers to acquire licenses only, acquire licenses with software assurance, or renew software assurance upon the expiration of existing volume licensing agreements.
Enterprise agreement licensing
Enterprise agreements are targeted at medium and large organizations (greater than 250 licenses) that want to acquire licenses to software products, along with software assurance, for all or substantial parts of their enterprise. Enterprises can elect to either acquire perpetual licenses or, under the Enterprise Subscription program, can acquire non-perpetual, subscription agreements for a specified time period (generally three years).
Online
We have an expanding portfolio of products, services, and solutions that we distribute online. We provide online content and services through Bing, Windows Live, Office Live, our MSN portals and channels, and the Microsoft Online Services platform, which includes offerings for businesses such as cloud-hosted Exchange, SharePoint, and Office Communications. OSB provides various premium services to consumers and businesses, such as email and messaging communication services and tools such as online search, advertising, and premium content. EDD offers the Xbox Live service which allows customers to participate in the gaming experience online with other subscribers. We also offer the Microsoft Small Business Center portal which provides tools for small-business owners to build, market, and manage their businesses online. Other services delivered online include Microsoft Developer Networks subscription content and updates, periodic product updates, and online technical and practice readiness resources to support our partners in developing and selling our products and solutions.