Microsoft wants to be teacher's pet with new software deal

Some UK schools may now be able to get a better deal on Microsoft software following the introduction of a new licensing pilot.

Up until now schools buying Microsoft software on a subscription basis had to do so under the Schools Agreement. The agreement requires educational institutions to pay licence fees for all computers that can technically run Microsoft software - their "eligible ICT estate" - whether they actually do so or not. As a result, some schools ended up paying licences for software they didn't use or need.

Under the new licensing pilot announced this week - the Subscription Enrolment Schools Pilot (SESP) - schools which aren't using exclusively Microsoft tech can just pay for the instances of the company's software that they actually use.

Under SESP, schools will not be required to pay licence fees for systems that aren't being used for educational needs, such as admin; that run non-Microsoft software - such as Mac OS X, Linux or OpenOffice; are incapable of running the licensed software, for example, because they are too low specced; or are covered by other Microsoft licensing agreements.

In addition, the specification of devices that Microsoft includes as part of a school's eligible ICT estate has been increased to allow schools to avoid paying subscription fees on obsolete machines. The minimum device spec is now 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM and a 40GB hard drive.

The pilot, which is only available through Microsoft's education large account reseller partners, also allows schools to license Microsoft technology on a per user - rather than per device - basis. This option will mean pupils will also receive a copy of the relevant software for home use.

With SESP, institutions can also choose to have a combination of a user-based and device-based subscription, an option not previously offered under the Schools Agreement.

A spokeswoman for government education tech body Becta told silicon.com that SESP will mean a more equitable deal for schools.

"We believe it's a much fairer system. It's going to address some of the issues we've raised with Microsoft in the past around licensing agreements for schools," she said.

Becta chief executive, Stephen Crowne, welcomed the pilot saying it will bring greater competition and more opportunity for schools to get value for money.

"It will also make it easier for such schools to use a mix of proprietary and open source products as they see fit," he added in a statement.

In 2008, Becta went to the Office of Fair Trading due to concerns around competition, choice and value for money associated with the Schools Agreement. The organisation has been working with Microsoft to produce the new licensing options since then.

Becta's spokeswoman said the organisation took the issue to the OFT as "we didn't feel it was something that could be progressed between [us and Microsoft]".

"One of our roles is to ensure value for money in terms of procurement - to be able to get the best deals for schools - and we felt that [the Schools Agreement] really wasn't allowing schools to get the best value for money," she added.

While SESP will mean schools don't have to pay for software they don't use, Becta said the new model won't necessarily lead to cost savings.

According to Becta the cost per device will increase if a subscription agreement isn't institution-wide, for example, where schools use open source software. Licensing agreements based on device number will see per-unit costs rise by 10 per cent and those based on user numbers will go up by 30 per cent.

Where cost cutting is a priority, Becta says schools will have to make sure they're cutting down a sufficient amount of Microsoft-equipped devices to justify the cost-per-device price increase.

Steve Beswick, senior director for education for Microsoft UK, told silicon.com: "There's a balancing act between simplicity and cost. If you're not committing the whole estate, then there're price variations accordingly. If you're making more of a commitment to Microsoft there'll be a better price and if you're making less of commitment to Microsoft there'll be an increased price."

According to Beswick, just 10 per cent of schools that Microsoft deals with in the UK actually use a subscription model with the remainder using perpetual licensing - where they buy Microsoft software with their hardware.

He added that the Schools Agreement will continue to be offered alongside SESP as customers like its simplicity. "All you do is count up the PCs in your estate and there's a price for running Windows and Office and a few other licenses from Microsoft and you're kind of done," he said.