Buying a Microsoft volume licence for multiple PC workstations is significantly cheaper than a single licence for a Windows PC. It also offers administrative advantages when it comes to company-wide software applications on Windows.
Companies that operate a Windows Server purchase a licence for this server from Microsoft. As an operating system for servers, this is the equivalent of a single PC Windows operating system. A volume licence is required to supply multiple workstations with Windows applications from this server.
What is the Microsoft volume license?
Microsoft volume licences for the Windows operating system are measured using different criteria than volume licensing of multi-user application programs such as MS Office, which are used on Windows. A volume licence enables either multiple devices or multiple users to be bundled and licensed cost-effectively under one application. Instead of purchasing individual licences for each PC or server or individual Windows users, companies buy the usage rights in a package at lower cost. However, they need to start with a decision on how they want to tailor the required volume in the future.
What are the advantages of a Windows volume licence for companies?
In addition to the considerable cost advantage compared to individual licences, Microsoft volume licences include additional security options, specifically to protect company-wide networks from external attacks. A company’s IT officers also don’t have to enter a licence key for each individual workstation to activate an application, but receive a single volume licence key to manage access for all clients.
Windows volume licensing ensures that all participants in a client-server network can work in software environments that are consistently up to date. Volume licences allow the uniform organisation of PC workstations. Instead of installing a Microsoft application individually on each PC, economical VDI solutions are increasingly being used: virtual desktop infrastructures that enable the company to provide a uniform user interface for every workstation and to manage the applications centrally.
Which Microsoft volume license is right for your business?
In addition to licensing the Windows server itself, numerous Microsoft servers also require the licensing of a fixed number of devices or users, who have access to the applications on the hosts. The decision as to which alternative is less expensive depends on how your company’s IT systems are organised.
If a workstation is operated by changing personnel, for example, it would make sense to set up a Windows CAL license according to the number of PCs. If the number of employees who should have access to a Windows application clearly outweighs the number of devices, device-oriented licensing is the best choice.
Conversely: If a small number of employees use multiple devices, such as a desktop PC in the office, a notebook later when they are in transit, and in addition, smartphones and tablets to access the Windows server, user-oriented licensing is the more economical option.
It is possible to divide such solutions by business divisions if, instead of one central server, multiple servers are being used, each for different applications or departments.
Purchasing a volume licence from Microsoft from VENDOSOFT
You always need volume licences for Windows if you make the relevant Microsoft applications available to your company’s employees via RDS (remote desktop services) solutions or VDI solutions. Purchasing your volume licence from the used software specialist VENDOSOFT affords you even more advantages:
- If you wish, you can sell the applications you previously operated but no longer need to us. VENDOSOFT buys old Windows Server licences from you and sells the software on the used market.
- If you buy Windows Server CAL licenses from VENDOSOFT, you will receive volume discounts that correspond exactly to the number of devices or users you want.