Computer Associates expands Open Licence Program to include customers of all sizes
Announcement posted by CA (enterprise) 21 Jul 2004
Organisations requiring as few as one licence can now join CA's Open Licence Program
Computer Associates (CA) has globally waived the 'minimum entry points' necessary for organisations to join its Open Licence Program (OLP). The change allows small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to participate in the OLP program and receive the same benefits as larger companies.
"This opens-up the benefits of our licensing program to customers who would have traditionally purchased boxed product. Now customers can receive technical support and upgrade protection under maintenance whether they buy one licence or twenty licences," said Vicki Bain, Sales Manager Channels, Computer Associates Australia.
The change is particularly significant for the Australian market where there are less than 100,000 larger SMBs with 20 or more employees but a massive 559,000 smaller SMBs employing between one and 19 people. (source Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003).
Previously 'entry points' for the OLP were based on the number of licences that an organisation needed to purchase. For example, an eTrust Antivirus licence was worth two points and, as the minimum entry points for OLP was 40 points, an organisation needed to purchase 20 eTrust Antivirus licences to be part of the program. These entry points have now been removed for all products offered in CA's worldwide channel licensing program including the BrightStor storage and eTrust security solutions.
"As well as benefiting our end-users, the move will help our SMB resellers promote licensing instead of boxed product. Resellers can now provide a better overall solution to their customers by being able to include technical support and free upgrades (under licensing) into their solution. In the future, boxed product purchases could well become obsolete as customers realise they can receive so much more value from licensing," saidBain.
Benefits for end-user organisations from CA's Open Licence Program include:
* Lower cost of ownership - you only have to pay for an upgrade once for your entire organisation, not multiple times (once for each individual licence)
* Easier product maintenance - instead of managing multiple licence keys (one for each product licence), there is only the one licence key and only one media pack.
* Technical support - the price for technical support is built into OLP's maintenance agreement and is no longer a separate cost.
* Upgrade protection
About CA
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE:CA), the world's largest management software company, delivers software and services across infrastructure, security, storage and life cycle management to optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of enterprise IT environments. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y., and operates in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit http://ca.com.
"This opens-up the benefits of our licensing program to customers who would have traditionally purchased boxed product. Now customers can receive technical support and upgrade protection under maintenance whether they buy one licence or twenty licences," said Vicki Bain, Sales Manager Channels, Computer Associates Australia.
The change is particularly significant for the Australian market where there are less than 100,000 larger SMBs with 20 or more employees but a massive 559,000 smaller SMBs employing between one and 19 people. (source Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003).
Previously 'entry points' for the OLP were based on the number of licences that an organisation needed to purchase. For example, an eTrust Antivirus licence was worth two points and, as the minimum entry points for OLP was 40 points, an organisation needed to purchase 20 eTrust Antivirus licences to be part of the program. These entry points have now been removed for all products offered in CA's worldwide channel licensing program including the BrightStor storage and eTrust security solutions.
"As well as benefiting our end-users, the move will help our SMB resellers promote licensing instead of boxed product. Resellers can now provide a better overall solution to their customers by being able to include technical support and free upgrades (under licensing) into their solution. In the future, boxed product purchases could well become obsolete as customers realise they can receive so much more value from licensing," saidBain.
Benefits for end-user organisations from CA's Open Licence Program include:
* Lower cost of ownership - you only have to pay for an upgrade once for your entire organisation, not multiple times (once for each individual licence)
* Easier product maintenance - instead of managing multiple licence keys (one for each product licence), there is only the one licence key and only one media pack.
* Technical support - the price for technical support is built into OLP's maintenance agreement and is no longer a separate cost.
* Upgrade protection
About CA
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE:CA), the world's largest management software company, delivers software and services across infrastructure, security, storage and life cycle management to optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of enterprise IT environments. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y., and operates in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit http://ca.com.