Heard about Microsoft Office business center but have no idea about its benefits and relevance? Just like other Microsoft products, there is a lot to Office business center, and you can streamline processes in your company and increase efficiency by leveraging the features it offers!
Microsoft Office business center is better known by its old name, Microsoft Volume Licensing Center. It is an old program that has been running since 2014 and represents the portal for customers who have made purchases through Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA).
The major benefits of Microsoft Office business center
We will be discussing all the benefits and other features in detail, but here is a list of all the features that every customer gets with Office business center:
- Access licensing information of all the purchased products at the same place
- View and review the details of the agreement
- View current orders and the purchase history
- Obtain product keys for all the products
- Download the products for use
- Manage all your cloud services and licenses
- Manage all the users in your Organization
- Access reports for different products
Understanding MPSA
Before we get into the granular details its important to understand the basics of Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA). MPSA is a platform created by Microsoft with an aim to increase the user experience for companies with 250 or more people.
Large corporations with more than 250 people in their team have varied requirements including-
- On-premise Software
- Cloud services
- Microsoft software assurance
- Office products
- And many other products/services
It becomes really cumbersome for large companies to manage all the invoices, records, product keys, and other information for this software. This solution simplifies the process, and you can manage the online services and product licenses at the same place.
Additionally, you will also earn points for every purchase. If you sign up for MPSA, it is mandatory to purchase at 500 points for at least 250 users in your Organization.
- One of the biggest benefits of MPSA is the pricing factor. After you sign up for particular services and products with MPSA, the price remains the same. You have to make sure to maintain the minimum number of points listed in the MPSA, and if you do that, you can renew the contract at the same price
Understanding the working of MPSA
To start with, you get a purchasing account after you successfully purchase from Microsoft. There are many aspects and a way of working which has been made to simplify business operations for large corporations. Let’s understand each point –
- You start by linking your purchase account to MPSA. There are multiple ways to do that, and you can set up an MPSA for the company as a whole, a department or a team
- Your account will be divided into a section depending on your company’s types, which can be among academic, government or the commercial sector
- You can even make sub-sections under your MPSA for separate functions of charity and commercial.
- Another important part is that you can even link affiliates or other subsidiary companies under the same umbrella to fulfill the minimum requirements and have easy accessibility
- Everything in MPSA is adjustable, and you can have different sections of your company to join the platform
The Agreement Administrator
The purpose of giving all these options and customizations is to make things simpler and comfortable for businesses. Every member of your company can buy specific products and services according to their convenience, and you can track everything using the Agreement Administrator.
The head of all controls in the MPSA is the Agreement Administrator. In this access, you get all the powers of MPSA in your Organization. This account can add, delete, or change permissions for any member of the company. You can also change the settings in the middle of the contract and reduce or increase subscriptions according to the demand in your company.
You save a lot of money by planning and paying for the subscriptions only when they are used, unlike conventional ways in which you had to pay for the whole year.
Understanding work accounts and business center
You will get a work account with MPSA, and you can log in using that. Work accounts are special accounts created by Microsoft, which will be used by every member of your company. Every individual in your company can access Office 365, business center, and all other products and services by Microsoft using this work account.
Understanding the purchases and the minimum requirements
You can sing up for MPSA, but there are specific requirements that must be fulfilled to continue with the services the next year.
Although the good thing is that there is no minimum order and you can practically start with any amount. The minimum required to continue will also change depending on the country in which you sign up.
- The minimum required to keep your pool active is 500 aggregate points or 250 cloud online service purchases in a year
To make it easier, MPSA is divided into four types of price structures which are:
- Level A – 500 Annual Price Points
- Level B – 4000 Annual Price Points
- Level C – 10000 Annual Price Points
- Level D – 25000 Annual Price Points
Every level of the MPSA is associated with a different discount structure. With every level, the value of the discounts increases. The order which puts you into the next level in MPSA will receive the discount as per the plans.
Going further, let’s understand the pricing structure and procedure within specific pools. You have to make sure to maintain the minimum purchase in order to renew the contract the next year. Businesses that do not meet the minimum requirement are demotivated to a lower level.
Although you can only be lowered to one level in one year, for example, let’s understand the case of level A. If you fail to maintain 500 points or 250 online cloud services purchases in a year, your pool will be put on hold.
To renew your services, a single purchase of 500 points or 250 online cloud services will reactivate your account.
Some of the significant applications
Let’s discuss some of the major applications that you get by using Microsoft Office Business center. We will also discuss the features mentioned earlier in detail.
1. Buying subscriptions for short term usage
This is our favorite and the most beneficial feature of MPSA. This feature enables businesses to buy software for any specific period. Usually, you have to obtain a subscription for the whole year to use it.
This restricts many businesses to scale software operations as they are always on the lookout to test software and its impact on the business. With MPSA, you can buy any product/service from Microsoft for any amount of time. This will increase software adoption in your company.
You can also mix online and on-premise license use of software to check which suits your business the most.
2. Buying different quantities and changing it afterward
You also have the option to increase or decrease the number of subscriptions that you currently have. This is primarily a boon for companies that get a massive workload in particular months of the year.
If you suddenly have an extra 100 employees in your company for some time, you can increase the number of licenses for that particular month and then reduce the number again at the ending. This will keep your budget in check and save you money.
3. Manage everything from one dashboard
The Agreement administrator has access to all the active licenses and services rendered by the company. You can efficiently allocate certain powers and also remove them according to your will. Unlike the older times, you can now quickly check every purchase made by your company and also suggest changes as per your needs.
4. Save money in terms of discounts and other things
Every new level in MPSA attracts specific discounts. Apart from this, you also save money to pay for custom times when you use the software. You can customize the licenses to your needs and track them as well.
5. Tracking and Reports
Earlier companies had to manually keep track of all the software bought in the company. Now you can easily generate reports of all the products and services purchased within the company and predict future requirements. You can get reports for everything within the Microsoft Ecosystem.
How does it work?
The process is simple and pretty straightforward. You have to purchase the services directly from the Microsoft business center. Microsoft processes your order through a partner like EPC Group. Your Microsoft partner will be your point of contact and assist you in all functions for the usage of your products and services.
If you are looking for a strategic Microsoft office consultancy, which can help you manage all aspects and features of Microsoft products, Contact Us Now!
We have been giving services to organizations ranging from startups to large corporations and have trained their employees to use Microsoft products efficiently. We have a result and ROI oriented approach in which we make efforts to align your company processes for maximum efficiency!
