Buying Microsoft Software - General Advice

Summary: Recommended ways to purchase Microsoft software

There are many ways to purchase Microsoft Software. With any vendor you pick, there is a tradeoff between convenience and price.

Some Recommeded Vendors

Vendor	Products	Pros	Cons
UCI Computer Store	Academic Editions Select Licenses & Media	Convenience. This is usually the best source for all Academic Editions, and the only place that accepts departmental recharges.	Select licences have a 15% markup as opposed to TRC.
SHI	Select Licenses & Media UC-MCCA leases	SHI is the UC system's contract reseller. Generally they have the best prices available for software agreeements sponsored by by University of California	SHI is in Massachusets. There are sometimes shipping delays. However, products are available via electronic download.
Your computer manufacturer	Windows, Office	Convenience of having the software pre-installed. Prices generally match Academic Edition prices	more expensive than Select licenses

Glossary:

Academic Edition: Software products for academic use only. You must be UCI faculty, staff, or student to purchase academic editions. Otherwise, academic editions are much like retail editions.UCI affiliates can install this software on personally owned computers, as long as they're not using the software as part of a business endeavor.
Select: a Microsoft Software licensing program. You do not buy boxes of software. Instead you buy licenses to use the software, and one copy of media (CD-Rom). This is advantageous when you need to install software on a whole bunch of computers, and you don't need multiple CDs. Select licenses are for University-owned computers only. Select licenses typically cost only 1/4 -1/3 as much as Academic Editions.
Maintenance: the right to upgrade to the next version of the software when it is released
UC-MCCA: The UC-Microsoft Consolidated Campus agreement. This is a leasing agreement. You get all software upgrades for the products you license. The annual charge is based on the number of employees in your school or department. Each year you count employees and renew your lease. If you choose not to renew the lease, you must remove the software.The number of computers is not counted. This program is advantageous for some units at UCI, and not for others. If you want more information about UC-MCCA, please contact Bob Hudack at (949)824-6759.

UCI's Network & Academic Computing Services -> Licenses
nacs@uci.edu
Updated: July 23, 2009