“Why is this product no longer available?”
This is a question that I’m asked, usually around the time when clients are about to report on licenses, and they no longer see a product that you have been licensing for some time.
Over time, the range of products included in the SPUR and the SPLA price list has changed… and it will change again in the future.
So when a product is deleted from the SPLA program, how do you know whether you may continue to license it?
The program rules are as follows:
If you were licensing a product before it was deleted from the SPUR / published price list, and it wasn’t deleted due to infringement claims or a legal order, then you may continue licensing that deleted product / reporting that deleted license until either:
- you migrate to a newer version of the product, or
- your SPLA expires and is renewed (whichever comes first).
These rules are supported by section 10c of your SPLA contract.
Note that in July 2014, Microsoft changed its pricing policy for deleted products. Previously, when licenses were deleted from SPLA, their prices froze (except in exceptional cases where they moved to a hidden price list). In the future, there may be times when Microsoft will increase the price of deleted licenses for business reasons. There will be notification before the effective date of any such price changes.