Novell Buying Programs FAQ

Volume License Agreement (VLA) Questions

Answers

General VLA Program Information

What are the requirements for a VLA?
Customers wishing to start a VLA simply make a purchase of Licenses, Maintenance or other services available under the VLA from the Novell Corporate Price List. Novell will assign a VLA number that customers may use on future purchases.

What forms are required to participate in the VLA?
A signed contract is not required under the VLA Program. Simply select any Novell Reseller to purchase Novell offerings through. At the time of product download you will be asked to click through and agree to the VLA terms and conditions. To view the VLA terms and conditions, please visit www.novell.com/licensing/vla_documents.html).

Do I receive an agreement number as a VLA customer?
No, VLA Agreement Number is not required as this is a transactional program. Details of how to access the Customer Center will be provided by email. This Customer Center provides details on the Customer's purchase orders, product intall base and access to downloads.

Does my VLA status automatically renew?
Yes, the VLA is evergreen, meaning it renews automatically unless the customer or Novell gives notification to terminate. The VLA renews according to an anniversary month, rather than a term date. This anniversary month is established upon the initial purchase of Maintenance. By eliminating the two-year term, the customer no longer has a set end date for the VLA.

Does a Parent/Subsidiary relationship structure exist under the VLA?
No. There will be no documented process for tracking parents or subsidiaries under the VLA.

[Back to the top] [Back to General VLA Program Information]

Ordering and Pricing

How do I begin ordering?
To begin ordering simply submit a completed VLA order to an authorized Novell reseller.

Who issues final pricing on VLA orders?
Your Novell Reseller.

Where can I find current pricing and part numbers?
Current Novell pricing and part numbers are available on the Novell Corporate Price List.

What is the minimum purchase requirement on VLA re-orders?
There is no minimum purchase requirement on VLA re-orders.

Where do I send my purchase orders?
To your Novell Reseller.

What will the discount be for VLA purchases?
Final pricing determined by Novell Reseller. Program discount, and Volume Price Discounts may apply.

What should customers order when purchasing combined Licenses + Maintenance?
To facilitate the ordering process for both customers and resellers, Novell provides combination part numbers for orders including both Licenses and Maintenance.

What will happen to current academic customers who used to purchase using Level 9 part numbers?
Academic customers who wish to purchase perpetual licenses may do so under the VLA for Education program.

[Back to the top] [Back to Ordering and Pricing]

VLA Resellers

Who can sell the VLA? Where can I get a list of Novell Resellers?
Any Novell Reseller can sell the VLA. You can find a list of Novell Resellers at www.novell.com/partnerlocator.

What is the process for fulfilling VLA orders?
The VLA is executed by simply placing a VLA-type order with a Novell Reseller. No signed agreement is necessary. Click-through agreement provided at the time of download. You may change your Novell Reseller by simply placing your order with a new Reseller.

[Back to the top] [Back to VLA Resellers]

VLA Maintenance

Can a customer with an existing install base not covered with upgrade protection or maintenance, make incremental License + Maintenance purchases without covering their original install base with maintenance?
When adding incremental licenses to existing product install base covered by maintenance, all new licenses must be covered by maintenance to ensure compliance on 100% coverage rule. However, Novell will allow customers without any upgrade protection or maintenance to make incremental purchases without covering the original installed base, but technical support will not be available. Version upgrade benefits will be available but strictly limited & audited to the licenses covered by maintenance. The subsequent optional renewal must cover all licenses with Standard or Priority Maintenance.

What VLA Maintenance offerings are available?

VLA customers may choose between Standard or Priority Maintenance. 1-Yr minimum purchase of Maintenance with each new license.

Standard Maintenance -
- Upgrades to the latest version of the product software.
- Unlimited electronic product training.
- Product specific electronic and phone technical support available 12 hours per day, 5 days per week.

Priority Maintenance -
- Upgrades to the latest version of the product software.
- Unlimited electronic product training.
- Product specific electronic and phone technical support available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Am I required to purchase Maintenance?
1-Yr Standard or Priority Maintenance required with each new license purchase. Customers should adhere to the Maintenance coverage rules outlined in the VLA Program Guide and other program documentation.

Can I purchase Maintenance on an old version of a product?
No. You must be on the current version of the product before purchasing Maintenance. If you are on an older version, you must purchase an Upgrade License before adding Maintenance coverage to the product. Upgrades offered on a promotional basis for a limited time after a new version is released.

What happens to customers with current Upgrade Protection at the time of the new program implementation?
The customer's current Upgrade Protection will remain in effect until the end of their current coverage period. Before the end of this period, Novell will send the customer a renewal notification with an option to renew the licenses under Standard or Priority Maintenance. The default renewal will be for Priority Maintenance.

Example: Customer has 100 GroupWise Licenses covered by Upgrade Protection. The current coverage runs from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Instead of receiving an Upgrade Protection renewal, the customer will receive a Priority Maintenance renewal (Priority is the default). Customer has the option to renew either Standard Maintenance or Priority Maintenance.

What happens to customers with current Maintenance at the time of the new program implementation?
The customer's current Maintenance will remain in effect until the end of their current coverage period. Before the end of this period, Novell will send the customer a renewal notification with an option to renew the coverage under Standard or Priority Maintenance. The default renewal will be for Priority Maintenance.

Will customers be allowed to buy multiple years of Maintenance?
Yes. Novell will have part numbers for 1-Yr and 3-Yr of Maintenance. Cost benefits may apply to customers purchasing multiple years. A customer may also cover New License purchases for multiple years upfront by placing the order on two separate line items. For purchases of longer than three years, please talk to your Novell Partner or Account Manager.

How will the renewals process work?
Many customers purchase Maintenance once per year. However, some customers experience incremental license growth throughout the year and need to make multiple Maintenance purchases. For these customers, the default method will be to consolidate these renewals into one renewal quote for the customer. Novell will send renewal notice to the customer prior to the expiration of the first Maintenance period due for renewal with the reminaing renewals pro-rated to consolidate as one renewal date. However, customer can request Novell to keep the multiple renewals option, if this better suits the customer's needs.

Example: Customer has 100 OES Standard Maintenance terminating on November 30, 2008, and 50 OES Standard Maintenance terminating on March 31, 2009. The customer will receive one consolidated renewal notice for: 100 OES Standard Maintenance due to renew December 01, 2008 for a period of 12 months December 01, 2008 to November 30, 2009, and pro-rated amount for the 50 OES Standard Maintenance for a period of 8 months running from April 01, 2009 to November 30, 2009.

Can a customer request pro-ration to synchronize their renewal dates?
Yes. Pro-rating must be for a minimum of 12 months plus the pro-rated amount required to get to the desired anniversary date. Pro-ration cannot be done on License + Maintenance part numbers; only pure Maintenance part numbers can be pro-rated.

What is an Upgrade License?
If a customer owns an old version of a product without Maintenance coverage and would like to run the latest version, Novell offers a version Upgrade License to the new product version. This costs significantly less than the new license cost.

Standard and Priority Maintenance includes product upgrades, so customers with Maintenance will have access to the latest product versions in any case.

Are Upgrade Licenses available for all products?
Yes. However, Upgrade Licenses may only be offered for a promotional period. This may vary by product.

Is renewal optional on Standard and Priority Maintenance?
Yes. Customers can transition off Standard or Priority Maintenance by allowing coverage to lapse. However, customers with partial coverage will not receive technical support.

If Maintenance lapses on all licenses and the customer wanted to add Standard or Priority Maintenance again, they will be required to purchase the Upgrade+ 1 year Maintenance (assuming the product version changed).

Example: Customer purchases 300 OES Licenses+ Standard Maintenance. Coverage from March 2008 – March 2009. 100 additional OES Licenses + Standard Maintenance purchased in August 2008. Coverage from August 2008 to August 2009. Customer allows coverage to lapse on initial 300. In August 2009, customer can choose to discontinue all coverage or can opt to continue coverage. If continued coverage, then customer must cover all licenses (100 PLUS 300 original). Dates on all coverage would be August 2009- July 2010.

Can a customer purchase Standard Maintenance on one product and Priority Maintenance on another?
Yes. Customers can choose per product, which Maintenance coverage they would like to have.

Can a customer with existing Standard Maintenance on a product choose to cover incremental licenses of the same product with Priority Maintenance?
No. Customer can have Standard Maintenance for one product and Priority Maintenance for another but cannot mix the type of coverage within the same product.

Can a customer upgrade their Standard Maintenance to Priority Maintenance?
No. Currently there is not an offering to "upgrade" from Standard to Priority Maintenance. Upon Maintenance renewal the customer can choose to buy Priority Maintenance instead of Standard Maintenance.

Can a customer gain additional Technical Support based on their level of spend?
No, customer's level of technical support is based on selected Maintenance option (Standard or Priority).

Where can the customer find more information on how to access this Technical Support?
Customers will be notified by Novell how to access technical support and training offerings once they have placed their order. Information can be found on line at support.novell.com

Can a customer buy add-on technical support if required?
Yes, as long as the customer has complete and current Maintenance coverage on the product the additional support is for.

What happens to VLA customers who have an active Premium Service contract when the VLA Standard and Priority Maintenance offerings were introduced?
This depends on how the customer obtained their current support offering.

a. If the customer purchased a Premium Service contract (not an entitlement from VLA Maintenance purchase), there is no transition to the new Maintenance offering (unlimited support). The customer will receive support under their current model until the Premium Service contract term end date. Thereafter, the customer must purchase Standard or Priority Maintenance to receive support.

b. If customer's support level is an entitlement based on Maintenance purchased under VLA, customer continues to receive X level of support (MNT 1 through P5000 as entitlement). Customer may opt to continue with current Premium Service agreement and will receive support at current level until term end-date. This support covers all products, includes a specific number of incidents, etc
OR
Customer may request to move to new VLA model and get unlimited support per product (based on MNT purchase). If customer moves to new model (unlimited support), they will lose access to their Premium Service program offering. Customers who want to move to the new model will be transitioned to the Priority Maintenance offering. Note: This option is based on customer request and will NOT be automatic.

Example 1: Customer has spent enough on VLA Maintenance for IDM and ZEN Suite, to entitle them to a P1000 Support Contract. The P1000 contract will run from 01 January 2008 to 31 December 2008. The customer also owns OES and Access Manager, which are not covered by Maintenance. The customer may continue with their Premium 1000 until the end of the contract term on 31 December 2008. This will entitle them to support on all their products (IDM, ZEN Suite, OES and Access Manager), for a limited number of service requests(10 service requests).

Example 2: The customer may transition products with Maintenance to the Priority Maintenance offering. Customer is then entitled to product-specific, unlimited support for IDM and ZEN Suite. If they require support for OES and Access Manager, they will be required to purchase Standard or Priority Maintenance on these products.

What happens to VLA customers who currently own Premium 1000 and buy additive Licenses with Standard or Priority Maintenance? How will Novell manage the different levels of support?
Customer can keep their current Premium contract or may transition everything to the new offering (see point b above). If customer does NOT move to the new offering, they will have access to both types of support: P1000 with corresponding benefits AND product-specific entitlements to unlimited support and training for those products covered with Maintenance (assuming Maintenance is fully paid). Under the new offering, entitlements for support based on Maintenance purchases are automatic. As soon as the customer purchases Maintenance, they will have the information needed to access unlimited product-specific support. There will be no refund on any existing Premium Service agreement.

What training is included in Standard and Priority Maintenance?
Unlimited On-Demand Product Training is available with both Standard and Priority Maintenance. This is web-based "First Look" product training with the focus on:

Product installation
Basic configuration
Product features and functionality.

These "First Look" courses are intended for our VLA customers to become more familiar with the full range of their Novell product features and teach them how to get the product up and running quickly. "First Look" courses are a starting point for customers to become familiar with Novell products and pursue commercial learning opportunities through our Novell Training Partners and our Advanced Technical Training courses.

How will the customer gain access to their Training?
Any purchase of Standard or Priority Maintenance includes a Novell Customer Center key that will allow customer access to the training.

[Back to the top] [Back to VLA Maintenance]

Novell Buying Programs FAQ

Volume License Agreement (VLA) Questions

Select a Topic

General VLA Program Information

Ordering and Pricing

VLA Resellers

VLA Maintenance

Answers

General VLA Program Information

Ordering and Pricing

VLA Resellers

VLA Maintenance