• Provides academic institutions with coverage for desktop products with one annual FTE count.   
• Basic products are provided free to campus and are manage by departmental IT staff.  

     Free Products

• Software may be downloaded from the MVLS portal. 
• If your device will access UGA’s network once every 180 days, use KMS keys.   
• MAK keys are reserved for devices not accessing the internet for long periods of time.  
• Log into the portal using the work account option using your CAS credentials. 

   

  Paid Products 

• Requires an annual subscription fee billed on the MCA invoice. 
• Can download from the MVLS portal as evaluation and follow-up keys generated in the portal. 
• If this product is needed for a short time, you may cancel the license when it's no longer needed but you will be billed pro-rated on the annual MCA invoice. 
• Would be cheapest option, but requires annual subscription fee as long as you keep the subscription.  
• Anyone with a valid UGA email address can generate keys.  
• Paid product may be ordered from Dell or CDWG. 
• This will be the highest cost option.  

• Subscription license on a UGA Affiliate Agreement with Dell. Guarantees current version.  
• Purchase from Dell.
• May be purchased as perpetual or subscription (Software Assurance)  
• Allows one-time license purchases without software assurance / annual subscription fee, but usually includes subscription.  
• It’s recommended a single departmental email account manage MVLS portal keys.  
• Products are purchased from Dell first then conformation letter emailed with authorization codes to generate keys.  If EITS C&L generates the keys, we willforwarded from portal manager to client or technician via SendFiles.   
• Software is downloaded from the portal, and enters the key. 
• Anyone with valid UGA email address can generate keys if they are able to navigate the MVLS portal.   
• Portal managers should keep a detailed log of product, quantity, License number, PO number and key to avoid accidentally reusing keys. 

• One time perpetual licenses, however, software assurance is available at a slightly increased cost, but not required. 
• Purchase from Dell or CDWG.
• One-time license purchase without software assurance / annual subscription fee. 
• Requires initial purchase of initial 5 points per department.  Visio and Project are 1 point each per license. (More expensive licenses [Visual Studio] may be more than 1 point.) 
• After initial purchase, singles are accepted. Contact Dell to find out if your department has qualified.  
• Download & key procedure identical to option 2.  Download from MVLS or other MS website upon receipt of key. Anyone with valid UGA email address can generate keys. 
• Open Licensing is usually about 10% more than buying off the Select Plus option.  

• O365 is provided free to campus students, faculty, and staff. 
• Detailed information on products, access, support and downloads may be found on the Office 365 webpage.

• Visual Studio is a subscription (renting a license), so annual charges will apply. 
• Licenses are named users and must be assigned and activated, sharing is not allowed.   
• Licenses may be used in a virtual environment if access can be restricted to licensed users.  
• However, licenses may be transferred by the department’s Visual Studio portal admin. 
• May be installed on many devices as long as it is used by the same named user. 
• Since the licenses is a subscription, transfer to a replacement device if needed.  
• It may be installed on multiple devices as long as all are used by the same named user.  
• IT managers must contact EITS C&L for Visual Studio admin access.  

The Microsoft Volume Licensing Services (MVLS) is provided for select IT Technicians to manage EES product downloads and keys for their department. Access is provided to one IT Manager per department and those managers may save software downloads and distribute to other IT Admins in their department. IT Technicians with access are responsible for controlling downloads, being sure they are contract compliant, and logging and securing keys. This is important because any audit findings will be the responsibility of the department.  

The portal also includes Visual Studio subscription management as well as obtaining keys ordered through Select Plus or Open Licensing programs.   

Access requires a Departmental Access form signed by the appointee and a director or above supervisor. Orientation documentation as well as instructions on types of keys will be provided upon approval of EITS Contracts & Licensing. Users granted access are audits periodically by EITS Contracts & Licensing personnel to ensure we remain compliant with contract terms.  

Budget time wisely. It may take up to a week after the order is placed before you will be able to use the software under standard purchasing channels. Expect longer periods of time for new products especially where Microsoft has modified the provisioning method.

Consider using a departmental ID email account to manage subscriptions. This will save some aggravation should a named user leave UGA. Request that the departmental ID also has your HR Departmental ID Number associated with it.

Currently there is difficulty assigning online subscriptions such as Visio and Project Pro. We are working with Microsoft Engineers to resolve the provisioning.

Make sure you understand where you are purchasing from and understand that Software Assurance will be billed annually for your purchase if applicable.