Microsoft Windows Vista® is the newest and most powerful version of the Windows operating system ever produced. It helps everyone to increase their potential with a PC, with a breakthrough user interface and exciting new ways to organise and display digital information.

Windows Vista Business meets the specific needs of small businesses. It enables companies to work more efficiently with a stunning yet simple-to-use interface, making it faster and easier to search and find information. Powerful new safety features protect key information, while mobile computing enhancements help workers to stay connected – whether in or out of the office.

For people in large organisations, Windows Vista Enterprise empowers more effective working, communication and collaboration. It enhances organisational capabilities to find, use and secure data, while meeting complex regulatory requirements. Windows Vista Enterprise helps organisations with complex IT infrastructures to lower IT costs, reduce risk and stay connected.

Three simple questions to start the customer conversation:

1. Could your people use their PCs more effectively?

- Windows Vista promotes smart information management, with visualisation capabilities, intuitive data organisation tools and fast enterprise-class distributed search.
- Promote collaboration, with simplified and secure same-PC and domain sharing, Windows Meeting Space presentations and file transfers and peer-to-peer collaboration.
- Streamline the user experience, enhancing productivity via better window management and scaling easily with hardware.
- Optimise Internet use with Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7: efficient, tabbed browsing; easy Web search; and native RSS subscription support.
- Help Tablet PC users with personalised handwriting recognition, improved pen integration and touchscreen support accidentally deleted files and restore previous versions.

2. Do the costs of managing PCs hurt the bottom line of your organisation?

- The Windows Vista operating system offers greater security, with user account protection, Internet Explorer protection mode, anti-phishing features and other advanced security features.
- Windows Vista is cost effective to deploy and manage, with greater control over clients.
Enforce company-wide power policies that reduce PC energy consumption.
- Windows Vista raises performance and reliability, booting-up more quickly and launching applications faster and offering built-in diagnostics to quickly resolve any issues that arise.

3. Are your people, information, applications and systems connected effectively?

- Windows Vista delivers effective connectivity – enabling users to discover, join and use networks easily and securely.
- High performing wireless networking is supported, and applications and desktops can be accessed over the Internet without requiring a VPN.
- Windows Vista enables seamless connection to external displays or projectors, with fast start-up through simplified power management and presentation settings that suppress IM, e-mail and system alerts etc, with one click.
- Windows Vista unifies data and device synchronise management with a single interface, saving bandwidth and raising performance. It also offers future support for Windows Mobile® and third-party devices

Who to target
Windows Client Volume Licensing targets two types of customers: customers upgrading their desktop hardware with new PCs and customers with existing Windows Vista Capable hardware.

Volume licensing profile-based sales programme

The launch of the new Software Assurance Benefits 3.0 presents an exciting opportunity to sell Windows Client through Volume Licensing channels. In addition to many new SA Benefits like Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, Extended Hot-Fix Support and System Center Client Error Reporting, it includes a differentiated SKU called Windows Vista Enterprise. Available exclusively through SA, this SKU gives customers powerful features that significantly increase business value, IT value and cost savings.

To help reach customers, Microsoft has developed a set of unique, identifiable and actionable customer profiles based on needs. With a simple profiling tool that consists of three qualitative questions, a customer can be placed in one of the four profiles.

For each profile, exhaustive research has provided the core needs and corresponding messages that highlight features and benefits within Windows Vista Enterprise and Software Assurance 3.0. By using this methodology with the pitch packs and quantitative tools available in the Gear Up Client Corner Web site, you can target customers and focus discussions more effectively.

The following profiles have proven tremendously useful in closing VL agreements:

Business Value: Focuses on improving user productivity (time, yield, other business metrics) from PC activities. May also focus on process innovation (time to market, supply chain etc.) and enabling unique scenarios (mobile workforce, multinational etc.). These customers often have a demanding PC user group with strong input into the IT decision process
IT Value: Focuses on improving the quality of IT infrastructure, including desktop and mobile PCs. These customers often invest in reducing risk from security, stability and compliance issues to drive IT spending at or above the industry advantage. They are also likely to develop in-house applications
TCO Manager: Focuses on a holistic perspective of PC deployment and maintenance. While PC technology is widely used, it is often not core to the business and not perceived as providing a competitive advantage
Cash Manager: Focuses on short-term software acquisition costs and does not include maintenance or other embedded costs. Also, Cash Managers often do not view IT as core to the operations of their business

This is a very exciting time to sell Windows Client VL. After reading the overview deck, be sure to use the profiling tool to get your customers’ profiles. Then use the appropriate pitch decks as well as the quantitative tools (TCA/TCO/Windows Vista Discussion Tool) to sell to your customers. We have also developed some FAQs for mitigating customer objections. This information and more is provided within the Client Corner on the Gear Up Web site.

What to pitch:
Windows Vista Business helps businesses find and use information more effectively while lowering IT costs
Windows Vista Enterprise is the most full-featured desktop OS for businesses of any size with exclusive features designed to lower IT costs and risks

For further information, contact Licensing on 0118 9898 240 or email licensing@bluesolutions.co.uk

Don’t I already license Windows?
Yes, with your OEM licence, you have the rights to the OS that came with your PC at the time of purchase, but a Volume Licence allows you to purchase an upgrade licence to the latest version of the OS at a discounted price. Also, with SA you have the exclusive rights to Windows Vista Enterprise and any future versions of Windows, which are released during the term of your agreement.

What if I don’t really want to upgrade to Windows Vista right now?
Even without upgrading, SA gives you tools like Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs to extend the life of legacy hardware and 24-7 Business-Critical Support to keep your systems up and running. If you decide to upgrade later, you have the option for the life of your contract.

What does Windows Vista offer that my current OS does not offer?
Windows Vista is a fundamentally new OS that helps users get more value from information, work remotely, improve security and reduce IT cost, all through a new user interface that makes Windows even easier to use.

Why should I license Windows Vista Enterprise when Windows Vista ultimate appears to have everything I need for my business?
Windows Vista Ultimate is a consumer product offering and is not well-suited for enterprise-wide deployment. Windows Vista Enterprise offers volume licensing keys that allow a single corporate image to be used. Windows Vista Ultimate contains consumer features, such as Windows Media Center, that cannot be easily managed with a group policy. Windows Vista Ultimate is not covered under Premier support.

A Windows Vista Capable PC includes at least:

- A modern processor (at least 800 MHz)
- 512 MB of system memory
- A graphics processor that is DirectX 9 capable

Windows Vista Customer Portal: www.microsoft.com/windowsvista
IT Professional Resources: www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista
Developer Resources: http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista
Windows Vista Get Ready Site: www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/default.mspx
Windows Vista System Requirements: www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/entpguid.mspx
Windows Vista Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0: www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/appcompat/act5feat.mspx
Windows Vista Business Desktop Deployment 3.0: www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/deploy/bddguid.mspx
Windows Vista Partner Resources: http://microsoft.mrmpslc.com/windowsvistapartner
Windows Vista Channel Reseller Resources: www.ms-gearup.com/Windows_Client_resources.asp
Windows Vista Partner Training: www.msreadiness.com/windowsvista.asp