One of my biggest, most important responsibilities in my day job
is ensuring that we have purchased all of the software licenses
that we require. It’s my job to ensure that we are 100% legal at
all times - which fulfills one of our corporate goals to be a
completely ethical company.
Most companies make it very simply for me and my staff. If I
want to license Norton Antivirus, all I need to do is count the
number of machines on which the product is to be installed,
write up a purchase order and call the salesperson to order the
product. It works the same with Conversion Plus, Adobe
Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, WinZIP and any of the other hundreds
of products that we require to keep our company in business.
You would think that Microsoft would want to make it easy for
people like me to give them money. I know that if I were in
their shoes that’s what I would do.
I should stop for a minute and explain that I love many
Microsoft products. Windows 2000 (server and professional) are
very solid, well-thought-out operating systems, and the Office
2000 suite is easily the best in the industry. Internet Explorer
is far superior to Netscape and has been for several years now,
and Visio 2000 is one of the most versatile flowcharting tools
available anywhere.
Unfortunately, purchasing and licensing Microsoft products is
nowhere near as pleasurable as using their office suite. My god,
they make it so difficult to purchase licenses that I’ve often
considered (especially recently) switching the entire company to
Unix and WordPerfect just to simplify my life.
Okay, let’s take the Office suite of products. In a sane world,
you would do this one of three ways:
- You could just buy everything (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint
and so on)
- You could purchase the “base” kit, then purchase additional
licenses for the pieces that you needed. For example, spend $75
on the base, then add $40 for Word, and perhaps $10 for
PowerPoint, and then don’t purchase Access. This could all be
done with a licensing key.
- Just purchase each piece separately.
Naturally, Microsoft didn’t choose any of these methods. What
you have instead is a number of “suites”, each a different mix
of products. For example, if you just need Word and Excel, you
could purchase Office Standard. If, on the other hand, you also
need Access, then you need to purchase Office Premium. To make
matters even worse, depending upon how many of each product you
want to purchase you can use different discount scales.
It’s enough to make one pull his hair out in frustration. But
wait, it gets even worse with the operating systems. You want
Windows 2000 server, then you need to purchase a license for the
server, a license for each workstation (Windows 2000
Professional) and a Client Access License (CAL) for each
workstation that needs to access a server. And, of course,
depending upon how many of each you buy you get a different
discount scale.
Oh, we’re not finished yet. You also have the choice of ordering
Backoffice, which contains many of the server products sold by
Microsoft. It may (or may not) be cheaper to get one Backoffice
license than, say, an Exchange license, a SQL license and a
Windows 2000 server license. Then you’ve got to remember if you
purchase Backoffice or the separate products for your server in
order to purchase either Backoffice CALs or the individual CALs
for each product. And, of course, each product has it’s own
discount scale depending upon how many you purchase.
Now, with the impending release of Windows XP and the release of
Office XP, it has, believe it or not, got even more confusing.
Take a deep breath and see if you can follow this. We purchased
some 500 copies of Office 95, which we upgraded to Office 97,
then upgraded to Office 2000. We looked carefully at Office XP
and quickly decided we did not want to install it on any of our
systems. We are happy with Office 2000.
However, we might want to upgrade to the version of Office
following that, or even the one after that (Microsoft seems to
be releasing a new version every couple of years). In the past,
we would simply pay an upgrade fee to go from wherever we were
to the new version.
No more. Now, we have to purchase what is basically upgrade
insurance by a particular deadline (it was September but this
seems to have been moved to February). We also have to pay to
upgrade everything to Office XP at the same time. If we do not
do this, we will wind up paying over 200% more if we decide to
upgrade at some point in the future.
Okay, so Microsoft is forcing us to pay now for a product which
we may or may not want in the future. Personally, I believe they
know that Office XP is not a product which most people want - in
fact, I don’t know of any system manager anywhere who is even
considering upgrading to the new version. Why not? The user
interface is significantly different (requiring retraining), the
performance is poor (requires more hardware to operate) and the
benefits TO THE USER are completely nonexistent.
It gets worse. We have decided to go ahead and get the upgrade
insurance and upgrade our product on paper. However, we
definitely do not want to install Office XP on any machine at
any time. Thus, we simply want to make the purchase to retain
our rights to upgrades in the future.
We are allowed to install the older versions as much as we want
under the terms of the license agreements as long as we purchase
enough licenses of the new version to cover it all. So we went
to purchase Office XP Professional, then found ourselves in an
interesting position.
We originally bought the Professional edition because we wanted
Publisher. Unfortunately, Microsoft has decided to remove
Publisher from Office XP Professional (in fact, they have also
removed Frontpage - no huge loss considering that Frontpage XP
is not an improvement over 2000).
This introduced lots of confusion into the picture. After much
study and hours of phone discussions with Microsoft, we
determined that we could install Office Professional 2000 with
Publisher for each of the Office Professional XP licenses that
we purchased. If, however, we did upgrade to Office Professional
XP, then we would need to purchase one additional Publisher
license per machine.
It would be so much easier if we could just purchase 500
licenses for Word, 500 for Excel and 500 for Publisher. We would
be happy to purchase a maintenance agreement for the whole mix.
We don’t need Access or PowerPoint, yet due to the way Microsoft
has it all structured we have to purchase licenses for them.
Sigh.
Now I have to go figure out how to upgrade and license my
Windows NT and Windows 2000 machines. It’s enough to make me
look into the mirror to see if I have any more gray hairs.
Insurance brokerage firms play a key role in business development of both life insurance and general insurance companies. On one hand, they act as intermediary between insurer and client, helping to assess the client’s business and risk profile, and accordingly suggesting appropriate coverage. On the other hand, they also act to convince the insurer to assume the risk involved in underwriting particular policies. Although insurance brokerage firms draw their salaries from insurers, a firm’s top priority is to see to the client’s interests. Moreover, firms do not charge any commission for services provided to clients. When a client makes damage claims, the firm interacts on behalf of the client with surveyors, photographers and structural engineers appointed by the insurer.
The insurance broker also relays data relating to the potential client’s business and risk profile to the technical division of the insurance company. The broker’s role may vary according to the size of the insurance company it serves. For big insurance companies, brokerage firms may operate in specialized areas, while elsewhere they may be required to look after the entire range of policies that an insurance company may have to offer.
Insurance brokerage firms are also supposed to manage knowledge and information flow relating to their clients and the markets in which they operate. Accordingly, they have to maintain detailed records. Not only that, but they also collate data from other sources and then analyze them to see the big picture. In addition, they identify new industry trends and developments on the basis of collated data and evaluate various insurance products on the market.
In many countries, in fact, insurers are already selling their products mainly through brokerage firms. In other words, brokers have emerged as the sole distributor of policies for the insurance companies in those countries. Nevertheless, this trend is yet to evolve into a global practice.
Brokerage Firms provides detailed information about brokerage firms, commodity brokerage firms, discount brokerage firms, and more. Brokerage Firms is affiliated with Fixed Asset Management.
With so many credit card companies offering credit cards, the consumer market for credit cards has become one tough cookie to crack. To stay competitive, credit card companies offer various extra services, rewards programs and promos that would lure consumers to sign up with their company.
Rewards program
Most credit cards have a some sort of rewards program running. Rewards program in credit cards basically follow one set of principle. The more you spend and the more you see your credit card, the more points you will get. Often, there is a standard equivalent for every amount spent. For instance, one point is given for every, let’s say, 10 dollars purchase.
The points can be accumulated and later exchanged for a product or cash, whichever is being offered. Some banks even send out catalogs where their clients can see just what is being offered in exchange for their points. Some credit card companies even allow for half points-half cash scheme provided that it will be charged to the account.
Rewards program is actually a great and effective way not only to lure customers into the program but also to keep them there. And what is more they are encouraged to use their credit cards as often as possible.
Discounts in establishments
Some credit cards offer discounts when used in partner establishments. Some credit card companies even offer up to 20 percent discount. This discount scheme can be usually found in credit cards that target a specific niche market. For instance, if a credit card company hopes to target the young professionals, they would partner with establishments where these people usually shop or eat at. Partner establishments can range from a measly ten to as many as 50 stores.
Zero interest promos
To lure people to spend, credit card companies often tie up with establishments and offer zero interest for a specific time frame. The client can purchase the item and be able to use it without paying for it immediately. The purchase will reflect in the monthly statement after the zero interest period has ended.
This is often done with items that are very expensive such as tech gadgets, electronic equipments and house furnishings to encourage buyers to purchase item that they do not really need or are not so very necessary to their house. Luxury items such as jewelry are also sometimes covered by this scheme.
Free items
Credit card companies often offer free items when a client decides to sign up with them. Free items vary, depending on the type of account that a client will avail of and also depending on how high the credit limit is as well as the monthly income.
Gold card clients for example will get a much more expensive free item when they sign up while those that have signed up on regular accounts will often get regular items.
Waived service charges
Credit card companies also reward their loyal customers, especially those who have reached a certain amount purchased in a year, by waiving some of the service charges that they incur. For instance, customers who have good credit history with the credit card company need not pay for the annual fee. The company automatically waives the fee so that the client will stay on with them.
Carl Cox makes it easy to find the credit cards and loans that suits your needs, quickly & easily. Learn the essential keys to credit at application secrets or view our credit guide at average card credit
Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wines in the world, but apparently this South American country is gearing up for a first place finish! With more than 1,000 new wine companies opened for business in 2005, exports and profits rose more than one third from the previous year. This is wonderful news for Argentina’s economy, as well as for those wine enthusiasts in other areas of the world that haven’t had the pleasure of toasting a glass made from Argentine criollas, or native vines. Although the majority of Argentinian wine is exported to North America and the United Kingdom, new markets are on the rise in Finland, Norway, India, Malaysia and Vietnam.
No wonder! With the perfect climate and soil conditions for growing grapes, Argentina creates wines of superior quality. The Malbec grape produces a large portion of Argentina’s red wines with its characteristics of berries, plums, figs, and vanilla. European varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon with overtones of pepper, chocolate and coffee, and the velvety plum and berry-like Merlots and Syrahs are harvested in the shadow of the majestic Andes Mountains and then produced into “bottled poetry”, as so aptly stated by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Exceptional quality and flavor at reasonable prices — what more does one need? Oh, yes — a corkscrew, a glass and a toast! Now where did you say Napa Valley was??!!
Sharon Tolisano is the webmaster of http://www.the-allure-of-argentina.com which offers travel packages, tips and information on travel to Argentina. An avid traveler, Sharon enjoys sharing her passion for this unique country and offers many captivating reasons why you should visit Argentina.
http://www.the-allure-of-argentina.com
Thirty % of 33 year olds and roughly fifty percent of fifty yr olds are suffering from male pattern baldness. Severe cases have seen gents beginning to loss hair at the age of 18 yrs old & wholly bald by twenty four. Although over 0.43 of lads start off to lose their wonderful hair in their early twenties it does not have to end with early hair loss is to be anticipated. What is crucial is early analysis of the early hair loss problem, & that?s where an AHS hair check will often remarkably help.
Advance Laser Therapy is from time to time an option that is offered to gents. Advanced Hair Studio pioneered & successfully conducted first-rate clinical trials on the combination of the most current laser beam technology, an FDA approved re growth pharmaceutical, & a proven scalp and hair strand treatments programme for early hair loss. With this early hair loss programme. you yourself may see a nice change occurring within 98 days.
Another early hair loss technique that the firm supply is an out-patient programme, so this is something that clients yourself should do. This home treatment programme uses the naturally occurring plant extract Sereonoa Repens range of male pattern baldness products, with a handheld laser light device and antioxidant treatment and it may helps to thicken, strengthen & repair your thick hair & scalp as well as promoting hair and scalp 2 reducing hairloss.
All early hair loss techniques work well, when customers attend a hair consultation at Advance Hair Salon AHS might often advice you yourself of what therapy is greatest for you, therefore there is no need to worry about making that choice on your own.