The Italian software market is undergoing a silent revolution. Although IT costs continue to rise in many companies, businesses in Italy have found both a legal and practical way out of this problem by buying discounted licenses on Microsoft software via specialized online software stores.
This will enable organizations to gain access to the same professional grade software that they require at a significantly lower cost in terms of technology expenditures.
The digital transformation of Italy has gained momentum in the last few years with software market experiencing a significant growth and Microsoft investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure and cloud capacity across the country.
However, with this technology explosion, not all businesses require, or can afford, brand-new licenses at retail price. This is where the secondary market of Microsoft software licenses will prove very useful.
Learning the Legal Framework
The question that most businesses often pose is whether it is actually legal to buy discounted Microsoft licenses. The answer, especially in the European Union is a resounding yes.
In 2012, the European Court of Justice made a landmark decision in the so-called UsedSoft case that established the legality of purchasing pre-owned software licenses. This ruling established that as per the principle of exhaustion of distribution rights, perpetually acquired software licenses can be legally resold in the EU.
Why are such licenses valid? There are four major requirements:
- One, the software should have been initially sold in the EU with the knowledge of Microsoft.
- Second, the licenses should be perpetual as opposed to subscriptions.
- Third, the initial buyer should have paid a full price on the licenses.
- Lastly, the former user should have fully removed and stopped using the software then resold it before it ceased.
This legal system has established a successful market in which organizations are able to acquire genuine licenses of Microsoft at much lower prices-saving up to 50-70% of the cost of new licenses.
The Advantages of Volume License for Italian Customers
There are numerous online software vendors, as well as European specialty vendors, who obtain their inventory through volume license deals. Volume licenses are bulk software packages initially bought by large businesses with several individual licenses.
When businesses reduce their staff, switch to cloud computing, or upgrade their systems, they are likely to end up with unused licenses that are still perfectly valid and legal to resell.
These suppliers manage their stocks well for their Italian customers, so that it meets the requirements of the Italian business and all the records are available to show that the license is genuine. Italian companies enjoy the advantages of immediate digital delivery, multi-language including Italian and endless licensing without the need to pay subscription fees.
The software that is offered by these channels ranges across the Microsoft office packages and windows operating systems to special software such as Microsoft Project and server software. Every purchase has the same functionality and features as a new software, since the product itself is the same–the only difference is that the ownership of the license has changed.
What to Look for When Buying
In buying discounted Microsoft licenses in the Italian market, companies ought to make it a point to deal with vendors that offer full transparency. Respected sellers will provide detailed records of the initial purchase of the license in the EU, transfer documents that the former owner has already given up his rights, and evidence that the license was fully paid initially.
To manage the complexities of volume licensing, professional sellers frequently utilize Microsoft Licensing Professionals who are knowledgeable of the complexities of volume licensing and can offer expert advice to the commercial customers. They must provide customer service, fast delivery (in many cases within minutes in the case of downloading something digitally), and clarity about what is included in each purchase.
Another thing that Italian businesses need to ensure is that licenses ought to be compatible with their existing infrastructure and must have the right to downgrade in case the use of older software versions is required. Most of the used license sellers are ISO certified and have professional indemnity cover, which gives the purchaser an added security.
The Practical Benefits
In addition to the apparent economic benefits, acquisition of discounted Microsoft licenses has a number of strategic benefits to the Italian businesses. Businesses are able to enjoy budgetary flexibility that allows it to invest or use the capital elsewhere or in other areas of operation. They are also able to obtain older versions of software that may not be supported by official Microsoft means but is still required by old systems or certain compatibility needs.
These savings can be transformative to small and medium-sized enterprises across Italy, including Milan, Naples, Rome, Turin, and so on. The fact that the small companies can equip their whole team with professional grade Microsoft software at one tenth of the usual cost, even gives the smaller companies a better chance to play with the large corporations that may be having bigger IT budgets.
The ecological advantage should not be ignored as well. The secondary license market promotes more sustainable business practices by making it possible to extend the life of the current software licenses instead of compelling them to buy new licenses.
Software Decision Making.
With Italy still in its digital transformation, companies require access to high quality and affordable software. Legal secondary market in Microsoft licenses is a viable alternative that would be cost effective and legal to the letter. Italian firms can now buy discounted licenses with the confidence that they are under the EU law and getting authentic Microsoft products.
Regardless of whether you are equipping a startup or a well-established business, or just seeking to save a lot of money by optimising IT expenditure, searching reputable software license resellers may bring huge savings without losing on quality or legality. In the current competitive business world, being smarter about technology spending is not only a good practice, but a key to sustainable growth.
