| Passport Advantage features specific solutions designed to match the way different organizations acquire software and Software Maintenance services. Organizations can order a single platform or many, one product or an entire suite, for one location or a network of offices around the world. Passport Advantage offers consistent worldwide features and pricing, simplified acquisition, and multilingual licensing. Whether an organization is a small company, a centralized or decentralized department, or a member of the Fortune 500, there's a Passport Advantage solution to match the way it manages software and services. |
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| The Passport Advantage program consists of a general acquisition program for specific software products and their supporting Software Maintenance services, as well as an option to acquire groups of products to be deployed across an enterprise on a per-user basis. |
| Option | Summary |
| General program features | A simple, flexible way for workgroups and departments in decentralized and mid-sized organizations to acquire IBM distributed software and maintenance services in volume. Customers qualify for relationship pricing based on the volume of their acquisitions of software licenses and Software Maintenance, and they can combine the acquisitions for multiple sites within their enterprise anywhere in the world to qualify for best possible pricing. Software Maintenance ensures that customers always have the most up-to-date eligible versions of IBM distributed software, and the technical assistance they need to keep their business up and running. Available through IBM Business Partners and IBM direct sales. |
| CEO Product Categories | CEO Product Categories are the leading software license and Software Maintenance acquisition offerings for organizations managing mixed computing environments, who choose a CEO Product Category solution for their entire enterprise (minimum of 500 users). CEO Product Category customers may then acquire additional Product Categories for 500 or more users within their enterprise, as needed. Pricing includes the usage of all products in the category, with Software Maintenance. Software Maintenance ensures customers always have the most up-to-date eligible versions of IBM distributed software, and the technical assistance they need to keep their business up and running. Available through IBM Business Partners and IBM Direct Sales. |
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Program Benefits
- Provides the most flexible and cost-effective way for organizations to take advantage of IBM software business solutions.
- Offers the most comprehensive options for acquiring, installing, upgrading, and supporting IBM distributed software.
- Lowers acquisition and administrative costs.
- Simplifies the software and Software Maintenance acquisition process.
- Lowers the cost of cross-platform migration and software upgrades, including both new versions as well as new releases.
- Features worldwide coverage and availability, and multilingual licensing.
- Offers Software Maintenance for all software acquired through the program.
- Includes Software Maintenance with initial license acquisitions, providing immediate Software Subscription and Technical Support coverage.
- Offers IBM database and e-commerce solutions, thefull line of Lotus cross-platform communications, knowledge management, and desktop software, and Tivoli e-business infrastructure software products to help organizations meet their corporate computing requirements.
- Offers options to address customers' varied software acquisition, deployment, and Software Maintenance service requirements.
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Passport Advantage Program Options
The Passport Advantage program offers acquisition options designed to meet a broad spectrum of customer needs. Customers choose the best option for them, which will depend on their anticipated order volumes, and their commitment to standardizing on IBM distributed software in their organization. |
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General Program Offering
Each Passport Advantage acquisition made by a customer is evaluated against two criteria: first, the size of that transaction, and second, the customer relationship as measured by the amount of current business the customer is doing under Passport Advantage. Customers receive a Relationship SVP (Suggested Volume Price) Level based on their initial acquisition of licenses and Software Maintenance under the program. That Relationship SVP, or RSVP, is reviewed periodically during each Anniversary Period to determine if the accumulated acquisitions during that period qualify for an improvement in the RSVP Level and therefore a better price. In addition, for customers who achieve an RSVP Level of "D" or above, each acquisition transaction, depending on its size, may qualify for an even better price for that specific transaction. This is known as the Transaction SVP Level, or TSVP. The larger the transaction, the better the Transaction SVP. Eligible customers will always receive the better of the RSVP or the TSVP for their transaction. |
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| Additional customer locations or sites anywhere in the world can enroll under the same agreement so organizations can leverage their combined acquisition power. Software Maintenance is included with licenses until the next anniversary date, or the second anniversary if the 2-anniversary option is acquired. Software Maintenance coverage ensures customers always have the most up-to-date versions of IBM distributed software and the easiest migration path to new platforms, and provides technical support to ensure that the customer's technical staff can quickly and easily resolve routine installation, usage, and code-related questions as well as get the help they need from experienced, knowledgeable software support specialists. |
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Key Customer Benefits
- Offers improved pricing based on the size of each transaction and the customer's current level of business, across all their enrolled sites worldwide.
- Aggregates acquisitions across multiple sites worldwide.
- Helps customers easily budget software licenses and Software Maintenance acquisitions.
- Reduces acquisition and administrative costs.
- Available through participating IBM Business Partners and direct from IBM.
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CEO Product Category Acquisitions
CEO Product Categories are the premier offering for organizations who implement IBM distributed software solutions for their entire enterprise. Customers who are willing to make a long term, enterprise-wide commitment to IBM distributed software will benefit from not only lower total cost of licensing and Software Maintenance, but also ease of deployment, migration, and the management of technology changes. Customers must place an initial order for at least 500 users. The order must include at least one CEO Product Category that will be deployed across their enterprise. Customers may also choose additional solution-based CEO Product Categories, again with a 500-user minimum for each, as well as individual products from the general Passport Advantage eligible product list.
CEO Product Categories are made up of IBM distributed software. For a detailed listing of the CEO Product Categories available, and the software programs included in them, please refer to the Passport Advantage Web site at http://www.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage
Software Maintenance is automatically included with the acquisition of each CEO Product Category. Software Maintenance ensures CEO Product Category customers always have the most up-to-date eligible versions of IBM distributed software, and the technical assistance they need to keep their business up and running.
Additional customer locations or sites anywhere in the world can enroll under the same agreement. Additional Product Categories may be acquired for 500 users or more on an as-needed basis.
Purchasing CEO Product Categories is the best way for organizations to standardize on IBM distributed software, manage their software assets, and reduce their costs for software and Software Maintenance. |
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Key Customer Benefits
- Lowers overall total cost associated with software acquisitions and Software Maintenance.
- Flexibility to choose one category for entire enterprise, and additional solution-based categories to fit specific needs.
- Simplifies software administration and tracking with per-user licensing.
- Points-based pricing allows for easy aggregation with non-CEO Product Category product and Software Maintenance acquisitions.
- Leverages an organization's acquisition power by aggregating orders across multiple sites worldwide.
- Guarantees the latest technology for the enterprise with upgrades, cross-platform and cross-product migration.
- Streamlines and simplifies the software and support planning and budgeting process with more consistent pricing.
- Provides customers with flexibility to tailor deployment and migration plans.
- Protects customers' technology investments, past and future.
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| Passport Advantage Software Maintenance |
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| Software Maintenance includes complete upgrade and cross-platform migration coverage for all commercially available Lotus software, and for IBM Intel and UNIX distributed software, as well as Tivoli e-business infrastructure management software. With Software Maintenance coverage, customers can upgrade to new releases and new versions as their needs dictate. |
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| Software Maintenance helps organizations support users on multiple platforms streamline the distribution of upgrades and manage migration to new platforms. It reduces acquisition and administration costs, stabilizes software budgets, and delivers the benefits of the latest technologies. |
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| The benefits of Software Maintenance are included with all Passport Advantage license acquisitions. |
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| Passport Advantage Software Maintenance is simply the most cost-effective way for customers to ensure their users have the latest technology at their fingertips and maintain the highest levels of productivity. |
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| Passport Advantage Software Maintenance also makes it easy for customers to put IBM's world-class software support to work in a cost-effective and efficient way. Passport Advantage Software Maintenance provides easy access to responsive, cross-platform software technical support around the clock and around the world. It is simple for customers to purchase and administer as part of their overall software acquisition in one planning and budgeting cycle. |
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| Passport Advantage Software Maintenance provides prompt responses to customers' questions by offering the convenience of IBM call-in numbers in the customers' calling areas. |
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Key Customer Benefits
- Protects technology investments.
- Provides comprehensive and flexible upgrade coverage.
- Simplifies and improves software asset management.
- Reduces acquisition and administration costs.
- Streamlines budgeting for software upgrade and migration costs.
- Provides immediate support coverage on newly acquired products during installation phase and for life cycle of product.
- Incorporates flexible, easy-to-access, responsive, cross-platform customer support from IBM, worldwide.
- Provides access to IBM software technical support for all of a customer's IS staff.
- Simplifies acquisition and renewal of cross-platform customer support.
- Enhances overall expected response time of two hours or less during normal business hours.
- Provides 24x7 access to support resources for business-critical outages.
- Increases self help via the Internet.
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| Passport Advantage Frequently Asked Questions |
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1. When is my Relationship SVP recalculated?
We will look at a customer's Relationship SVP on a quarterly basis. For example, a customer at RSVP Level D has accumulated a total of 800 points. That customer places an order for 250 points which qualifies for TSVP Level E. The order is processed at Level E. The customer's total points are now at 1050, which is above the threshold for the next RSVP Level -- E, so at the next quarterly recalculation review, the customer's RSVP will be moved to RSVP Level E. |
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2. I'm already a Passport Advantage customer. What will happen to my existing agreement?
All Passport Advantage customers were notified of the migration by mail on July 10th, 2001. As of September 1, 2001 all customers (except for government customers) may make purchases under the new terms & prices. By October 10, 2001 unless the customer has special terms and conditions already in place, the new terms and prices will become effective. |
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3. Why are the terms and conditions effective on one date (October 10th, 2001) and the pricing effective on another date (September 1st, 2001?)
The Passport Advantage Agreement specifies a 90 day notice to change terms. Since letters were sent July 10th, the migration to the new terms is effective October 10th. The Passport Advantage Agreement also specifies that the SVP list (prices) can be changed at any time. So the new prices were made effective when the program was launched on September 1st. |
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4. Will all existing customers who purchased support for their products receive unlimited authorized caller support after September 1st?
Yes, customers will receive unlimited authorized caller support for all products that were purchased under Passport Advantage with support. At the next maintenance anniversary date, all customers who purchase maintenance will receive support on those products covered by maintenance. |
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5. How can a customer acquire technical support?
Software Maintenance (subscription and remote technical support) will now be included with each distributed software license acquisition from IBM. This new software acquisition model will be implemented worldwide for products acquired through the IBM International Passport Advantage Agreement, and when acquired through IBM Business Partners who remarket iSeries and pSeries servers, or IBM directly. To purchase or renew Software Maintenance on your IBM products please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner. |
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6. I have not purchased support in the past, but I want to get the benefits of Software Maintenance now. How do I get coverage until my next anniversary date?
We have special bid "support only" part numbers for customers whose maintenance anniversary date is in the future. This will entitle them to receive support for this interim period. Then, at the next maintenance anniversary date, they can purchase maintenance. |
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7. Where can I find the CEO Bundles?
They are located at www.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage. Choose Internet/North America/General Program Information/CEO Product Categories |