Volume Licensing Administration

Many customers purchase MSDN subscriptions through a Microsoft Volume Licensing program. After a purchase is made, a designated administrator or Subscription Manager for the organization assigns a subscription to a particular individual. That individual, called a subscriber, automatically receives a welcome email containing instructions on how to activate their MSDN subscription. Note: the subscriber must activate their subscription in order to gain access to Subscriber Downloads and other subscription benefits.

Resources for Subscription Managers (administrators):

• MSDN Subscriptions Administration Guide
• Volume License Service Center (VLSC) (where you assign and manage subscriptions)
• Get Step-by-Step Video Training: These videos show you how to complete common tasks for assigning and managing MSDN subscriptions. They are provided in English only. For subtitles in your language, select Subtitles > Languages from the bottom of the video frame.

Tips and Best Practices

Keep the following things in mind when you use the MSDN Subscriptions Administration tool:

• MSDN subscriptions are licensed per user. Each subscriber can use the software on as many computers as needed for development and testing.
• Leave all the component benefits checked when assigning a subscription: Subscriber Downloads, Technical Support incidents, Priority Support in MSDN Forums, and Online Chat.
  Note: If you disable Subscriber Downloads, the subscriber will be unable to download software or access e-learning, Windows Azure, and other benefits that may be included with their subscription.
• Assign only one subscription level for each subscriber, corresponding to the MSDN subscription your organization purchased. If you have subscribers with more than one subscription level assigned to them, edit their settings so that they only have one.
• A subscriber’s subscription level will need to be updated when the subscription is upgraded (following the purchase of a “step-up” license) or renewed down to a lower level.
• Do not share subscriptions between subscribers. Anyone who uses all or part of the subscription benefits (software for development and testing, technical support, e-learning, etc.) must have a subscription assigned to them.