Today's software systems are comprised of numerous distributed services, spanning platforms, protocols, and programming languages, all with significant impact on the operations environment. Moreover, teams have become increasingly specialized and geographically distributed. Successful deployment of modern solutions depends on bridging the communication gap between development and operations so that the entire IT department is represented early and often throughout the software lifecycle. The new Visual Studio Team System expands significantly on Microsoft's demonstrated successes in delivering highly productive tools, by offering businesses tightly integrated and extensible lifecycle tools to increase the predictability of their software development process. Visual Studio Team Edition for Software Testers provides Web test authoring tools for quickly authoring load test scripts, loads testing tools for authoring and executing distributed load tests, and provides integrated tools for sharing load test results with other members of the team. MICROSOFT OPEN VALUE Microsoft Open Value is a premium volume licensing offer available under the Open License family. Designed for organizations with as few as five computers, Open Value offers simpler license tracking, greater control over the software upgrade cycle, and better software cost management. Microsoft Open Value offers many benefits: Track licenses more easily. Open Value provides a single agreement to track all licenses on all your desktops, run the same software version on all your PCs, upgrade to the next version at any time, or run a mix of software versions without having to track what is deployed on each desktop. Gain control of your upgrade cycle. Open Value grants you the rights to run any version of the licensed software and to upgrade at any time, when it is most convenient for you. Budget more effectively and save money. Open Value offers predictable annual payments, so you can make better informed decisions about what IT projects need to happen each year. In addition, volume pricing helps stretch software budgets further than retail purchase options. Spread payments. Open Value lets you spread your software costs over three annual payments so you can more effectively manage your software budget and get the software you need now. MSDN PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION An MSDN Premium Subscription provides continuous, priority access to the development tools and technologies you need to build a broad range of applications and Web services. It includes the benefits of Professional, Operating Systems, and Library Subscriptions, and provides continuous access to new software and technical resources. During the term of your subscription, you are entitled to upgrades to your subscription software and to select new releases and product betas, in addition to resources such as software and hardware development kits and service packs. SOFTWARE ASSURANCE Microsoft's Software Assurance gives you automatic access to new technology and provides productivity benefits, support, tools, and training to help deploy and use software efficiently. With Software Assurance, you receive access to new versions of licensed software released during the term of your agreement to deploy at your own pace. New Version Rights simplifies the procurement process and shortens the business process cycle, allowing you to reduce the costs associated with acquiring new version releases and immediately take advantage of the latest technology.