Microsoft on Tuesday sweetened the pot on a volume-licensing program that has left a sour taste in the mouths of users since its official rollout last year.

The company will offer free training, support, and software tools for customers that buy into Software Assurance, the company’s maintenance option to Licensing 6.0, its volume-licensing program. The perks will begin on Sept. 1 for all current and new Software Assurance subscribers.

Experts say the freebies could add up to as much as $10,000 in savings on services and software.

“Clearly Microsoft is coming around and trying to get a second chance to make a first impression,” says Laura DiDio, an analyst with the Yankee Group. “What they are offering is a bag full of goodies that represent intrinsic value.” DiDio says it is public acknowledgement that the company has made some serious errors and that the additions to Software Assurance represent both an apology and a solution.

Since its announcement in May 2001 and until its rollout last fall, Licensing 6.0 has put Microsoft at odds with many customers who said the program would dramatically increase their software costs. The company is trying to repair those relationships as well as spark interest in a licensing program that has seen revenue declines for the past two quarters.

Microsoft’s efforts to repair customer relationships began late last fall when it offered financing deals to smaller customers. The company then introduced per-user or per-device client-access license options for Windows Server 2003 and changes in per-processor pricing.

Microsoft’s pricing for its software maintenance, however, still remains tops in the industry, according to the Yankee Group. The price for Software Assurance is factored at 25% of server licensing costs and 29% for desktops. Computer Associates is second at 22%, while other big vendors such as IBM, Oracle and SAP come in between 18% and 22%.

Microsoft said it would not adjust the pricing on Software Assurance but instead would offer add-ons including free Web-based and/or telephone support on servers as well as vouchers for free technical training courses that can cost as much as $1,500 a day.

The new programs give users with Standard Edition servers under Select and Enterprise Agreement licenses unlimited Web-based support. The same customers with Enterprise Edition servers will get unlimited Web and telephone support. Customers with Open Value licenses with a minimum of five Standard Edition servers will get two Web-based support calls, while Enterprise Edition server customers will get two telephone-support calls.