The business partners do count, but choose wisely. As with anything some are better than others so be careful. I believe the “per port charge” is now going for about 60 cents per port. You may be able to find a better deal than that through a business partner.
Make sure and consolidate as much as you can and pull out the packs that you don't need. (At least until they pull your list configuration.) I wouldn’t get maintenance on sets or packs. You can buy them so much cheaper, and have them delivered quicker from the secondary market with better warranties. I keep a few of the necessities around that I have to have, (tn464, tn573b, tn570c), basically the ones that can effect service.
This was our least expensive route to keeping our maintenance permissions.
Mike Jones
Louisiana State University Health Sciences center