Work with our experienced team of licencing specialists at Dicker Data to ensure you are adding the most value to your customers while remaining profitable and successful.

From profitability health-checks, updates on pricing to troubleshooting issues, across a range of programs including; Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program New Commerce, Service Provider Licence Agreements (SPLA) and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Licencing, our team are here to help. 

Transitioning to Microsoft CSP
New Commerce?

Licencing Updates:

New annual revenue requirement for CSP indirect resellers

 

Beginning April 1, 2024, existing Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) indirect resellers must have a minimum of USD1,000 in trailing 12 months (TTM) CSP revenue (including Perpetual Software) at the reseller tenant level in each of the CSP regions in which they sell. The revenue requirement must be met annually, on the reseller's tenant onboarding anniversary date, for the reseller to remain authorised to transact as a CSP.

Read the full announcement here for more details.

Update on NCE launch timeline for CSP Education and Nonprofit legacy offers

 

Microsoft will launch CSP public sector offers in the new commerce system starting January 1, 2024. To give partners time to adjust to this change, Microsoft-led migration of public sector offers will begin starting July 1, 2024. Further details on the launch and migration plan coming in mid-November 2023.

Read the full announcement here for more details.

Starting October 1, 2023 CSP subscriptions for Dynamics 365's Cloud Migration Promo (CMP) won't autorenew - action is required to maintain service

 

Starting October 1, 2023, upon expiration of each subscription’s promotional term, this promotional offer may not be renewed in Legacy CSP and a regularly priced new commerce subscription should be ordered to maintain service.

Read the full announcement here for more details.

 

Extended security updates (ESUs) & System Center Subscriptions coming to CSP in October

 

The following offers will be introduced starting October 1, 2023:

  • System Center subscriptions
    CSP partners can offer System Center as either a 36-month or 12-month subscription to their customers for use on-premises or with an Authorized Outsourcer. CSP-Hoster partners can also offer System Center as part of their hosted solutions to customers.
  • Extended security updates (ESUs)
    CSP partners will be able to offer ESUs for end of support versions of Windows Server and SQL Server.

    Customers will then have the right to use licenses covered by ESUs on deployments on-premises or within outsourced environments running on Authorized Outsourcers. Customers may also apply ESU licenses to “license-included” workloads acquired from Services Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) partners or CSP-Hosters.

    CSP-Hoster partners will also be able to provide hosted fulfillment of Windows Server and SQL Server software out of mainstream support that is supported by corresponding ESU licenses also purchased as license included or bring-your-license (BYOL).

 

Read the full announcement here for more details.

 

 

 

CSP Commercial Legacy Subscription Migrations

From January 2024, Microsoft will begin migrating commercial legacy seat-based subscriptions to new commerce. All legacy subscriptions that Microsoft migrates to new commerce will be set to an annual term, with the same billing plan and seat counts that the customers had in legacy. The Microsoft-led migration will occur on the date of subscription renewal, starting with all subscriptions renewing in January 2024 and continuing throughout the 2024 calendar year. Partners will have seven days after migration is complete to change the subscription term and/or quantity or cancel the subscription, if necessary.

We recommend that you manage your customers' migrations. If your customers want monthly subscription terms in new commerce instead of annual terms, you should migrate them before the legacy subscriptions reach their end of term in 2024. The benefits of proactively migrating customers' subscriptions include the ability to amend terms and conditions and socialize this change with indirect resellers and others in the partner's ecosystem.

The chart offers a timeline view of the CSP legacy migration plan. Partners can find the list of CSP legacy offers available for new commerce migration in the legacy offer matrix in the Partner Center Pricing workspace. The list currently displays only legacy commercial offers. Public sector offers will be added in November 2023 as the details are finalized for their migration to new commerce. Over the course of the 2024 calendar year, Microsoft will share the timeline for migration of all remaining CSP legacy offers. Our intent is to ensure a Microsoft-led migration path for each CSP legacy offer at the time of renewal, starting with renewal dates in 2024 and beyond.

 

Legacy offers targeted for
new commerce

When partners can begin migrating
the legacy offers on their own

When Microsoft will migrate
the legacy offers

Commercial offers (Microsoft 365, Security, Office 365, Dynamics 365)

Now

On the subscription renewal date in 2024, starting with January 2024 renewals

Public sector: Education, NFA, GCC

November 2023

On the subscription renewal date in 2024, starting with January 2024 renewals

Multiyear offers (for example, six-year education SKUs)

When the offers are published in the legacy offer matrix

On the subscription renewal date in 2024, 2025, and onward

Resources to help manually migrate customers to new commerce

Partners can migrate subscriptions now by referencing the Migrate subscriptions to new commerce page and following the steps outlined in Partner Center.

Migration topics

Migration API resources

 

CSP Public Sector Legacy Offers (Government, Education, and NFP) coming to New Commerce in November 2023

 

Microsoft is pleased to announce that public sector subscriptions, which include academic, GCC, and NFP/charity, will be ready for partners to move to new commerce starting in November 2023. We encourage partners to work with customers on a plan to move their subscriptions to new commerce starting in November to allow them to set the subscription terms that work best for their customers.

As is the case with commercial offers, starting January 2024, Microsoft will begin migrating legacy CSP public sector offers to an annual term in new commerce with the same billing plan and seat counts that the customers had in legacy. CSP partners whose customers want monthly terms in new commerce should migrate those customers' subscriptions with the desired details in place (such as terms and seat counts) before the 2024 renewal date. Otherwise, partners will have seven days after the Microsoft-led migration is complete to change the subscription details or cancel it if necessary. In November 2023, the list of CSP public sector legacy offers available for new commerce migration will be reflected in the legacy offer matrix in the Partner Center Pricing workspace.

Next steps

 

 

Microsoft Teams Rooms licencing policy will enforce mandatory Teams Rooms licenses ending September 30, 2023

 

Given the challenges that some customers are facing in migrating to the new licencing, Microsoft have elected to provide a 90 day grace period on enforcement that will begin on our July 1, 2023 enforcement date.

Your 90 day grace period will begin July 1, 2023 and end on September 30, 2023.

Starting September 30, 2023 Teams Rooms devices, including those using Personal Mode and the Teams application on Surface Hub and Teams Panels will be blocked from signing in without a valid Teams Rooms license. To prevent imminent service disruption, work with your customers to provision and activate either a Teams Rooms Pro, Teams Rooms Basic, Teams Rooms Premium, Teams Rooms Standard, or Teams Rooms Shared Device license (panels only) before the deadline.

User licenses that have been assigned to teams meeting devices need to be replaced by a Teams Rooms Basic or Teams Rooms Pro license prior to July 1, 2023.  Meeting devices that have a user license after July 1, 2023 will be blocked from signing in until a Teams Rooms license is assigned.

 

For Teams Panels, customers need to provision a Teams Shared Device license for those accounts where a Teams Panel is deployed to a space where there's no Teams Room or Surface Hub in the room.  Also, from July 1, 2023, access to the Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal will be restricted to those customers holding an active Teams Rooms Pro or a legacy Teams Rooms Premium license.


Please work with your customers to ensure to avoid service disruption on September 30, 2023, when this change takes effect.

 

Read the full announcement here for more details.

 

 

Important Changes to Microsoft Cloud and On-prem Pricing coming in Sept 2023

 

Microsoft is implementing a defined and transparent cadence to its existing process of aligning Microsoft Cloud pricing globally to US dollar levels and OnPrem pricing across regions. Price adjustments for local currency fluctuations will be effective every September 1 and February 1 beginning September 2023, if sustained, material currency deviations occur. 

 

Operations Updates:

 

Upcoming MS CSP Renewal

 

The Upcoming MS CSP Renewals report displays upcoming renewals for a maximum period of 90 days. 
This report is downloadable as an Excel file and will show NCE subscriptions, Azure Reserved Instances and Software Subscriptions expiring in the specific date range. Those which have expired are highlighted for easy visibility.

 

 

Tenant Management section (GDAP)

 

Provides links to various portals such as Office 365 and Microsoft Azure Management Portals.

Select the Reporting Dashboard to access available Subscription Reports.

New Admin Relationship lets partners configure granular and time-bound access to their customers. This least-privileged access needs to be explicitly granted to partners by their customers.

Click here for How-to instructions.

 

To learn more about granular delegated admin permissions (GDAP) click here

Frequently asked questions

What is the New Commerce Experience?

The New Commerce Experience (NCE) is the latest evolution of the Microsoft CSP Program and went live on the 1st of January 2022. Download an infographic explainer here. 

 

Bringing new features, benefits, and promotions to both partners and customers, NCE offers a more streamlined purchasing and transactional experience.

 

Moving to NCE allows Microsoft partners to have more solution-based discussions with their customers, help see increased revenue predictability and, offer features that enable greater sales agility and operational efficiencies.

 

Since January 2022, our local Dicker Data team has been on the ground working closely with partners to adjust their processes and navigate these changes.

 

While the transition period has had its challenges, the adoption of NCE is critical to our partners' ongoing growth and success. This is even more relevant now, with imminent changes announced that will directly impact profitability.

 

If partners do not initiate the NCE transition prior to 31st December 2022, eligible CSP resellers may lose 4 - 14.75% of their Microsoft incentives.

What is Consolidated Billing?

Rather than being billed multiple times a month for each tenant change, consolidated billing means you would only receive 1 invoice per month. The bill is generated on the first week of every month and will show variance changes and cycle bills through the period, the total value for each seat-based subscription as well as the total invoice value against your business.

Dicker Data will be operating in the consolidated billing format for all Microsoft CSP from 30th June 2021. Reach out to microsoft.sales@dickerdata.com.au to work through the changes and minimise impact to your business. 

What is the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and why should I get involved?

Microsoft’s CSP program is about helping you move from reselling licences to adding additional value as a trusted advisor to your customers. It’s a way of differentiating your business and unlocking new revenue opportunities as a specialist technology advisor. Find out more here.

Access our resource hub to learn how you can make the most of the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program and see how other partners are succeeding on the program, here.

Where can I learn more about Microsoft's licencing options?

You can learn more about Microsoft’s various licencing options and what they mean here.

Dicker Data can also provide licencing guidance and help you determine which options are most suited to your clients and their needs. Get in touch.

What is a Microsoft Services Provider Licence Agreement (SPLA)?

Microsoft Services Provider Licence Agreement (SPLA) is for service providers and ISVs who want to licence eligible Microsoft products to host software services and applications to end customers. SPLA provides the license rights to host specific Microsoft products monthly for a three-year term, as outlined in the Microsoft Service Provider Use Rights (SPUR) with pricing based on user rights. More information.

Where can I learn more about being an Independent Software Vendor (ISV)?

You can learn more about licencing programs for Independent Software Vendors here.

How do I get started as a Dicker Data indirect reseller?

If you’re interested in expanding your business by becoming a Dicker Data indirect reseller, you can start the process here.

Kickstart your Microsoft NCE Journey!

Microsoft New Commerce Experience is here as of 1st January 2022. 

Visit our CSP resource hub to browse a range of informative assets. You’ll also find our CSP Partner Success video series showcasing some of our top partners who have  evolved their business models and are offering more dynamic solutions to their customers.

 

You can learn about how New Commerce Experience effects Microsoft CSP in a transition workshop available from Dicker Data. 

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