Enterprise Agreement to CSP or MCA-E Transition Advisory
A fixed-price, one-week advisory for organizations whose Microsoft Enterprise Agreement is expiring or will not be renewed. IT Partner inventories every entitlement on the enrollment — online services, server licenses, CALs, Software Assurance — maps each line to its CSP (New Commerce) and MCA-E equivalent, works out what survives the EA and what does not (Software Assurance benefits, perpetual licenses, Windows Server and SQL Server rights, Azure Hybrid Benefit and Extended Security Update eligibility), handles the Azure side (reservations, savings plans, any MACC or unspent commitment, and Microsoft's transition windows), decides the timing of the final true-up, sets a term and price-lock strategy per user population, and delivers a dated transition plan with a side-by-side comparison of both paths costed at Microsoft's published prices. $1,950 fixed for a single enrollment of up to 2,400 seats; larger or multi-enrollment estates are quoted per estate. We are a CSP partner and say so on this page: the fee is the same whichever path we recommend, and MCA-E — or staying on the EA — is a recommendation we make in writing when it fits.
What this engagement is
For a generation of IT buyers the Enterprise Agreement was how organizations of 500 seats and up bought Microsoft: a three-year enrollment, negotiated price levels, an annual true-up. That vehicle is being withdrawn from most of the mid-market. Since 2025, Microsoft's licensing partners have reported Microsoft telling many organizations under roughly 2,400 seats — the EA's Level A band — that their agreement will not be offered for renewal, and pointing them at two successors: the partner-led Cloud Solution Provider program (CSP, under New Commerce terms) and the Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise (MCA-E), signed directly with Microsoft. Microsoft's November 2025 pricing change, as those partners describe it, also collapsed EA online-services pricing to a single Level A price at renewal, so the discount that justified many mid-size EAs is largely gone. And from 1 March 2026, partners have reported Microsoft moving EA customers that hold an Azure consumption commitment to MCA-E ahead of their renewal date. These are program-wide moves; Microsoft communicates them to each customer individually, so the notice you received from Microsoft or your reseller is the authority for your enrollment — and it is the first document we ask for. The switch itself is cheap and well documented, which is exactly why it goes wrong. CSP and MCA-E are not an EA with a different logo. As Microsoft's programs stand at the time of writing, neither sells Software Assurance — the layer of an EA where your Windows Server and SQL Server new-version rights, License Mobility, Azure Hybrid Benefit eligibility and the right to buy Extended Security Updates quietly live. New Commerce terms lock seats for the length of each term, with a seven-day window to change your mind. Azure moves under its own rules: Microsoft's documented transition of an enrollment's Azure billing to a Microsoft Customer Agreement can only be started within 60 days of the enrollment end date and cannot be reversed. An organization that reads its EA as "a bunch of Microsoft 365 licenses", maps only those, and buys them in the new channel wakes up a year later with servers it can no longer patch under support and a commitment it cannot shrink. This advisory exists to read the whole enrollment before a single subscription is bought. In one week we inventory every entitlement on the enrollment from your enrollment documents, Customer Price Sheet, volume licensing portal and admin centers; map each line to its CSP (NCE) and MCA-E equivalent and name the lines that have none; itemize which Software Assurance benefits you actually use and what replaces each one — a subscription server license, a different SKU, or nothing; model the Azure estate (subscriptions, reservations, savings plans, MACC balance or unspent prepayment) under both paths with Microsoft's deadlines dated; and cost the whole thing three years out at Microsoft's published prices, with an EA renewal as a third column if Microsoft has still offered you one. The output is a side-by-side comparison with our recommendation in writing, a term strategy per user population (monthly, annual or three-year commitments — annual-with-monthly-billing carries Microsoft's 5% premium, so it is chosen deliberately rather than defaulted to), a decision on whether and when to place the final true-up, and a transition calendar that lands the cutover on the day the EA lapses, without a licensing gap and without paying twice. We wrote up the general argument on the CSP vs Enterprise Agreement page and in why buy Microsoft licensing from a CSP instead of direct; this service is that argument tested against your actual enrollment, with the parts that do not apply to you crossed out. One thing to know before you book. IT Partner is a direct-bill CSP partner: if you choose CSP and buy through us, Microsoft pays us a margin on subscriptions you buy at Microsoft's published list prices — the same prices as buying direct — and organizations that buy their licensing through us get unlimited break-fix support during business hours included, with 24/7 coverage a separately priced agreement. That is a real advantage of the CSP path, and we will argue it. It is also a conflict of interest, so we manage it the only honest way: nobody here earns a commission, the advisory fee is the same whichever path we recommend, the comparison is costed at Microsoft's numbers rather than ours, and when MCA-E — or a renewed EA — is the better answer for your estate, the memo says so. If you go on to choose CSP with us, the licensing order — new subscriptions at Microsoft's published list prices, staged to activate the day the EA lapses — is placed as its own step, and what a billing relationship with us includes is set out on the Switch Your Microsoft 365 CSP Billing page. If you choose MCA-E, you sign with Microsoft directly and take the plan with you.
Success criteria
What you receive
How the work unfolds
We collect the enrollment documents — enrollment number and term dates, the Customer Price Sheet, the most recent true-up, and Microsoft's or your reseller's renewal or non-renewal notice — plus read-only access to your volume licensing portal, the Microsoft 365 admin center billing pages, and Azure Cost Management on the enrollment where Azure is in scope. Scope, seat count and the fixed fee are confirmed in writing.
Every line on the enrollment is inventoried and reconciled against the price sheet and admin-center assignments, then mapped to its CSP (NCE) and MCA-E equivalent. Lines with no equivalent, step-up SKUs, add-ons, and "from SA" eligibility are flagged for a decision rather than assumed.
We itemize the Software Assurance benefits you actually use and what replaces each; settle the Windows Server and SQL Server position — perpetual, subscription, Azure Hybrid Benefit, Extended Security Update eligibility, CALs; and model the Azure estate — reservations, savings plans, MACC or prepayment balance — under both paths, with Microsoft's transition windows dated against your enrollment end date.
Both paths — and an EA renewal where Microsoft has offered one — are costed three years out at Microsoft's published prices. A term and price-lock strategy is then set per user population: what to commit annually or for three years, what to keep monthly, where the 5% monthly-billing premium is worth paying, and how to stagger renewal dates so no single day locks the whole estate.
You receive the comparison memo with our written recommendation, the true-up decision and the dated transition calendar, and we walk through them with the people who will sign. If you choose CSP with us, the licensing order is staged as its own step; if you choose MCA-E, you sign with Microsoft and take the plan with you.
Prerequisites
Who does what
IT Partner
- Inventory and reconcile every entitlement on the enrollment through read-only access and your documents.
- Map each line to its CSP and MCA-E equivalent and name every gap in writing.
- Analyze Software Assurance carry-over, the server licensing position and the Azure commitment under both paths, with Microsoft's deadlines dated.
- Cost the comparison at Microsoft's published prices and put our recommendation — whichever path it is — in writing with its reasoning.
- Deliver the term strategy, the true-up decision and the dated transition calendar, and walk you through them.
- Treat enrollment documents and pricing as confidential, use them only for this engagement, and delete them on request after delivery.
Your team
- Provide the enrollment documents and Microsoft's notice, and grant the read-only access.
- Answer headcount, growth and application questions during the week.
- Tell us about anything unusual on the enrollment — amendments, affiliate enrollments, a Server and Cloud Enrollment alongside, custom terms — so the inventory is complete.
- Decide. The plan names the decision points and their dates; the choice of path and the final true-up are yours.
What's not included
Limitations & technical notes
Frequently asked questions
Microsoft — or our reseller — says our Enterprise Agreement will not be renewed. Is that final, and what are the options?
Treat the notice as final for planning and plan the exit; if Microsoft later offers a renewal, it becomes the third column in our comparison rather than the plan. Since 2025, licensing partners have reported Microsoft declining EA renewals for many organizations under roughly 2,400 seats and pointing them at two successors: CSP, bought through a partner under New Commerce terms, and MCA-E, signed directly with Microsoft. Both license the same Microsoft 365 products; they differ in who you buy from, what commitments you make, what happens to Software Assurance, and what support and advocacy ride along. The advisory maps your enrollment to both and recommends one in writing.
CSP or MCA-E — how do you decide, and how do we know you are not just steering us to CSP?
The decision comes down to four things we cost and write down: what on your enrollment has no equivalent in one path or the other (server licensing with Software Assurance is the usual culprit), how volatile your seat count is (New Commerce terms lock seats for the term; MCA-E's flexibility depends on the terms Microsoft offers you), what the Azure commitment needs, and what support you would otherwise have to buy. As for steering: we are a CSP partner and we say so on this page. The fee does not change with the recommendation, nobody here earns a commission, the model uses Microsoft's published prices rather than ours, and when MCA-E fits better the memo says so. Read our general argument first on the CSP vs Enterprise Agreement page and decide how much of it applies to you.
What happens to our Software Assurance when the EA ends?
It ends with the enrollment unless you renew it somewhere — and as Microsoft's programs stand at the time of writing, neither CSP nor MCA-E sells Software Assurance. Perpetual licenses you paid up under the EA stay yours at the version you were entitled to when SA lapsed. What you lose is the benefit layer: new-version rights, License Mobility, Azure Hybrid Benefit eligibility, the right to buy Extended Security Updates, and any of the smaller SA benefits you actually used. For each of those the advisory names the replacement — typically a subscription server license through CSP, which carries Azure Hybrid Benefit and ESU eligibility for its term — and its cost. The point of doing this before the EA ends is that some replacements are simpler to arrange while SA is still active.
Do we keep the perpetual licenses we bought under the EA?
Yes, once the enrollment's payments for them are complete — an EA perpetual license is yours after the term, without Software Assurance. Keep the proof: enrollment documents, the price sheet and the volume licensing records are your evidence in any future review, and the advisory's inventory workbook is built to be that record. What does not survive is anything you were licensing as a subscription under the EA — Microsoft 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, Windows Enterprise per user, Teams Phone and the like — which must be re-bought in the successor channel before the enrollment ends, or the licenses simply stop.
We run Windows Server and SQL Server under the EA. How does that work in CSP?
Two ways, and the difference matters. CSP sells Windows Server and SQL Server as perpetual licenses — which, unlike EA licenses with Software Assurance, carry no Azure Hybrid Benefit and no eligibility for Extended Security Updates — and as one- or three-year subscription licenses, which do carry those benefits for their term. If you run servers in Azure on Hybrid Benefit, or expect to need ESU for a version leaving support, the subscription route usually wins; if a server is static and on-premises, perpetual may be cheaper. The advisory settles the position per product: core counts, CAL implications, and which route keeps each benefit you use. Where a volume program still fits server licensing better, we say so and point you to Microsoft Volume Licensing. If the harder question is how many cores you actually need to license — clusters, virtual machines, Standard versus Datacenter — that is the host-level Windows Server and SQL Server Licensing and True-Up Advisory, and it pairs with this one.
We have an Azure consumption commitment (MACC) or unspent Azure prepayment. What happens to it?
This is the part of the estate with real deadlines. Microsoft's documentation, as it stands at the time of writing, allows an enrollment's Azure billing to transition to a Microsoft Customer Agreement billing account only within 60 days of the enrollment end date; the transition is irreversible; reservations and savings plans move with it; cost history stays in the EA scope; and budgets, exports and support plans are recreated afterwards. Partners have also reported that since 1 March 2026 Microsoft has been moving EA customers with a MACC to MCA-E ahead of renewal — so for Azure-heavy estates the question may be how, not whether. Whether a commitment can be carried into a CSP Azure plan depends on Microsoft's current terms and the commitment's size, and we confirm that with Microsoft during the week rather than assume it. The advisory dates every window and quantifies the balance at risk.
When should we start?
120 days before the anniversary or expiration is comfortable; 90 is workable; inside 60 you are choosing among what is still possible. The reason is the calendar, not the analysis: under Microsoft's EA guidance a true-up order is due in the window 60 to 30 days before the anniversary, the Azure billing transition opens 60 days before the end date, and New Commerce subscriptions should be staged to activate the day the EA lapses — which means the mapping has to be finished before the ordering starts. The advisory itself takes a week; the runway is for the decisions that follow it.
Do we still have to do the final true-up if we are leaving the EA?
Usually yes — a true-up reconciles licenses you have already deployed above what the enrollment covers, and leaving does not erase the obligation for the period you used them. What the advisory decides is what to reconcile, in what quantity, and whether a line is better trued up under the EA or licensed fresh in the successor from the cutover date. Timing matters: the true-up order window closes 30 days before the anniversary, so the reconciliation is done first and the exit plan is built around it, not the other way round. If the server quantities themselves are uncertain, the Windows Server and SQL Server Licensing and True-Up Advisory produces the reconciled count this decision needs.
How do New Commerce terms differ from what we are used to on the EA?
The EA locked you in for three years organization-wide with an annual true-up. New Commerce locks each subscription for its own term — monthly, annual, or three-year where Microsoft offers it — with a seven-day (168-hour) window to cancel or reduce seats at the start of each term, additions at any time, and reductions otherwise waiting for the term's renewal. An annual commitment can be billed monthly, but since 1 April 2025 that carries a 5% premium over paying annually. Prices are fixed for the term. The term strategy we deliver uses those rules deliberately: three-year or annual commitments for the stable core, monthly for the seats that move, and renewal dates staggered so no single day locks the whole estate.
Does moving off the EA help with Microsoft's July 2026 price increase?
Not by itself. Microsoft's Microsoft 365 price update took effect on 1 July 2026 and, per Microsoft's own FAQ, applies at the next renewal after that date — so an EA expiring now lands on the new list whichever successor you pick, and a price sheet negotiated before the change does not carry into either. What still moves the number is term length — a three-year commitment fixes the price for its term — and the plan mix, which is why the term strategy is part of this advisory and the mix is the job of the License Audit.
We are a government or defense customer — GCC, GCC High, or DoD. Does this apply?
GCC is available through CSP, and the advisory covers it. GCC High and DoD licenses are not sold through the commercial CSP channel — they come through Microsoft's AOS-G partners or an EA channel — so for those estates the advisory maps the entitlements and the path, but the procurement sits with that channel. If your question is really about moving into GCC High, start with the Commercial to GCC High Migration page instead.
Will our tenant, users or data be affected by the move?
No. Both successors license the same tenant; nothing migrates, nobody's password resets, and there is no downtime. What changes is the commercial layer — who invoices you, under which agreement, with which terms. The one operational risk is a licensing gap: subscriptions licensed under the EA end with the enrollment, so the successor subscriptions have to be active before that date. The transition calendar exists to make that boring.
We are over 2,400 seats, or we have several enrollments. Is the fixed fee still $1,950?
The fixed fee covers one enrollment of up to 2,400 seats — the band where Microsoft's non-renewal notices have concentrated. Above that, or with affiliate enrollments, a Server and Cloud Enrollment alongside, or several tenants, we quote per estate in writing before work begins. And above roughly 2,400 seats the honest first question is whether Microsoft has offered you an EA renewal at all, because at that scale it may still be the right vehicle — the comparison memo will say so if it is.
What do we receive, and what happens after the walkthrough?
Working files, not a slide deck: the entitlement inventory workbook, the mapping table, the Software Assurance and server analysis, the Azure commitment analysis, the two-path comparison memo with our written recommendation, the term strategy, the true-up decision and the dated transition calendar — plus a walkthrough with the engagement lead. Afterwards you decide. If you choose CSP with us, the licensing order is placed as its own step and subscriptions are sold at Microsoft's published list prices. If you choose MCA-E, you sign with Microsoft directly and take the plan with you. There is no obligation either way: you have paid for the advisory and nothing more.
Do we have to buy from IT Partner afterwards?
No, and the plan is written so that you do not have to. Every mapping names the Microsoft offer, not our catalog entry, so any CSP partner — or Microsoft directly under MCA-E — can execute it. If you do buy through us, there is no lock-in in either direction: you can move your New Commerce subscriptions to another CSP partner, or back to Microsoft, at any time, and we execute the outbound transfer under Microsoft's own workflow. The one honest nuance is Microsoft's, not ours: a commitment term you have already made keeps its end date with whoever bills it next.