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November 2024 announcements

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This page provides the announcements for Microsoft Partner Center for November 2024.

Flexible billing for Microsoft 365 Copilot; pricing updates for annual subscriptions and Teams Phone

On December 1, 2024, we're introducing a new monthly billing plan for annual subscriptions of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Services.

  • Date: November 12, 2024
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: All Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners and customers

Introducing monthly billing option for annual term subscriptions of Microsoft 365 Copilot

In response to customer and partner feedback for more flexible payment options, on December 1, 2024, we're going to introduce a new monthly billing plan for annual subscriptions of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Service on the new commerce platform. This new monthly billing option for annual subscriptions will be priced 5% higher than the annual billing (upfront payment) option for annual subscription plans for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, and Microsoft 365 Copilot for Services.*

Standardizing the billing structure with a pricing update

For all other products with per user monthly billing plans for annual subscriptions, we're introducing the same pricing update to standardize the billing structure across Buy Online, CSP, and MCA-E.** Starting on April 1, 2025, all new and renewing monthly billing plans for annual subscriptions will be priced 5% higher than the annual billing option for annual subscription plans.*

Customers can elect to change their billing plan, from monthly billing to annual billing, for their annual subscription at their renewal date. Starting on April 1, 2025, customers on end-of-sale (EOS) and EOS with Conversion offers, such as Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 suites with Teams, will also be able to schedule a change to edit the billing frequencies for their annual subscriptions at renewal. Trials will continue to default to renewing into annual subscriptions with monthly billing. However, partners will be able to specify values, such as license quantity, term, and billing frequency, for paid subscriptions their trial purchases renew into starting in April 2025 as well. Partners will also be able to specify if they don't want their trial to autorenew.

This update to the billing structure aims to continue to provide customers with cash flow flexibility while enabling us to maintain the value and benefits of our services. By standardizing the billing structure, we ensure consistency and transparency across all platforms.

Updating pricing for Microsoft Teams Phone and Power BI

We'll also be updating the pricing for Microsoft Teams Phone Standard, Power BI Pro, and Power BI Premium Per User starting on April 1, 2025. This marks the first price increase for both standalone products since we launched Teams Phone in 2017 and Power BI in 2015 and reflects the collective value that has been added to Teams Phone and Power BI over the years. These price updates will be implemented as follows for new and existing customers upon renewal:

  • Teams Phone Standard licenses will be $10 per user per month***
  • Power BI Pro licenses will be $14 per user per month***
  • Power BI Premium Per User licenses will be $24 per user per month***

Currently, there are no other pricing changes for customers who purchase Power BI Pro and Teams Phone licenses via the Microsoft 365 and Office 365 E5 suites. This pricing update currently applies to commercial customers.

* There might be slight variations in price due to exchange rate fluctuations, local pricing policies, and rounding rules.

** For more information on in-scope products, see the FAQ.

*** This pricing reflects the pricing for annual billing plan for annual subscriptions. The monthly billing plan for annual subscription will be priced 5% higher, and there might be slight variations in price due to exchange rate fluctuations, local pricing policies, and rounding rules.

Calls to action

  • Notify customers on triennial offers that beginning on April 1, 2025, midterm billing frequency changes for triennial offers will be blocked.
  • To learn more about upcoming changes to the Partner Center price in cart user experience, join our CSP Technical Training call on November 20.
Resources

Next steps

  • Read the blog post by Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President, Global Partner Solutions, on this announcement.
  • Join the Accelerate your CSP business in the era of AI webinar on November 14 to start planning for upcoming renewals (recording will be available after the event).
  • Inform customers of the new monthly billing option for annual subscription of Copilot for pricing flexibility. Leverage the 15% promo (10-license minimum) with the monthly billing option for annual subscriptions to position the Getting Started Offer and land Copilot with customers.
  • Start preparing for upcoming renewal conversations and notify customers of upcoming monthly billing for annual subscriptions pricing changes. Understand the customer scenarios related to the monthly billing for annual subscriptions price update using this partner guidance deck and the partner FAQ on our CSP partner page. Use the Q3 Renewals Toolkit to help plan your renewal conversations and leverage the new Microsoft 365 E5 15% promo available starting January 1 through June 30, 2025, for CSP customers worldwide to pitch upsell for high propensity customers.

Monthly update: Important actions partners need to take to secure the partner ecosystem

Important capabilities and updates to improve your security posture and protect your customers' tenants are now available.

  • Date: November 11, 2024
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: Direct-bill partners, indirect providers, and indirect resellers transacting through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program and with advisors

MFA requirements for Azure portal - As of October 2024, Microsoft now enforces multifactor authentication (MFA) for all users signing into Azure portal. Review the latest information and timeline.

MFA requirements for Microsoft 365 admin center: On February 3, 2025, Microsoft is going to start enforcing MFA for all users who access the Microsoft 365 admin center portal. Review the latest information and timeline.

Coming soon

Removal of unused Azure subscriptions: Later this month, Microsoft will start blocking and deleting unused Azure subscriptions. A subscription is considered unused when there's no activity or consumption for more than 12 months. Learn more about unused subscriptions. The account owner and service admins of the subscription will be notified by email 30 days before the block is applied. The subscription will be deleted 90 days after the block.

Deprecation of graph.windows.net audience tokens: To improve security posture, we've deprecated Azure Active Directory (AD) Graph. To align with this, we're changing how you call Partner Center APIs. Take the necessary actions to prepare for this change. The timeline is as follows:

  • Starting early February 2025:
    • A new version of the generatetoken API will be available and will ONLY accept api.partnercenter.microsoft.com audience tokens for both usertoken and app only scenarios. Partners must make this change before the end of April 2025.
    • If you're calling Partner Center API directly by sending an Azure AD Graph audience token, you need to start sending api.partnercenter.microsoft.com.
      • Current: resource=https://graph.windows.net&client_id={client-ID-here}&client_secret={client-secret-here}&grant_type=client_credentials
      • Proposed: resource=https://api.partnercenter.microsoft.com&client_id={client-ID-here}&client_secret={client-secret-here}&grant_type=client_credentials
  • Starting May 2025:
    • Existing version of the generatetoken API will be deprecated.
    • Partner Center APIs will stop accepting graph.windows.net audience tokens.

Reminders

Security requirements API - We're excited to announce the upcoming release of the Security Requirements API, giving partners direct access to essential security compliance data. The beta version is available now for preview.

Next steps

Monthly Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program update: What's new for Solutions Partner designations, specializations, and other offerings and benefits

We introduced important capabilities, offers, and updates to improve the way partners can further differentiate their deep technical expertise across a set of priority scenarios with high customer demand. We added more benefits for eligible Solutions Partner with certified software designations.

  • Date: November 8, 2024
  • Workspace: Membership
  • Impacted audience: Partners enrolled in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program

Available now

Announcement of new benefits: Starting January 22, 2025, Microsoft plans to introduce over 20 in-demand product licenses, including Microsoft Copilot products, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft GitHub Enterprise. These new benefits are designed to help streamline tasks, enhance creativity, and drive efficiency across businesses. Partners can access these benefits when they go live by purchasing partner benefits packages, Solutions Partner designations, or specializations. The new packages offer comprehensive support and advisory benefits, helping partners accelerate business growth, scale their operations, and stay updated with the latest offerings.

Announcement of Microsoft Action Pack (MAPS), Learning Action Pack, and legacy silver and gold benefits transition: As part of this transition, Microsoft will stop selling the MAPS, Learning Action Pack, and legacy silver and gold benefits on January 22, 2025. Partners with existing benefits can renew them until January 21, 2025, and keep them until they expire one year later. To continue receiving benefits, partners are encouraged to purchase new partner benefits packages or attain Solutions Partner designations. These new offerings are designed to help meet business goals and provide more robust support compared to the legacy benefits. For more information, see Services partner offerings.

AI assistant for MAPS program: As of October 22, 2024, a new AI assistant plugin is available to instantly answer queries related to membership status, renewals, and enrollment of MAPS program. The partner can invoke the AI assistant from the MAPS page or global entry point (the sparkle icon on the top right corner) in Partner Center and ask questions as needed. Here are some sample questions users can ask:

  • What is my membership status in the MAPS program?
  • When can I renew my MAPS membership?
  • What happens if I don’t renew my MAPS membership within the renewal period?
  • How do I renew my MAPS membership?

What's coming

The new Analytics on Microsoft Azure specialization: During the first half of 2025, we'll unveil a unified specialization that integrates the strengths of both the Analytics on Microsoft Azure and Data Warehouse Migration specializations. This consolidation is a strategic move to meet customer expectations more effectively and use the synergies between the two previously separate specializations. The consolidated specialization will streamline the validation of partners' expertise in core analytics and migration, enhancing the partner experience and ensuring that our customers engage with the most proficient analytics partners in the industry.

Partners accredited with or achieving either the Analytics on Microsoft Azure or Data Warehouse Migration specializations before the launch of the new, integrated specialization will be seamlessly enrolled into the new version until the next renewal cycle.

This initiative underscores our ongoing dedication to providing exceptional, distinct value to our partners and customers, and to maintaining our position as a leader in the market. Stay tuned for more detailed information on the updated requirements.

AI and Machine Learning in Microsoft Azure specialization: A change is coming to the AI and Machine Learning in Microsoft Azure specialization. This specialization will be rebranded as AI Platform on Azure and will offer more products to be considered toward earning and maintaining eligibility. The Azure consumed revenue will also increase from USD $2,000 to USD $5,000. The eligible products are available under each of the following product areas:

  • AI Infra: Azure Machine Learning, MaaS, Other AI Infra
  • Azure AI Services: Academic Knowledge, Anomaly Detector, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Services, Bot Service, Content Moderator, Content Safety, Document Intelligence, Emotion, Health Bot, Health Insights, Immersive Reader, Ink Recognizer, Language, Metrics Advisor, Personalizer, Phi, Recognition, Recommendations, Search, Speech, Translator, Text Analytics, Video Analyzer, Video Indexer, Vision
  • Azure OpenAI: Azure OpenAI

Build and Modernize AI Apps with Microsoft Azure specialization: A change is coming to the Build and Modernize AI Apps with Microsoft Azure specialization. This specialization will be rebranded as Build AI Apps on Azure and will offer more products to be considered toward earning and maintaining eligibility. The Azure consumed revenue will also increase from USD $2,000 to USD $5,000 for each of the product platform services: Application Platform, Data Platform, and AI Platform. The eligible products are available under each of the following product areas:

  • Application platform
    • App Platform Services: Azure App Service, Azure Spring Cloud
    • Container and Serverless Services: AKS, ARO, Azure Container Apps, Container Instances, Container Registry, Functions
    • Integration Services: API Management, BizTalk Services, Event Grid, Logic Apps, Service Bus
  • Data platform
    • Cosmos DB: Cosmos DB
    • OSS DBs: MariaDB, MySQL, PGSQL
    • SQL DB: SQL DB, SQL DB MI
  • AI platform
    • Azure AI Services: Academic Knowledge, Anomaly Detector, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Services, Bot Service, Content Moderator, Content Safety, Document Intelligence, Emotion, Health Bot, Health Insights, Immersive Reader, Ink Recognizer, Language, Metrics Advisor, Personalizer, Phi, Recognition, Recommendations, Search, Speech, Text Analytics, Translator, Video Analyzer, Video Indexer, Vision
    • Azure OpenAI: Azure OpenAI

AI assistant for prepurchase scenario: Toward the end of November 2024, Microsoft plans to release a new AI assistant plugin that can answer prepurchase questions. It will help users know all the details before purchasing or renewing any program that's available in the Membership offer. Here are some sample questions users can ask:

  • Why is the Buy Now or Renew Now button disabled?
  • What's the price of the Partner Success program?
  • How do I renew a program?
  • What are all of the qualifications required to purchase the Solutions Partner designation program?

Reminder

Next steps

Updates for Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners now that the Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 Enterprise SKUs with Teams are end-of-sale (EOS) and can no longer be technically purchased through CSP as of October 1, 2024. These SKUs are EOS per Microsoft policy as of February 1, 2024. Partners with upcoming renewals for EOS SKUs need to enable autorenew or schedule changes to renewals to help existing customers keep their subscriptions of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 Enterprise suites with Teams.

  • Date: November 8, 2024
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: CSP direct-bill partners, indirect resellers, indirect providers; Licensing Solution Providers

As of October 1, 2024, the end-of-sale (EOS) of Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 Enterprise SKUs with Teams is technically enforced in CSP. As a reminder, this is in alignment with our prior EOS announcement and policy as of February 1, 2024. This means that Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 Enterprise SKUs with Teams were removed from CSP price lists outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. After October 1, 2024, all net-new purchases of these EOS SKUs in regions outside the EEA and Switzerland are no longer technically possible.

These changes were made to realign our global subscription structure following changes made in Europe in 2023. Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 Enterprise SKUs with Teams were removed from the CSP price list for net-new purchases in the EEA and Switzerland on February 1, 2024. For more information on the original context for the changes in Europe, read the official announcement on the EU Policy Blog and the accompanying licensing details on Licensing News.

What does this mean for existing customers purchasing through CSP?

For existing CSP customers of Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 with Teams:

  • If at any time the customer no longer has any active licenses to a Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise suites with Teams, they're no longer considered an existing customer and need to choose from the new offers (Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise suites without Teams) for that region.
  • In order for an existing customer to maintain their subscription of active licenses to Microsoft 365/Office 365 suites with Teams, partners need to manage renewals by enabling autorenew or scheduling the change. Partners can't purchase a new subscription of Microsoft 365/Office 365 suites with Teams for an existing customer. For more information, see Manage EOS offers.
  • Existing CSP customers with the Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise SKUs with Teams can continue to use, renew, add licenses to, and upgrade their existing suites with Teams. They now also have the extra SKU options for Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise SKUs without Teams.
  • Due to systems limitations, existing customers need to purchase a new subscription if they want to change their billing frequency, subscription term commitment, or subscription currency.
  • In CY2025, customers with subscriptions of EOS and/or EOSWithConversion SKUs will be able to change their billing frequency at renewal and keep their existing subscription of Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise suites with Teams. More information will come closer to availability.
  • Customers will also need to start a new subscription for Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise suites without Teams if they change their purchasing channel, except when moving to EA/EAS or moving between MCA-E and Buy Online (Direct) in either direction.

For more information about Microsoft 365/Office 365 EOS, see the previous Partner Center announcement, the one-page guide for partners, and the partner FAQ.

New capability to support CSP customers on EOS SKUs

To see pricing for EOS SKUs, we introduced EOS pricing to the CSP new commerce license-based services price list on November 1, 2024. This enables partners to fetch pricing for products that are still renewable but no longer available for net-new purchase and allow partners to get continued visibility to all EOS offers, including Microsoft 365 E3/E5 and Office 365 E1/E3/E5 Enterprise SKUs. This EOS pricing feature presents itself in Partner Center as a new price list, and your use of the EOS price list doesn't disrupt the way in which you use the other price lists available. For more information, see the CSP partner launch calendar.

For more information about these changes, see the one-page guide for partners, partner FAQ, and the Manage EOS offers documentation.

Next steps

Understand the details of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 Enterprise Suites with Teams EOS. The following resources contain valuable information for addressing customer questions:

Questions

For questions not addressed in the FAQ or to receive clarification on pricing, offer availability, and upgrades, migrations, and conversions, create a support request in Partner Center.

November Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) monthly updates and community reminder

Monthly views are now published, including the updated partner launch calendars, the CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter, and other CSP community resources that provide you with essential program updates.

  • Date: November 5, 2024
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: CSP direct-bill partners and indirect providers

Always available - Launch content on demand

For a consolidated view of all recent and active launches in a single place, visit the partner launch calendars collection. You'll find a timeline for each launch and links to published materials to help you learn more about that launch.

The downloadable CSP Bimonthly Update newsletter which aggregates recent CSP announcements, updates, events, and reminders in an easy-to-read document.

Partner Journey Maps provide detailed navigation along the journey of Microsoft's highest priority transformations.

Need licensing readiness? The monthly CSP spotlight webinars cover the latest CSP licensing information available for all partners.

CSP Community Q&A reminder

The monthly CSP community Q&A session provides you with an opportunity to learn more and ask questions about changes affecting the program.

Register here to join upcoming calls.

Next steps

Check the partner launch calendar, read the monthly newsletter, and register for upcoming Community Q&A calls.

Questions?

The monthly CSP community Q&A call is the best place to bring questions about operational change in the CSP program. You may submit a question up to 48 hours before the call.

Questions on any other CSP topic? Visit the Partner Center support page.

Lifecycle state values can now be returned by Partner Center availabilities APIs

Partners using catalog APIs can now set a flag to return the offer lifecycle state.

  • Date: November 5, 2024
  • Workspace: APIs, Customers
  • Impacted audience: Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners, direct-bill partners, and indirect providers using the Partner Center availabilities APIs

Beginning November 5, 2024, partners using catalog APIs can now set a flag to return offer lifecycle state. Lifecycle state information enables partners to understand if offers are generally available (GA), end of sale, or end of sale with conversions. The new lifecycle state flag is scoped to new commerce license-based offers.

Next steps

Review the updated API documentation:

Upcoming change to autofit ratios for Azure M-series VMs

There's an upcoming change in autofit ratios for Reserved Instances (RIs) for M-series virtual machines (VMs), scheduled to go live on December 6, 2024.

  • Date: November 1, 2024
  • Workspace: Billing
  • Impacted audience: All global partners utilizing M-series VMs

We’re making significant updates to the configuration of Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instance (RI) as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance your Azure experience and improve resource management efficiency. These changes focus on the autofit ratio fix for M-series VMs, and we want to ensure you understand what the changes are, the reasons behind them, and their potential effect on your VM configurations. To learn more about the change, see Azure M-Series VMs: What you need to know about the autofit ratio fix.

How does it change your user experience?

As we continue to offer a wide selection of SKUs for M-series VMs, on December 6, 2024, we'll be updating the instance size flexibility ratios for this product to optimize reservation discount within instance size flexibility groups and their respective SKUs.

Benefits

These updates will result in optimized resource utilization for M-Series VMs. This means that each VM will have a more precise allocation of resources, improving performance and efficiency. The autofit ratio fix ensures that the VMs are configured in a way that maximizes their capabilities and minimizes waste. This will ensure better performance metrics and efficient use of resources.

Next steps

This process will be implemented on December 6, 2024.

More intuitive error messages for SaaS Fulfillment APIs v2 coming on November 8, 2024

We're updating error messages for ChangePlan and ChangeQuantity to be more intuitive. These updates will be generally available starting November 8, 2024.

  • Date: November 1, 2024
  • Workspace: APIs
  • Impacted audience: Independent Software Vendors (publishers) using SaaS Fulfillment APIs v2

As of November 8, 2024, our updated error messages for the ChangePlan and ChangeQuantity operations will offer clearer, actionable information to help diagnose and resolve issues more efficiently. As part of this update, there's no change in the existing API contracts.

The following example compares an existing error message with the updated version:

Existing error message Updated error message
"Invalid operation" "Invalid operation: This can happen when trying to manage a subscription that was purchased by CSP (Cloud Solution Provider). Please work with the original purchaser to update the subscription."

Next steps

No action is needed from you. These improvements are going to apply automatically when using the SaaS Fulfillment API v2 for ChangePlan and ChangeQuantity operations. For more information, see SaaS Fulfillment API v2 documentation.

A 15% discount for eligible nonprofit customers on Microsoft 365 Copilot takes effect November 1, 2024

Announcing new discounted pricing for eligible nonprofit customers on Microsoft 365 Copilot, available November 1, 2024, on the Cloud Solution Provider channel.

  • Date: November 1, 2024
  • Workspace: General
  • Impacted audience: All partners transacting Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot is now available to eligible nonprofits for $25.50 (USD) per user per month when purchased for an annual subscription and billing cycle.

  • To purchase Microsoft 365 Copilot, customers must have or purchase a separate license for a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan.
  • Existing Microsoft 365 Copilot customers aren't eligible for the new pricing until their renewal after November 1, 2024.

Discount details

  • Geography: The discount is available in all markets where Microsoft 365 Copilot is sold in CSP (Worldwide).
  • Customer eligibility: The discount applies to all eligible nonprofit customers (new and existing Microsoft 365 Copilot customers). Customers must purchase a new subscription; licenses added to preexisting subscriptions won't receive the nonprofit discount.

The discount is available on New Commerce Experience (NCE) only.

Next steps