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To focus on customer-centricity and strengthen its partners, Microsoft has made a few announcements related to its Microsoft Cloud Partner Program. These changes are focused on making Microsoft CSPs capable of meeting the growing needs of the customers. These announcements range from promotions that can help attract more business, reduce expenses, and drive profits. Read on to know the latest updates by Microsoft.
Save money with the Azure savings plan
As a Microsoft CSP, you can reduce your resource costs and maximize savings using the Azure savings plan for compute. If you can commit to a fixed hourly spend for one or a three-year period, you can reduce your costs by up to 66% compared to pay-as-you-go prices. These savings plan greatly benefit Microsoft CSPs who consistently spend on compute services such as container instances, virtual machines, dedicated hosts, Azure premium functions, and Azure app services. Currently, you can buy, sell, or manage the Azure savings plan for your customers via the Azure Portal only. On purchasing a savings plan, you become eligible for the savings plan discount. Your hourly compute usage will be billed at a discounted rate till you exhaust the committed amount, post which it will be billed on pay-as-you-go prices. The discount rates will depend upon the commitment term, whether it is a one-year or a three-year term, and not the amount you commit. Azure savings plan has been designed to prioritize application benefits on products that have the maximum savings potential.
Availability of a new subscription lifecycle state
There are different states in which a subscription can be in its lifecycle. Earlier there were four states: Active, Suspended, Expired, and Deleted. Now, a fifth state, a new disabled state is available. This further differentiates between the various subscription lifecycle states. A subscription enters the 30-day disabled state when the term of the suspended subscription ends and enters the 90-day disabled state after the subscription has been in the expired state for 30 days. At the end of 30 days, a subscription that is in the 30-day disabled state will move to the 90-day disabled state. In the disabled state, the users will be unable to sign in and access any data or use any services, only the admin will have the ability to access the data. Once the subscription reaches the 90-day disabled state, the data will only be retained for 90 days. The partners will not be billed during this state and the subscription cannot be reactivated. You can learn more about the subscription lifecycle states in this document prepared by Microsoft.
Missing Partner earned credits to be applied in the upcoming invoice
Partner earned credits (PEC) awarded to Microsoft CSPs are to be adjusted as discounts while calculating the final amount being billed. For some of the Microsoft CSPs, the PECs were not factored in as discounts in their invoice. This can be attributed to some data issues with the Azure role-based access control (RBAC). The issue has been resolved and any missing PEC for the period July to September 2022 will be considered as discounts in the next invoice. The billing administrators of the CSPs whose credits were missing have been informed and there is no need for any further action from CSPs on this.
Retrieve software pricing in multiple European currencies
There are multiple European currencies supported in the European region. This makes it a unique region as far as transactions are concerned. Until now, Microsoft CSPs who were based in the EU/EFTA or the UK, you were unable to get the price list in other European currencies other than the local market currency. Microsoft CSPs are billed in their currency irrespective of the customer’s currency. In the European region, due to the multiple currencies, there can be instances where the customer’s currency will differ from yours. This will pose a challenge for you as if you requested the pricing based on the customer’s market you received the price list that supports that particular currency only. You were unable to know the unit price of the software in your currency until you received the invoice from Microsoft.
From November 1, 2022, you are able to retrieve the pricing in multiple European currencies such as EUR, SEK, NOK, CHF, DKK, and GBP. This will help you understand how much you will be billed irrespective of the customer market you sell in. You can read more about this announcement here.
Attract new customers and upsell to existing ones with SMB Promo
As per the National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights, The Danish Institute for Human Rights there are approximately 400 million small/medium businesses (SMBs) worldwide. To help Microsoft CSPs attract new SMB customers, upsell to existing customers, and assist legacy customers in their transition to new commerce, Microsoft has launched the “SMB New customer, upsell, and CSP legacy to CSP new commerce renewal promotion”. This will enable Microsoft CSPs to show their prospective and existing customers how Microsoft 365 can help them “Do more with less”. By upgrading to a more premium product, your customers can improve their productivity and security while saving costs at the same time.
The promotion includes 16.7% off the NCE monthly commitment price across the following products: Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 Apps for Business, Microsoft Teams Essentials w/ Azure Active Directory (AAD), Microsoft Defender for Business. The promotion is available for all eligible customers across all geographies where Microsoft 365 is sold. The following types of customers who are eligible for the offer are customers who are purchasing Microsoft 365 for the first time or existing customers who are upgrading to a premium product or existing legacy customers who are migrating to the new commerce. The promotional pricing will be available from November 14, 2022, to June 30, 2023. The promotional pricing will effectively make the monthly commitment price like the annual commitment price, making it more attractive and low risk for customers. You can download Do More with Less SMB promo and FAQ to learn more.
C3 can help you stay updated with the latest in Microsoft Cloud Partner Program
If you are looking to achieve profitability and business growth in your Microsoft CSP business, then you have to be always on top of the latest updates and announcements related to the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program. Partnering with C3 not only allows you access to a technology ecosystem that can help you scale and maximize profits but also keeps you abreast of any key developments in the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program that can impact your business. Read our blog to know the latest announcements by Microsoft.
