What is the Cloud Solution Provider program?

Microsoft is expanding capabilities for cloud partners in the Microsoft Cloud Solutions Provider program. Cloud Solutions Providers will be able to package their own tools, products, and services with Microsoft subscriptions and provide customers one monthly bill. With in-product tools, partners can directly provision and manage their customers’ subscriptions. This keeps partners at the center of the customer relationship and improves the customer experience.

 
Why did Microsoft create this program?

Partners requested more direct ownership of the customer relationship through billing and a desire to service the customer purchase, management and support experience as the single point of contact.

 
 
What are the benefits of CSP?

 

  • You are the first point of contact for your customers needs
  •  You own and control the billing cycle
  •  You create unique financing options
  •  You sell integrated offers and services - perfect for upselling
  •  You receive in-product tools to directly provision, manage and support your customers

 

How does this benefit customers?

Customers can more easily purchase partner tools, products, and/or services with their subscription in one predictable monthly bill. Beyond the inherent benefits of the cloud, customers will have more frequent partner interactions which can serve to deepen the relationship.

 

How does this impact the way I sell today?

The cloud and product value of Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Intune, and Enterprise Mobility Services (EMS) are exactly the same. This is simply one of the business models partners can consider when selling Microsoft cloud subscriptions. If you have the resources to provide complete customer lifecycle management and want to own the customer billing and support relationship, this model may be a great fit for your business.

 

Which products can I sell in this program?

Currently we are only offering Office 365 through the CSP programme.

 

How does having admin rights impact customers? Can customers opt out?

Delegated admin privileges enable partners to effectively provide technical support to their customers. Since partners are required to provide support, customers are not able to remove their partner from having delegated admin privileges.

 

Which tasks are customers able to do themselves within their Microsoft Office 365 admin center?

Customers can log-in to their Microsoft Office 365 admin portal and perform all the service configuration and admin tasks as if they had purchased directly from Microsoft. This includes configuring Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, or other services that they have purchased. Customers must purchase additional subscriptions or cancel their subscription purchased through their cloud solution partner by contacting their partner directly.

 

Are all of the Microsoft Office 365 SKUs offered?

All commercial major suites and standalone products are available.

 

Are there government or academic products?

We currently have Government and educational SKUs.

 

How are the Partner tools different from the existing partner admin center?

In addition to a core set of tools available to all partners within their Microsoft Office 365 partner admin center, Cloud Solution Providers have access to additional tools, including the ability to create new customer tenants, order subscriptions, and manage subscriptions on behalf of their customers. All partners have access to a common set of tools within the partner admin center, including the ability to perform delegated administration, view service health and view service incidents for the customers they manage.

 

 Capturecloud@.png Contracts, Billing & Invoicing Capturecloud@.png

 

What is the term of the Microsoft Cloud Reseller Agreement?

The Microsoft Cloud Reseller Agreement term is for one year. The MCRA automatically renews every year (on August 31st) unless either party notifies the other in writing, with at least 30 days prior notice, of its intent not to renew.

 

Can Westcoast provide me pricing more than 30 days in advance?

No, Microsoft publishes a price list at the beginning of each month and provides 30 days advance notice of the price list. All partners in the program have access to the price list at the same time.

 

Can I suspend my customer’s Microsoft Online Services?

Yes, you can disable a customer’s Microsoft Online Services. However, this will have to be done separately for each subscription. Depending on the Microsoft Online Service, the customer will have limited or no access during this time.

 

  Partner Admin Center 

 A more detailed FAQ for the Partner Admin Center can be found here

 

Can I give a user within my company delegated admin permissions for our customers, but no admin permissions on our own tenant? That way, this user can create and manage CSP customers but not make changes to our own tenant?

Yes, this can be done. To do this, log in to your tenant (using an admin account) and go into your admin center. From here, go to USERS from the left navigation area, then select Active Users and then add a new or modify an existing user. You can select the options such that an individual user does NOT have admin rights to their own environment but DOES have rights to perform delegated admin tasks for your customers.

 

Are there trial subscriptions in CSP?

No. There are currently no CSP trial subscriptions. If a customer has a trial subscription that it provisioned directly from Microsoft, there are ways to transition that trial subscription over to a paid CSP subscription. Additionally, customers with existing subscriptions (paid or trial) acquired through syndication channels currently can’t use that same tenant for CSP subscriptions.

 

Can a customer remove its CSP Partner from having delegated admin privileges?

A customer cannot remove its CSP Partner from having delegated admin privileges. CSP Partners need delegated admin privileges to help provide technical support for its customers.

 

When seats are added to an existing CSP subscription, are the additional seats prorated for the term and coterminous with the subscription?

Yes. Additional seats are prorated based on the 1 year term of the base subscription. The additional seats are coterminous with the base subscription term length (i.e. 1 year).

 

How do you cancel a customer’s subscription?

You can cancel a customer’s subscription at any time within the partner admin center. Go into your partner admin center, select a customer from your customer list so that it is highlighted, and then select the Manage Subscriptions and Add-Ons link from the right navigation area. On the next screen, select a subscription from the list so that it is highlighted and click the change status link from the right navigation area. On the popup box, select Suspended from the drop-down list. You will be billed a prorated amount based on when the subscription is suspended.

 

Can a customer make changes to its CSP subscription within its Microsoft Office 365 admin center?

No. Customers are not able to take any action on their CSP subscription (such as cancel, add seats, or order an add-on subscription). Subscription management must be performed by their partner from within the partner admin center.

 

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