Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience (NCE) has replaced Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)
Last updated March 2023
Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience (NCE) is available now. As Microsoft tweaks the program, we’ll share NCE updates with partners here.
CSP and NCE both available
While the intention is to transition over to NCE, currently Microsoft’s NCE and CSP will both continue to be available to partners and resellers. However, please be aware CSP prices are increasing by 6% price for monthly plans as of 1 March 2023.
Not-For-Profit Price Changes
Price changes took place on September 1, 2022.
The price changes don’t affect any offers available as a grant, including 10 licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Premium, 300 licenses of Microsoft 365 Business Basic, and 2,000 licenses of Microsoft Office 365 E1 via Enterprise Agreement.
Prices will increase for the following products:
• Microsoft Office 365 E1
• Microsoft Office 365 E3
• Microsoft Office 365 E5
• Microsoft 365 E3
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
These price increases will apply globally, with local market adjustments for certain regions.
Who will be affected?
Non-profit customers across all licensing channels
Where can I find the updated prices?
The price list is in Converge.
- Log into the Converge partner portal.
- Click on Admin on the horizontal menu.
- Select Pricelist from the drop down menu.
Next step for partners
- Check subscription renewal date of your customers using above products.
- Inform your non-profit customers regarding the price change at their next renewal date after 1st September 2022.
- Where possible, purchase the above licenses before 1st September 2022 for new subscriptions to lock in the current price for a year.
- Customers with existing subscriptions that renew after 1 September for the above products, will have the option to cancel their current subscription and start a new annual subscription at the current price. This will ensure customers can access the lowest price for another year.
Increased discounts on Microsoft Defender Products
Microsoft Tech for Social Impact (TSI) recently introduced new discounted pricings for the following Microsoft Defender products, now available in the Cloud Solutions Provider program (CSP).
- Microsoft Defender for Business (Non-profit Staff Pricing)
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P1 (Non-profit Staff Pricing)
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 (Non-profit Staff Pricing)
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Server (Non-profit Staff Pricing)
Increased discounts on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Products
Microsoft has increased discounts on multiple Dynamics 365 products and these new prices now match Enterprise Agreement pricing.
- Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
- Dynamics 365 Marketing
- Dynamics 365 Finance
- Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management
- Dynamics 365 Operations
- Dynamics 365 Commerce
- Dynamics 365 Human Resources
- Dynamics 365 Project Operations
- Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection
Previous Announcements
Microsoft CSP Legacy renewals
- Microsoft announced they will no longer block the auto-renewal of legacy CSP subscriptions. Legacy CSP subscriptions will continue to auto-renew beyond July 11, 2022 and will incur NCE monthly pricing.
- Partners will still lose Microsoft CSP incentives from Microsoft for legacy CSP subscriptions from 1 Jan, 2023.
- Partners still cannot create new legacy CSP subscription for commercial customers. New legacy CSP subscriptions can only be created for NFP and Education customers.
Cooling off period
- The 72-hour cooling off period has been extended. Now, partners have seven calendar days to cancel or reduce seats after ordering or renewing subscriptions under NCE. If the service is cancelled within the 7-day cooling off period, partners will be billed pro rata.
Provisioning NCE service in Converge
- Provisioning of monthly plans for common NCE services are now available in Converge.
- The most common NCE SKUs are available in Converge.
- When provisioning, check for “NCE” in the product description to confirm you are provisioning an NCE service.
- If you cannot find the SKU you want to provision in Converge, then please email provisioning@manageprotect.com. To provision 12- and 36-month plans, please email us on the same email address.
Pricing and Billing
- Microsoft’s 10-15% increase in Monthly and Annual prices of the commercial Modern Work SKUs came into effect 15 March 2022. Those SKUs are:
- Office 365 E1
- Office 365 E3
- Office 365 E5
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic*
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium
- Microsoft 365 E3
- The 20% increase in price across all monthly SKUs will not occur until 1 July 2022.
- Draft versions of the Recommended Retail Pricing (RRP) for Monthly and Annual plans are available here:
- NCE is available in 1 month, 12 month and 36 month plans.
- There are no changes to Manage Protect’s billing cycle. Manage Protect will continue to bill on 2nd of each month.
- 12 and 36 month plans will need to be paid in full, in advance. There are finance options available.
Important Considerations
- Any CSP legacy subscription provisioned before 28 February locks in that price.
- CSP legacy permits the addition or removal of licenses until expiry of that subscription.
- CSP and NCE licences may co-exist on a tenant until CSP is no longer available.
- You may mix and match annual and monthly NCE licences.
- 12- or 36- month tenancies may not move between indirect providers until the anniversary date.
- There are some products that are only available on Monthly or Annual terms.
- Subscription downgrades are not supported.
- Billing term upgrades is allowed.
| Allowed | Not Allowed |
|---|---|
| 1 month up to 12 month or 36 month 12 month up to 36 month | 36 or 12 month down to 1 month 36 month down to 12 month |
- Subscription Anniversary dates: Upgrades and Additions to subscriptions will have the same renewal date as the original term commitment and will be billed for the remaining term of the agreement in advance (pro-rated).
Incentives
- Gold and Silver Microsoft Partners will only have access to rebates and incentives if they have been averaging approximately AUD $3000/month.
- Microsoft Gold and Silver Partner rebates and incentives for CSP will discontinue from October 2022.
Pause, Cancellation and Auto-Renew in NCE
When a cancellation is complete, the customer will immediately lose access to the service, and it can’t be restored. The state for the subscription will be non-recoverable.
How Manage Protect can help
- Partners can add or remove licenses on CSP legacy until the expiry of that subscription.
- We can offer a Subscription Renewal Date Report to assist with planning for NCE changes and notify when changes come into affect.
- Manage Protect incentives for CSP/NCE:
- No need to pay an upfront fee to Microsoft and no need to meet Microsoft certification requirements – an easy go-to-market model
- Access to Manage Protect training and support.
- Get a 3% rebate paid monthly on modern workplace SKUs.
- Month-by-month finance options available.
Microsoft NCE Roadmap Key Dates
| October 2021 | February 2022 | March 2022 | July 2022 | October 2022 | December 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| • M365 (CSP) products available for purchase through NCE program. | • 28 February is the last day to provision new CSP subscriptions. | • All new CSP purchases, and renewals now NCE. | • NCE – monthly subscriptions increase by 20% in prices. | • CSP program ends. | • Microsoft incentives are available for NCE transactions only. |
| • MS Silver & Gold Partner incentives require $3,000/month to qualify. | • CSP existing customers and licences continue until October 2022. | • All expiring CSP legacy subscriptions can auto-renew and will incur NCE monthly pricing | |||
| . | • NCE – 6 SKUs will increase by 10-15% in price (Monthly & Annual terms). |
| NCE Webinar Manage Protect’s webinar on 1 February 2022 provided information and answers your commonly asked questions about Microsoft’s NCE. View the presentation deck, webinar Q&As or watch the recording here> |
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