The latest information in one place
Welcome to our monthly newsletter post for Microsoft Cloud and Modern Work partners!
Each month, the Crayon Cloud and Modern Work team will curate the latest information from Microsoft.
Each edition will highlight items and actions that are important and/or time sensitive.
Bookmark this page for easy reference and check back each month for your one-stop updates shop.
December 2025
TL:DR PRIORITY UPDATES.
PARTNER CENTRE REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE
Indirect Resellers must meet Microsoft CSP Authorization requirements as of October 2025; check your status in Partner Center.
Microsoft POR validations start December 2025. Use the PRISM Dashboard to view account issues and follow resolution instructions.
NEW LAUNCH OFFERS: COPILOT BUSINESS AND COPILOT BUNDLES
Announced at Ignite 2025, Copilot for Business and Copilot Bundles provide cost-effective AI solutions for SMB customers.
15% OFF MICROSOFT 365 COPILOT BUSINESS ADD-ON
This promotion makes it easier for customers who want to start with Copilot as an add-on to experience AI-powered productivity.
UP TO 35% OFF MICROSOFT 365 BUSINESS + COPILOT BUSINESS BUNDLES
Promotional bundles combine Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium with Copilot Business in one SKU, making AI a natural extension of productivity and offering up to 35% savings for customers.
50% OFF MICROSOFT PURVIEW SUITE FOR BUSINESS PREMIUM
Purview Suite promotion creates an opportunity to pair AI innovation with enterprise-grade security, addressing one of the biggest SMB concerns.
IGNITE 2025 COPILOT ENHANCEMENTS
Microsoft introduced several enhancements to Copilot including, Work IQ for personalised AI, Agent Mode for collaboration in Office apps, Agent 365 for centralised AI management, and support for GPT-5 and Anthropic.
AZURE EXTENDED ZONE IS NOW LIVE IN PERTH, WA (GENERALLY AVAILABLE)
This brings:
- Lower Latency: Faster app performance by running workloads locally.
- Local Data Residency: Keep data within WA for compliance.
- Cost Efficiency: Reduce on-prem needs with Azure scalability.
CSP Program Updates
Partner of Record (POR) Changes Effective December 1, 2025
Microsoft’s CSP (Reseller) Partner on Record (POR) compliance rules is now in effect and will enforce new validation rules for assigning (Reseller) Partner of Record (POR) on CSP subscriptions. Only authorised indirect resellers can be assigned as POR. To avoid disruption to your business—including the inability to create or update subscriptions after 1 December— please ensure that:
- Your CSP enrolment is active in Microsoft Partner Center
- You provided Crayon with correct Partner Location Account ID and Microsoft CSP Agreement ID.
We have now made it easier to identify these setup and configuration issues with alerts in PRISM. Login to your PRISM Dashboard to verify your status and review recommended remediations.
Download the Indirect Reseller Checklist
Introducing the Launch Enablement Guide
Get the latest launch updates across the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) offering and Volume Licensing (VL) in one place.
With the AI-enhanced, always-current Launch Enablement guide, you can easily access consolidated launch updates and official Microsoft Learn content to self-serve and stay informed.
Stay ahead of what’s coming, and ahead of changes to how you do business with Microsoft.
View the Launch Enablement Guide
Microsoft Ignite 2025 Highlights
Copilot Enhancements
- Work IQ: New intelligence layer that personalizes Copilot by understanding organisational data, workflows, and preferences.
- Agent Mode in Office Apps: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint now support iterative collaboration with Copilot.
- Agent 365: A centralised control plane for managing and securing AI agents.
- Expanded Model Choice: Includes GPT-5 and Anthropic models for optimised performance.
Learn more about Copilot Enhancements
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business & Bundles
We are excited to announce that the new Copilot Business and Copilot Business Bundles are now available for ordering. These new SKUs make advanced AI productivity tools accessible and affordable for small and medium businesses.
The SKUs are available at an introductory price with discounts of up to 35% for eligible customers, for a limited time.
- Microsoft Copilot Business: Offer price from USD $18
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard Copilot Bundle: Offer price from USD $22
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium Copilot Bundle: Offer price from USD $32
Contact your Crayon account manager or review here for more information.
AI and Data Innovations
- Fabric IQ: Real-time insights by combining analytical, time-series, and location-based data.
- Foundry IQ: Advanced agent reasoning with multi-source data integration.
- Microsoft Agent Factory: Build and deploy AI agents easily across your organisation.
Azure AI and Cloud Updates
- New Azure OpenAI models and fine-tuning capabilities.
- AI safety and governance tools in Azure AI Studio.
- Enhanced AKS for AI workloads and multi-cloud deployments.
- New Agent Factory– Microsoft Agent Factory helps organisations scale AI fast with the Agent Pre-Purchase Plan (P3), one flexible pool for 32 Microsoft services, simplifying procurement and reducing complexity. Deploy agents anywhere (including Microsoft 365 Copilot), leverage CSP options, and access expert support plus role-based training to accelerate AI adoption.
Security and Compliance
- Microsoft Security Copilot now integrates deeper with Defender and Sentinel.
- Advanced compliance features for regulated industries.
Ignite 2025
The Wrap-Up
Catch our comprehensive summary of the need-to-know announcements, combined with the resource links you’ll need to dive into the detail!
CSP Product Updates
Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
New Power Platform agentic capabilities to simplify app building with AI-driven workflows.
The recent announcement at Ignite introduced new agentic capabilities for Power Platform, designed to make app development more accessible and efficient.
These capabilities leverage artificial intelligence to automate complex workflows and streamline the process of building business applications.
By incorporating AI-driven features, users can now easily create apps that respond intelligently to dynamic business needs, reducing manual intervention and coding requirements.
This advancement empowers both professional developers and citizen developers to accelerate solution delivery by utilising pre-built AI models, natural language interface for workflow creation, and enhanced integration with Microsoft’s broader AI ecosystem. As a result, organisations can quickly adapt to changing environments, automate routine tasks, and unlock new levels of productivity within their digital operations.
CSP Product Updates
Cloud & AI (Azure Infrastructure).
Azure Extended Zone now live in Perth WA
In great news for partners and customers in WA, the Azure Extended Zone is now live in Perth, bringing Microsoft Azure closer to you.
What It Means
- Lower Latency: Faster app performance by running workloads locally.
- Local Data Residency: Keep data within WA for compliance.
- Cost Efficiency: Reduce on-prem needs with Azure scalability.
Key Services
- Compute: VMs, AKS, Azure Virtual Desktop
- Storage: Premium SSD, Blob, Data Lake Gen2
- Networking: ExpressRoute, Private Link, Load Balancer
Why It Matters
Ideal for SMBs seeking better performance, compliance, and cloud adoption, all without leaving WA.
Note: Extended Zones offer a subset of services, depend on Australia East for control, and require registration before deployment.
Azure File Sync now available in New Zealand North
(Generally Available).
Azure File Sync enables seamless tiering of data from on-premises Windows Servers to Azure Files for hybrid use cases and simplified migration. It also enables you to leverage the performance, flexibility and compatibility of your on-premises File Server while leveraging the scale and cost effectiveness of Azure Files.
The expansion into New Zealand North brings the service closer to organisations in these regions, offering lower latency, better performance, and support for local data residency requirements.
NB: If Azure File Sync is not yet available in your preferred region, please fill out this survey to express interest.
Microsoft Databases and Microsoft Fabric
Your unified and AI-powered data estate
(Generally Available)
Microsoft announced the general availability of SQL Server 2025, Azure DocumentDB, and SQL database and Cosmos DB in Fabric, along with the preview of its newest addition, Azure HorizonDB.
With these new offerings, you have a world-class database option to build once and deploy at the edge, as platform as a service (PaaS), or even as software as a service (SaaS). And because the entire portfolio is either Fabric-connected or Fabric native, Fabric serves as a unified hub for your entire data estate.
Learn how these new databases are purpose-built to support your AI projects.
Azure Copilot Agents
(Public Preview)
Azure Copilot Deployment Agent helps you discover, plan, and deploy cloud workloads faster using natural language. It leverages the Azure Well-Architected Framework to recommend best-practice architectures, pre-built templates, or custom IaC—integrated with GitHub and VS Code for seamless deployment
Key Benefits:
- Intelligent workload recommendations
- Step-by-step deployment guidance
- Fast, intuitive, and robust deployments
Please use this form to express interest.
Announcing new Azure Ebsv6 VM series
(Public Preview)
Azure Ebsv6 VM Series (Public Preview) is here, powered by 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® for industry-leading performance:
Up to 800K IOPS and 14 GB/s remote storage throughput
- 2x higher storage performance vs previous gen
- Up to 192 vCPUs, 1832 GiB memory, and 200 Gbps network bandwidth
- Enhanced security with Total Memory Encryption (TME)
- Optimised for large databases, data warehousing, and AI/ML workloads.
Sign up for the public preview through this form and learn more here.
SQL database in Fabric is now generally available
Built on the trusted SQL Server and Azure SQL Database engine, this fully SaaS-native solution empowers developers and data professionals to unify operational and analytical workloads with speed, security, and AI-powered capabilities.
Key highlights include fast provisioning, Copilot-powered management, autonomous scaling, enterprise-grade security (with Customer Managed Keys and SQL Auditing), and native support for AI scenarios like semantic search and RAG.
Azure Databricks Genie is now available in Microsoft Copilot Studio
(Public Preview)
Azure Databricks Genie is now in Microsoft Copilot Studio, enabling conversational, AI-powered analytics across your Databricks data, no code required.
Publish Genie-powered agents to Teams and Microsoft 365 for faster decisions and smarter collaboration.
Azure Databricks Genie is now integrated with Microsoft Foundry
(Public Preview)
You can now connect Genie spaces directly to Microsoft Foundry agents using Model Context Protocol (MCP), giving you seamless access to trusted data for building intelligent workflows.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud and GitHub Advanced Security
(Public Preview)
With Microsoft Defender for Cloud and GitHub Advanced Security, protect cloud-native applications across the full app lifecycle from code to cloud.
This natively integrated solution helps unify developers and security teams in one workflow while staying in the tools they use every day.
Identify vulnerabilities early and connect live threat insights from production environments directly to the vulnerabilities that matter to help prioritise risks.
And with Copilot Autofix and the Coding agent, developer teams can apply AI-suggested fixes in minutes, reducing remediation time.
A new SQL Server migration in Azure Arc
(Generally Available)
New SQL Server Migration in Azure Arc simplifies moving to Azure SQL Managed Instance with an automated, end-to-end process powered by Azure Database Migration Service and Copilot.
Key Features:
- Continuous readiness and cost assessments
- One-click provisioning in the portal
- Real-time replication via DAGs
- Read-only replica validation before cutover
- Client connection summaries
- Copilot-guided troubleshooting
Announcing Azure DocumentDB
(Generally Available)
Azure DocumentDB is now generally available. It is a fully managed, MongoDB-compatible document database built on open source and backed by Azure’s performance, security, and scale.
Why it matters:
- Open & Flexible: Deploy across hybrid and multi-cloud environments
- AI-Ready: Built-in vector and hybrid search for RAG and copilots
- Elastic Performance: Autoscale compute and storage, pay only for what you use
- Enterprise-Grade: Entra ID, customer-managed keys, 35-day backups, 99.999% uptime
Modernise MongoDB workloads and build AI-driven apps faster on a secure, global foundation.
LLM Speech in Microsoft Foundry
(Public Preview)
LLM Speech in Microsoft Foundry brings advanced large language model capabilities to speech, delivering transcription and translation with unmatched fluency and contextual awareness. With enhanced multilingual support and advanced prompt tuning, this API adapts to diverse business needs and outperforms competitors in key benchmarks, providing enterprise-grade speech intelligence and customisation.
Fabric IQ and Foundry IQ Launched
Fabric IQ and Foundry IQ have been launched to deliver advanced real-time analytics and seamless integration of data from multiple sources.
These new solutions are designed to empower organisations to collect, process, and analyse data from a diverse range of platforms both on-premises and in the cloud, enabling them to insights to support informed decision-making, faster than ever before.
With Fabric IQ, businesses can tap into powerful analytics capabilities that provide instant data visualisation and reporting.
Foundry IQ streamlines the process of consolidating data from various systems, ensuring data consistency and reliability.
Together, they support a unified data strategy, breaking down silos and providing a holistic view of business operations.
This is particularly valuable for companies operating in complex, multi-cloud environments, where agility and real-time intelligence are critical for maintaining a competitive edge.
Ask about our funded Fabric Workshops
Get on the data-futures fast track with Crayon!
Our funded Fabric Workshop is available as part of Azure Accelerate and designed to help partners accelerate their Data & AI opportunities.
Spaces are limited and booking fast for Q1, 2026 so be sure to inquire soon!
Resale-enabled listings on Azure Marketplace
Microsoft Azure Marketplace now offers resale-enabled listings, letting software vendors empower channel partners to sell through a scalable, repeatable model.
Why it matters:
- Expand reach without added overhead
- Partners keep customer relationships and gain Marketplace benefits
- Sales count toward Azure consumption commitments, unlocking bigger, strategic deals
Microsoft Promotions and Offers
Introductory Copilot Business and Bundle Offers
These launch offers for Copilot for Business and Copilot Business Bundles aims to help accelerate Copilot deployments within Microsoft 365 Business SKU customers.
Up to 15% off Microsoft 365 Copilot Business
Partners will receive 15 percent off the net partner price of Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. Organisations that are new to or looking to expand Microsoft 365 Copilot Business are a perfect fit for this introductory offer.
- Duration: December 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026
- Commit Term: Annual commit with annual or monthly bill
- Customer Eligibility: All Commercial customers with a maximum of 300 seats of Microsoft 365 Business SKUs
Up to 35% off Business Standard and Copilot Business Bundle
Partners will receive 35 percent off the net partner price of the Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business bundle. Organisations that are new to or looking to expand Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business are a perfect fit for this introductory offer.
- Duration: December 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026
- Commit Term: Annual commit with annual or monthly bill
- Customer Eligibility: All Commercial customers with a maximum of 300 seats of Microsoft 365 Business SKUs
- Minimum Seats: For subscriptions with 10 to 300 seats
Up to 25% off Business Premium and Copilot Business Bundle
Partners will receive 25 percent off the net partner price of the Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business bundle. Organisations that are new to or looking to expand Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business are a perfect fit for this introductory offer.
- Duration: December 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026
- Commit Term: Annual commit with annual or monthly bill
- Customer Eligibility: All Commercial customers with a maximum of 300 seats of Microsoft 365 Business SKUs
- Minimum Seats: For subscriptions with 10 to 300 seats
Reminder: Copilot Start and Scale Promo’s end December 31st!
Microsoft announced two CSP promotions to help you start and scale Microsoft 365 Copilot with customers, running from Oct 1 to Dec 31, 2025.
- Getting Started (15% off): For new to Copilot orgs (10–2,400 seats); annual term; monthly billing +5%. New to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers transacting via CSP. Ineligible if the tenant has any existing paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, regardless of purchase channel
- Scaleup (20% off): A targeted, named set of SME&C CSP customers ready to scale AI adoption across the business.
Azure Accelerate Program
- What: Azure Credit Offering gives 10% of estimated annual Azure spend as credit (applied in month 1).
- Eligibility: Approved by Crayon/Microsoft, net-new Azure opportunity, CSP transaction.
- Process: Apply by 15JuneFY26 → Approval → Customer signs → Credit applied → Billing offset until used.
Reminder: New targeted M365 E3 CSP Promotion 20% Off
The new Targeted Microsoft 365 E3 Annual CSP Promotion offers a 20% discount for eligible customers purchasing Microsoft 365 E3 licences through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.
This promotion is specifically designed to support organisations looking to modernise their workplace solutions and accelerate AI adoption with Microsoft 365 E3.
The offer is available for annual term agreements and is open to both new and existing CSP customers who meet the targeted criteria set by Microsoft.
- Promotion Period: 01/10/2025 – 31/12/2025
- Eligibility: Targeted at specific small and medium enterprise and corporate (SME&C) CSP customers as identified by Microsoft.
- Discount: 20% off the standard price of Microsoft 365 E3 annual term licences purchased via CSP.
This promotion is a strategic opportunity for partners and customers to benefit from advanced productivity, security, and AI features within Microsoft 365 E3, while taking advantage of significant cost savings during the designated period
Key Crayon Promotions
Upgrade Your Way to Cashback with Added NEW Business Premium Security Add-on
Only days left in this great promotion!
Unlock better value and earn a per-seat rebate when you upgrade customers to a higher Microsoft 365 SKU or add Microsoft 365 Copilot on annual commitment subscriptions.
Available for Crayon partners in Australia and New Zealand from Jan 1 to Dec 19, 2025.
Azure Accelerate.
Nominate your customers for the Azure Accelerate program, and we’ll help you assess eligibility for a funded migration to Azure cloud.
Azure Accelerate is Microsoft’s refreshed & unified program that combines Azure Migrate & Modernise & Azure Innovate into one streamlined experience.
Crayon, as an Azure Expert MSP is helping MSPs take full advantage with hands-on delivery support and serious cash incentives across every project size.
Earn more with every Azure engagement – up to $8000 per project!
PAYG/EA to CSP
Are your customers still billing directly to Microsoft for Azure subscriptions? That can increase management risk and leave partner value (and margins) on the table.
Direct billing forces customers to handle provisioning, billing and compliance without your expertise or automation.
With Microsoft’s pricing updates, now is the perfect time to switch to CSP and build recurring revenue.
Why Switch to Crayon?
- Only distie in ANZ that does EA/PAYG to CSP as billing change.
- Zero downtime: transition in 24–48 hours.
- Better margins & incentives with CSP.
- Local ANZ expertise to support your growth.
Crayon Offer:
Move Azure billing from PAYG or EA to CSP with Crayon and receive 50% cashback on the first month’s Azure consumption
Registration here: For PAYG to CSP | For EA to CSP
Recommended Reading
Easy EA to CSP Transition with Crayon
Transitioning from Microsoft Enterprise Agreements to CSP
Azure Credit Offer (ACO).
ACO is an initiative to allow the use of Azure credits to win and accelerate Azure consumption. ACO provides customers with a fixed amount of free Azure usage, which can be used within a defined timeframe. Approved customers can receive 10% in credit to offset their Azure expenses.
Who can get ACO?
- The customer must be an approved and by Crayon/ Microsoft.
- The customer/ Azure Subscription must be a net new Azure Opportunity
- Customer must transact on CSP.
How much credit does the customer receive?
- They will receive 1/10th of the annual estimated ACR.
- Ex: Estimated 12-month Net new only ACR $12k, ACO = $1200 (applied in the 1st month of ACO approval)
- Credit will apply directly to customer’s subscription in the first month of ACO approval.
How we can help?
If the partner request meets the eligibility criteria, Azure team will initiate the approval process, and will guide you with detailed instructions on how to get started.
- Once the customer accepts the amendment, system will apply ACO directly and the offset the monthly invoice.
- Determine Project Scope: Define the Azure solution and timeline with Microsoft or the deployment partner.
- MSFT Sales Application: Apply for the offering by June 10th 2026.
- Internal Approval and E-Signature: After getting MSFT internal approval, e-mail will be sent to customer for e-signature to apply ACO (Azure Credit) to customer tenant (*basically 10% of expected 1yr consumption.
- Consumption Billing: Billing will be offset until the credit is used up.
November 2025
TL:DR PRIORITY UPDATES.
PARTNER CENTRE REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE
Indirect Resellers must meet Microsoft CSP Authorisation requirements as of October 2025. Check your status in Partner Center.
Microsoft POR validations start December 2025. Use the PRISM Dashboard to view account issues and follow resolution instructions.
RETURN OF MICROSOFT 365 SUITES WITH TEAMS INCLUDED
New Microsoft 365 and Enterprise SKUs with Teams are now available in PRISM and Cloud-iQ.
Microsoft has introduced new SKUs, enabling partners to provision Office 365 E1, E3, and E5, as well as Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, with or without Microsoft Teams.
These offerings are now available in Crayon platforms.
REMINDER #1: EA PRICING CONSISTENCY
From Nov 1, 2025: Microsoft removes Online Services volume discounts (EA/MPSA/OSPA B–D levels), aligning to Level A (list) price at renewal or for new services. This opens a CSP alternative motion.
Talk to your Crayon account representative about how we can help.
REMINDER #2: FY26 MCI INCENTIVE EARNING RULES
For CSP indirect resellers, incentive eligibility requires either the solution-area Solutions Partner designation or ≥25 Partner Capability Score points, plus $25K TTM revenue at the Partner Location.
AWS TO AZURE MIGRATIONS
Azure Storage Mover’s new AWS S3 to Azure Blob migration feature is now generally available, empowering organisations to move data directly from AWS to Azure securely, reliably, and at scale.
With this release, customers can eliminate manual pipelines and third-party tools, automate migrations in the Azure portal, and gain real-time visibility into every job.
MICROSOFT TO SUNSET SOME AZURE VM SERIES
The F, Fs, Fsv2, Lsv2, G, Gs, Av2, Amv2, and B series of Azure Virtual Machines will retire on November 15th, 2028. These VMs will no longer be able to be used or purchased after this date.
LICENSING CHANGES FOR AZURE VMWARE SOLUTION SUBSCRIPTIONS
Broadcom has announced changes to its VMware licensing policies, and now requires new customers to bring their own portable VCF subscriptions when using hyperscaler platforms.
After October 15, 2025, new or existing customers purchasing new/additional nodes of AVS will need to provide a VCF subscription from Broadcom or one of its reseller partners.
Microsoft’s current Azure VMware Solution (AVS) customers can continue to operate AVS nodes without licensing or product changes through to the end of Reserved Instance terms.
Certification Week for Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Starts Soon
December 1st – 5th, 2025.
Free practice and exam vouchers are on offer when you sign up for the Asia Certification Week.
CSP Program Updates
Partner of Record Changes Start December 1st, 2025
Microsoft’s CSP (Reseller) Partner on Record (POR) compliance rules is taking effect on the 1st December 2025 and will enforce new validation rules for assigning (Reseller) Partner of Record (POR) on CSP subscriptions. Only authorised indirect resellers can be assigned as POR.
To avoid disruption to your business, including the inability to create or update subscriptions after 1 December, please ensure that:
- Your CSP enrolment is active in Microsoft Partner Center
- You provided Crayon with correct Partner Location Account ID and Microsoft CSP Agreement ID.
We have now made it easier to identify these setup and configuration issues with alerts in PRISM.
Login to your PRISM Dashboard to verify your status and review recommended remediations.
CTA: Download the Indirect Reseller Checklist
Enhanced Microsoft Learn Experience
Multi-Account Linking and Unified Credential View.
Beginning 18th November 2025, Microsoft is enabling multi-profile linking and improving credential visibility to address common pain points for users and partners.
These enhancements streamline certification management, reduce support overhead, and deliver a more intuitive experience for all users engaging with Microsoft Learn.
You can now link several Microsoft Learn profiles (MSA and AAD) straight from the Learn Linking page, making it easier to manage certifications without merging accounts.
Credentials from all linked accounts appear in one place, with filters to sort by account type or category. Navigation is simpler, with dedicated tabs for Partner University and Learn Linking. The Learn Linking page has a fresh look, letting you add new profiles, view learnings, and see linked accounts in a table with options to unlink.
These updates also set the stage for future AI features to help with learning.
CSP Product Updates
Microsoft 365 and Copilot.
Copilot Pre-Purchase Plan.
Unlock savings, take control of your AI costs. Enjoy upfront discounts, hassle-free billing, and flexible usage.
Copilot Credits Pre-Purchase plan is new purchase option in addition to Microsoft Copilot Studio license (i.e., Copilot Credit capacity pack and Microsoft Copilot Studio pay-as-you-go meter.)
The Copilot Credit Pre-Purchase Plan offers organisations a one-year, pay-upfront purchase option for Copilot Credits at tiered discounts. Customers purchase a pool of Copilot Credit Commit Units (CCCUs) that automatically covers the usage of Copilot Credit. Each CCCUs is worth $1 and converts to 100 Copilot Credits.
The Copilot Credits Pre-Purchase Plan allows organisations to buy large blocks of credits (300,000+) valid for a year, with discounts up to 20% compared to PAYG.
For more information, check these links:
- Microsoft Copilot Studio Licensing Guide
- Copilot Credit P3 – Microsoft Cost Management | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft 365 Copilot for Education.
The discounted variant of Microsoft 365 Copilot for education, priced at $18 per user per month, is scheduled to launch in December 2025.
This specialised offering is tailored specifically for educational institutions and includes dedicated “Teach,” “Study,” and “Learn” agents. These agents are designed to enhance the teaching and learning experience by providing AI-powered support for educators and students, streamlining lesson planning, facilitating personalized study assistance, and enabling interactive learning opportunities.
By making advanced AI tools more accessible and affordable for schools, colleges, and universities, Microsoft aims to empower educators to deliver more effective instruction and to support students in achieving better learning outcomes. The inclusion of specialised agents addresses the unique needs of educational environments, promoting innovation and efficiency in classroom and remote learning settings.
Document Processing for Microsoft 365.
Microsoft Syntex has been rebranded as Document Processing for Microsoft 365. While all features remain the same, the service is now billed through an Azure subscription.
Document Processing for Microsoft 365 enables organisations to automate content understanding and management within their Microsoft 365 environment. This tool leverages advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to classify, extract, and organise information from documents such as contracts, invoices, and receipts, helping streamline business processes and increase productivity.
The transition to Azure-based billing provides more flexible and scalable management of costs, as organizations can monitor and adjust usage directly through the Azure portal.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat in Apps.
For users with a work or school account and a qualifying Microsoft 365 business subscription, Copilot Chat is now available side-by-side in select Microsoft 365 apps, starting with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook.
Copilot Chat helps users ask questions, get summaries, generate content, and more all while being able to reference content you have open in the apps.
Copilot Chat without Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license.
You get access to helpful AI features through Copilot Chat in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook:
- Web-grounded chat: Ask questions and get answers based on public web data
- Content awareness: Copilot Chat is aware of the content of open file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), page (OneNote), or email (Outlook) to provide relevant responses
- Pay-as-you-go agents: Use metered AI agents to help you automate and execute business processes.
Copilot Chat with Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license.
You can unlock the full power of Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps:
- Web and work-grounded chat: Get answers based on both public web data and your work content.
- Included access to agents: Access AI agents, including priority access to reasoning agents like Researcher and Analyst.
- Advanced features: Use AI for in-app editing to create, command, and collaborate.
Copilot License Details Diagnostic.
The ability to leverage Copilot for Microsoft 365 is directly tied to proper license assignment, a critical step in unlocking AI-powered productivity. Without the right license, users may be unable to access key Copilot features, leading to confusion or reduced value from your Microsoft 365 investment.
Copilot License Check Diagnostic is a powerful tool is designed to streamline and validate license readiness by confirming whether Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses are properly assigned to users, ensuring that features dependent on Copilot function as expected.
The tool is built to empower both customers and support engineers. It validates whether users are properly licensed to access Copilot for Microsoft 365 by checking:
- Assignment and validity of Copilot for Microsoft 365 licenses
- User eligibility across Microsoft 365 services that integrate with Copilot
- Dependency on prerequisite licenses (e.g., Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Office apps)
- All the service plans enabled within Copilot license.
- Potential gaps that could block access to Copilot-powered capabilities
Everything Copilot. All in one place
Visit our new M365 Copilot Hub for the latest videos, articles, webinars and resources.
CSP Product Updates
Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
Power Platform & Power BI Licensing Resources.
The Power Platform & Power BI Licensing Resources have undergone significant updates as of October 2025.
These updates include revised licensing guides and presentation decks that reflect the latest changes and enhancements to the Power Platform and Power BI offerings. Notably, the updated materials now incorporate comprehensive details about Microsoft Fabric, the new unified analytics platform that integrates data engineering, data science, real-time analytics, and business intelligence into a single, seamless experience.
The revised licensing guides are designed to help organisations understand the range of options available, enabling them to select the most suitable plans for their needs. The inclusion of Microsoft Fabric in these resources reflects its growing importance in the Microsoft ecosystem, providing users with guidance on how Fabric’s capabilities are licenced and how they interact with existing Power Platform and Power BI services.
New Dynamics 365 Business Central prices.
From November 1, 2025, Microsoft has increased the pricing for Dynamics 365 Business Central for the first time in over five years. The update reflects the platform’s expanded capabilities, including new AI and Copilot features, enhanced analytics, and deeper Power Platform integration.
These new rates apply to all new Business Central cloud subscriptions and to existing subscriptions upon their first renewal on or after November 1, 2025. Below, you will find the list of online products for which prices are being updated, as well as the increased storage allocation.
REMINDER: Bridge to Cloud (BTC2) ends in December. Reduced savings with new BTC3 promo.
The Bridge to Cloud 2 (BTC2) program, which has offered organisations significant cost savings and transition benefits for moving from on-premises Microsoft solutions to cloud-based services, is set to conclude in December.
BTC2 has been a key pathway for customers seeking to modernise their IT infrastructure by adopting Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and other cloud offerings, providing discounted rates and flexible migration options. After December, Microsoft will introduce the Bridge to Cloud 3 (BTC3) promotion. However, it is important to note that the new BTC3 promo will offer reduced savings compared to BTC2.
This means that while BTC3 will still provide incentives for customers to move to the cloud, the financial benefits and discounts available under BTC2 will not be as generous under the new promotion.
We encourage organisations that are considering a transition act promptly to maximise their potential savings before BTC2 ends.
For those unable to complete their migration before the December deadline, BTC3 will continue to offer support and some cost reductions, but the terms may be less favourable.
It is advisable to review your organisations cloud migration plans and timelines to ensure you can take full advantage of the current BTC2 benefits before the program concludes.
Copilot Pre-Purchase Plan
Copilot Credits serve as the consumption currency for various Microsoft Copilot Agents. Until now, you could either purchase a Capacity Pack, which provides 25,000 Copilot Credits for $200 per month or opt for a Pay-As-You-Go model at $0.01 per credit.
Microsoft has now introduced a third option with the Pre-Purchase Plan, allowing you to buy larger volumes of Copilot Credits (starting from 300,000) that can be used anytime within the following year—ideal for managing seasonal demand spikes.
As expected, volume discounts apply. There are nine pricing tiers, offering 5% to 20% discounts compared to PAYG rates.
You can read the full announcement, including a sample usage scenario and the complete discount tier table, here.
CASE STUDY: Dynamics Square puts Copilot into flight for NaturaTech
The power of Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics Business Central has transformed operations for NaturaTech’s pharmaceutical manufacturing business.
Learn how Dynamics Square harnessed Copilot to deliver tangible, measurable business outcomes, with a little help from Crayon.
CSP Product Updates
Cloud and AI (Azure Infrastructure).
Microsoft strengthens sovereign cloud capabilities with new services.
Across Europe and around the world, organisations today face a complex mix of regulatory mandates, heightened expectations for resilience, and relentless technological advancement.
Sovereignty has become a core requirement for governments, public institutions, and enterprises seeking to harness the full power of the cloud while retaining control over their data and operations.
In June 2025, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced a broad range of solutions to help meet these needs with the Microsoft Sovereign Cloud. Nadella said Microsoft continues to adapt its sovereignty approach, innovating to meet customer needs and regulatory requirements within the Microsoft Sovereign Public Cloud and Sovereign Private Cloud.
The announcement heralds a new wave of capabilities, building upon existing digital sovereignty controls to deliver advanced AI and scale, strengthened by the Microsoft ecosystem of specialised in-country partner experts.
Expanded features and services include:
- End-to-end AI data-processing in Europe as part of EU (European Union) Data Boundary.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot expands in-country processing for Copilot Interactions to 15 countries. Learn more about this announcement in the Microsoft 365 blog.
- Sovereign Landing Zones service expansion and disconnected operations for Microsoft Azure Local.
- Microsoft 365 Local general availability.
- Increased maximum scale of Azure Local, support for external SAN storage, and support for the latest NVIDIA GPUs.
- Availability of new partner Digital Sovereignty specialisation.
Announcing the Public Preview of Vaulted Backup for Azure Data Lake Storage.
Azure Backup now supports vaulted protection for Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS), delivering secure, off-site backups that ensure business continuity and compliance, even in cases of accidental deletion, malicious activity, or ransomware. Vaulted backups maintain an independent copy of your data, isolated from the source account.
Key Capabilities:
Off-site protection
Recover data even if the source account is compromised. Restore to original or alternate accounts.
Resilience against detection and attacks
Isolated backups protect against insider threats and ransomware.
Automated and flexible scheduling
Configure daily/weekly schedules or trigger on-demand backups.
Long-term retention
Store backups for up to 10 years to meet compliance and archival needs.
Security-first design
Features like soft-delete, immutability, encryption, and multi-user authorization safeguard vault data.
During public preview, you can configure vaulted backups for block blobs in HNS-enabled standard general-purpose v2 ADLS Gen2 accounts in the regions mentioned here.
For more details, refer to this article.
Billing started from October 1st, 2025, including protected instance fees, write transaction charges, and backup storage costs. Refer to Pricing – Cloud Backup | Microsoft Azure for billing details
Introducing the new Data Protection Playbook Series
What triggers a small or medium sized business to begin exploring their Data Protection needs? The first Playbook in this new series breaks down the Pre-Adoption and Exploration stage in the customer lifecycle.
Get started with cloud-to-cloud migration in Azure Storage Mover.
Azure Storage Mover’s new AWS S3 to Azure Blob migration feature is now generally available, empowering organisations to move data directly from AWS to Azure securely, reliably, and at scale.
With this release, customers can eliminate manual pipelines and third-party tools, automate migrations in the Azure portal, and gain real-time visibility into every job.
Key benefits:
1. Fully Managed and Scalable
Azure Storage Mover is a fully managed service, meaning Microsoft handles the infrastructure, scaling, and reliability. This reduces operational overhead and ensures consistent performance across large-scale transfers.
2. No On-Premises Agent Required
Unlike on-premises migrations, cloud-to-cloud transfers do not require deploying a self-hosted agent. This simplifies setup and reduces the need for additional compute resources.
3. High-Speed, Parallel Transfers
Storage Mover supports parallel file transfers, enabling faster migration of large datasets. This is particularly useful when moving data across regions or between storage accounts with high throughput requirements.
Get started today and simplify your multicloud data estate with Azure Storage Mover’s Cloud-to-Cloud migration.
Enhanced Learning Profiles in Partner Center.
Microsoft announced significant enhancements to the Learning Profile experience in Partner Center, designed to simplify credential management and improve skilling accessibility for all users.
Beginning November 18, 2025, these updates will empower individuals to manage learning profiles more efficiently while accessing richer insights into their certifications.
Key highlights from the update:
- Multiple Profile Linking: Users can now link multiple Microsoft Learn profiles, both MSA and AAD directly from the Learn Linking page. This change eliminates the need for account mergers and provides flexibility for those managing certifications across different accounts.
- Credential Visibility and Filtering: Once linked, users are able to view credentials from all connected accounts in one consolidated view. Advanced filtering options allow sorting by account type and credential category, ensuring quick access to relevant certifications.
- Improved Navigation: The Learning Profile section now features separate tabs for Partner University and Learn Linking, creating a cleaner interface.
- Updated UI and Actions: The Learn Linking page is redesigned to support these changes. Users have a new Add New Microsoft Learn Profile option and an action button for View Learnings. Linked accounts are displayed in a tabular format, including account type, linked date, and quick actions such as Unlink Account.
- Future-Ready Design: These changes lay the foundation for upcoming AI-driven features that provide personalised recommendations and support for skilling journeys
Azure VMware Solutions Subscription Licensing changes.
Broadcom announced changes to its VMware licensing policies.
The change now requires new customers to bring their own portable VCF subscriptions when using hyperscaler platforms.
Our current Azure VMware Solution (AVS) customers can continue to operate their AVS nodes without any licensing or product changes through the end of their Reserved Instance (RI) term.
This is a licensing change only. There is no product change to the AVS service. Microsoft will continue to offer AVS as a fully managed VCF private cloud service in Azure.
What you need to know:
- After October 15, 2025, new or existing customers purchasing new/additional nodes of AVS will need to provide a VCF subscription from Broadcom or one of its reseller partners.
- For AVS with VCF included using an RI option: You can continue to operate the AVS nodes without any licensing or product changes through the end of the RI term.
- If you would like to trade in your current AVS RI on or before October 15, 2025 for a new AVS RI that provides a later expiration date, you can leverage the self-service exchange process.
- For AVS with VCF included PayGo subscriptions, please contact your Microsoft Team for details & key dates for PayGo subscriptions.
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) support for Virtual Machines with Ultra Disks.
This release enables organisations to replicate, failover, and failback virtual machines with Ultra Disks across Azure regions with minimal impact on production performance.
ASR offers automated recovery orchestration, cost-efficient replication, and non-disruptive testing, helping businesses ensure operational resilience, meet compliance needs, and minimise downtime. With this milestone, customers can now confidently extend enterprise-grade protection and continuity to their Ultra Disk–backed workloads using Azure Site Recovery.
Ultra Disks are the most performant block storage option for Azure virtual machines offering consistent low sub-millisecond latency, extremely high performance. This makes Ultra disk ideal for a broad spectrum of the most demanding enterprise production workloads, such as SAP HANA, top-tier databases, and transaction-heavy systems that require the highest levels of performance.
Sun sets on some Azure Virtual Machine series.
The F, Fs, Fsv2, Lsv2, G, Gs, Av2, Amv2, and B series of Azure Virtual Machines will retire on November 15th, 2028. These VMs will no longer be able to be used or purchased after this date.
To ensure any applications and workloads running on these VMs will be operating in the future, you need to migrate your F, Fs, Fsv2, Lsv2, G, Gs, Av2, Amv2, and B VM series workloads to a newer VM series.
Three-year reserved instances for these VMs can no longer be purchased or renewed starting on Novermber 15th, 2025. One-year reserved VM instances for these VMs will not be available for purchased or renewal after November 15th, 2027.
If you have a three-year reserved instance contract for these VMs, you’ll still receive your reserved instances benefit for the remainder of the contract. After that, you’ll be billed at pay-as-you-go rates.
To plan for this change and avoid unexpected billing, we recommend reviewing your current reserved instance orders to identify impacted VMs and their expiration dates.
For pricing details, please refer to the VM pricing pages and the pricing calculator.
For additional support, you can create a support request by following this process here.
You can also get answers from community experts in Microsoft Q&A. If you have a support plan and you need technical help, open the Azure portal and select the question mark icon at the top of the page.
Microsoft Sentinel 50GB commitment tier in public preview.
Microsoft is launching a new 50GB commitment tier for Microsoft Sentinel, available in public preview with promotional pricing from October 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026. Customers who purchase during this window will lock in pricing until March 31, 2027. This offer provides a cost-effective and more predictable pricing model for the small and medium enterprise customers and is ideal for indirect resellers who serve this segment.
Get up to 32%* off pay-as-you-go price with Microsoft Sentinel 50-GB commitment tier promotion.
The 50-GB promotional tier is available in all regions where Microsoft Sentinel is sold. The promotion can be used with existing or new purchases of Microsoft Sentinel. The promotion cannot be combined with other Microsoft Sentinel discounts.
CTA: Use the following links to access more information.
- Promotion slide deck to support sales conversations.
- FAQ for eligibility and usage guidance.
- Updated pricing page for region-specific details.
(*Maximum discount available is region dependent.)
Azure Kubernetes Service on VMware to be retired.
Azure Kubernetes Service on VMware (preview) will be retired on March 16, 2026. Please transition to a supported Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Local by that date if needed. We encourage you to transition to Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Local before March 16, 2026, to benefit from its enhanced capabilities.
After March 16, 2026, you will no longer be able to deploy or receive support for Azure Kubernetes Service on VMware.
If you have additional questions, please contact through the AKS enabled by Azure Arc GitHub repository.
Learn more about service retirements that may impact your resources in the Azure Retirement Workbook. Please note that retirements may not be visible in the workbook for up to two weeks after being announced.
New Southeast Asia 3 Datacenter region in Malaysia.
Microsoft is expanding its digital infrastructure footprint further with a new datacenter region, Southeast Asia 3, planned in Malaysia.
This datacenter region will feature Microsoft’s most comprehensive and strategic cloud services, designed to support advanced workloads and evolving customer needs from across the area.
CSP Promotions and Offers
Copilot Start and Scale promotions end in December.
Microsoft announced two CSP promotions to help you start and scale Microsoft 365 Copilot with customers, each running from October 1st to Dec 31, 2025.
Getting Started (15% off)
For new to Copilot orgs (10–2,400 seats); annual term; monthly billing +5%. New to Microsoft 365 Copilot customers transacting via CSP. Ineligible if the tenant has any existing paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license, regardless of purchase channel.
Scaleup (20% off)
A targeted, named set of SME&C CSP customers ready to scale AI adoption across the business.
Azure Accelerate Program.
Azure Credit Offering gives 10% of estimated annual Azure spend as credit (applied in month 1).
Eligibility: Approved by Crayon/Microsoft, net-new Azure opportunity, CSP transaction.
Process: Apply by 15th of June 2026 → Approval → Customer signs → Credit applied → Billing offset until used.
New Targeted M365 E3 CSP Promotion.
The new Targeted Microsoft 365 E3 Annual CSP Promotion offers a 20% discount for eligible customers purchasing Microsoft 365 E3 licences through the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. This promotion is specifically designed to support organisations looking to modernise their workplace solutions and accelerate AI adoption with Microsoft 365 E3. The offer is available for annual term agreements and is open to both new and existing CSP customers who meet the targeted criteria set by Microsoft.
- Promotion Period: 01/10/2025 – 31/12/2025
- Eligibility: Targeted at specific small and medium enterprise and corporate (SME&C) CSP customers as identified by Microsoft.
- Discount: 20% off the standard price of Microsoft 365 E3 annual term licences purchased via CSP.
This promotion is a strategic opportunity for partners and customers to benefit from advanced productivity, security, and AI features within Microsoft 365 E3, while taking advantage of significant cost savings during the designated period
Training, Events and Bootcamps
Advance your career in Data & AI with Microsoft Fabric Data Days
Fabric Data Days offers 50+ days of immersive learning designed for data professionals at every level and students alike.
Don’t miss your chance to gain practical experience, earn free certifications exam vouchers, and connect with a global community of experts.
Here’s what you’ll get when you join Fabric Data Days Live learning sessions:
- Go beyond theory and experience real-world demos and deep dives into Microsoft Fabric, Data Engineering, Data Science, and AI.
- Each session is hosted by Microsoft Fabric and Power BI experts, like Microsoft Data Platform MVPs, Microsoft Certified Trainers, and the brilliant members of the Fabric Community.
- Week one starts with dataviz kickoffs for students and professionals, sessions on certification exams DP-700 and DP-600, and a chance to learn tips and tricks from the Power BI dataviz world champions.
- All sessions are recorded and available on-demand.
Don’t miss access exclusive post-session resources. Register now for your time zone and language. English | Spanish | Portuguese.
Grow Your Skills with Certifications.
Whether you are getting your first certification or your 10th, there’s something for you.
If you are interested in taking a Fabric exam, Microsoft has discounted exam vouchers: 100% discount exams DP-600 & DP-700, and 50% discount exam vouchers for exams PL-300 & DP-900.
And of course, there will be help for you to prepare for those exams. We have live sessions, study groups, skills challenges and more.
Contests & Hands-On Challenges.
Apply your knowledge to real scenarios. There are 3 contests for you during Fabric Data Days.
- Student dataviz Contest: Join the live kickoff sessions November 4th and 5th or watch on demand. Get a headstart on understanding the dataset and design tips from experts. English | Spanish | Portuguese
- Professional dataviz Contest: Join the live kickoff session on November 5th or watch on demand. This session also includes design tips from top rated design experts. View in English.
- Fabric Notebooks Contest: Put your Fabric skills to the test with this Notebooks contest. Learn more.
Not feeling up for a full contest? Try your hand at the weekly QuickViz challenges instead. Register now!
Microsoft AI Tour for Partners, Sydney
Monday, April 20, 2026 | 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM AEST
Regional In-Person Events.
Hands-on workshops and live sessions across APAC. Upcoming highlights include:
Kuala Lumpur (Nov 12th)
Threat Protection with Microsoft Defender XDR
Tokyo (Dec 4th and 5th)
AI-powered Analytics with Microsoft Fabric
Sydney (Dec 10th)
Accelerate Agentic AI
Singapore (Dec 15th and 16th)
AI-powered Analytics with Microsoft Fabric
You can find the Asia events calendar in the Skilling Hub by filtering for ‘Asia In-person Events.’
Certification Weeks.
Prepare for Microsoft advanced role-based certifications and meet the AI Cloud Partner Program skilling criteria. Free exam and practice vouchers on offer.
- AI Business Solutions Certification Week (Live): English – Dec 1-5 (SGT, AEST)
- Cloud & AI Platforms Certification Prep (On Demand) Register here
Microsoft Titan Skilling Academy for Partners.
Register for the Microsoft Titan Skilling Academy today! Deepen your expertise across sales, pre-sales, and technical solution areas and become a Microsoft Titan!
Project Ready Virtual Workshops.
New Nonprofit Events site.
This new customer-facing site serves as a central hub for discovering aggregated free virtual and in-person events hosted by Microsoft and partners.
Key Highlights:
- You can filter events based on product, region, topic, and nonprofit function.
- Events aggregated on this page are produced by the Microsoft Elevate commercial team, the Microsoft Elevate skilling team and select partners.
- Events are aligned to with solution plays to ensure alignment with GTM priorities.
Explore the new Microsoft Elevate Nonprofit Events website here
October 2025
TL:DR PRIORITY UPDATES.
PARTNER CENTRE REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE
Microsoft is tightening up requirements. Partners must ensure that their tax/bank data is correct by October 15th, 2025 or risk payout restrictions.
Multifactor Authentication (MFA) is now enforced across the Partner Centre portal. API MFA is live for testing and full API enforcement starts on April 1, 2026.
COPILOT PROMOTIONS LIVE FOR Q3/Q3 2026
Two CSP‑only offers run Oct 1–Dec 31, 2025:
- Getting Started (15% off, 10–2,400 seats)
- ScaleUp (20% off, 100+ seats for a targeted named list)
- PLUS an October targeted Microsoft 365 E3 annual promo (20% off for large customers).
EA ‘PRICING CONSISTENCY’ KICKS IN
From November 1, 2025 Microsoft will remove Online Services volume discounts (EA/OSPA B-D levels), aligning to Level A list price at renewal or upon adding new services.
This shifts negotiation dynamics and opens a CSP alternative motion.
TEAM LICENSING IS CHANGING (AGAIN).
From Nov 1, 2025, customers will be able to buy Microsoft 365/Office 365 Enterprise suites with or without Teams globally.
Expect a fixed price delta between the “with Teams” and “no Teams” suites
FY26 MCI INCENTIVE EARNING RULES
For CSP indirect resellers, incentive eligibility requires either the solution‑area Solutions Partner designation or ≥25 Partner Capability Score points, plus $25K TTM revenue at the Partner Location.
CSP Program Updates
Partner Centre: regulations, security and compliance.
Partner of Record (POR) Changes Start December 1, 2025
Effective December 1, 2025, Microsoft will enforce new validation rules for assigning Partner of Record (POR) on CSP subscriptions. Only authorised indirect resellers can be assigned as POR.
To remain eligible:
- Ensure your tenant is authorized as a CSP indirect reseller
- Use a valid Partner Location Account (PLA) ID (not PGA ID) with Crayon
- Match CSP region between your tenant and Crayon’s
- Maintain active tenant status in Partner Center
- Keep your legal profile and contact info up to date
Additionally, Partners should complete the distributor association with Crayon at the earliest. The Partner Center admin of your organisation can accept Crayon relationship request using the relevant country link here: AU, NZ, IDN, SG, MY, PH, TH, JP, LK
Note: If you currently buy internal-use licenses from Crayon on your Microsoft tenant, you cannot complete this association. Instead:
- Transfer current licenses from PRISM to PRISM/Cloud-iQ End Customer Portal. Contact support to initiate this process.
- After moving your internal-use licenses, you should be able to complete the distributor association.
For more information, download the Indirect Reseller Checklist
Updated CSP authorisation eligibility requirements.
From 1 October 2025, Microsoft will enforce updated CSP authorisation eligibility requirements for all partners.
To remain eligible, partners must meet new baseline criteria related to security posture, including mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative users and completion of required security controls in the Partner Center.
Partners should proactively review these eligibility standards and ensure all compliance actions are completed to avoid any disruption to their CSP status or incentive eligibility.
Eligibility Requirements Overview
1. Partner ID: Active membership in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MAICPP) and a valid Partner Location Account (PLA) ID for the business address linked to your reseller tenant in Partner Center.
2. Endorsement: Legal authority to accept and sign agreements on behalf of your organization
3. Revenue Requirement: Minimum of USD $1,000 in CSP transactional revenue over the past 12 months at the reseller PLA tenant level
4. Security Posture: Mandatory requirements include:
a. Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) for all administrative users
b. Designate a security contact within Partner Center
Security Workspace is expected to be available from November to help track your security score in Partner Center.
CTA: Audit your security score and MFA coverage in Partner Center today. For more information, please review Security requirements for Partner Center
Compliance and Readiness: Micro Timeline.
Blocking of CSP transactions.
Starting October 7, 2025, Microsoft will block certain transactions for customers whose Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) was attested by a partner before April 1, 2023, and has not been re-attested. Affected actions include:
- New purchases
- Changes in quantity
- Modifications to term duration or billing plans
- Product upgrades
To restore access, either of the following must happen:
- The partner re-attests using the MCA Bulk Sign Tool in the PRISM portal
- The customer accepts the MCA directly via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Once completed, Microsoft will lift the restrictions and allow transactions to proceed normally.
PRISM identifies customers needing re-attestation in the “Manage Tenant” section, where alerts appear. You can also check if a customer signed the agreement directly in Microsoft Admin Center by clicking ‘check’ next to the agreement status.
Also starting January 5, 2026 Microsoft will retire the current partner attestation API. From this date forward, customers must accept the MCA directly through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center using this link: Billing Accounts Agreement
CTA: Review your compliance status and complete the re-attestation as needed.
FY’26 Microsoft Commerce Incentives (MCI).
Microsoft has introduced new and updated partner incentives for FY26, including revised eligibility requirements, payment terms, and engagement options.
These changes are designed to offer partners more opportunities to boost sales, earn rewards, and provide greater value to their customers.
CTA: Review and understand the Microsoft Commerce Incentives program and how it would benefit your organisation.
For more information, please visit the MCI Partner Information Page.
