Microsoft 365 Admin Center to Take Over License Assignments

[TonyRedmond]

Microsoft is removing license assignments from the Entra admin center. From Sept 1, new license assignments are done in the Microsoft 365 admin center. In other news, a new Self-service trials and purchases page is coming to the Microsoft 365 admin center to control the ability of users to purchase self-service licenses or use trial licenses.

https://office365itpros.com/2024/08/09/license-assignments-move/

[#2]

Yet another short notice and inappropriate change by Microsoft, in my opinion. Hopefully they add the ability to add licences to the group on the group pop-out, like a user assignment. Adding multiple licences to a group, e.g. where a Teams Phone licence needs an appropriate 365 BP/E licence first, is slow and cumbersome in the 365 Admin Portal.

LIke many others I'm sure we'd rather Microsoft fix important things instead of keep generating more confusion and work by making multiple short notice changes to the way things work plenty well already.

[#3]

@TonyRedmond 

But seems MPSA without change yet

[#4]

@TonyRedmond 

The benefits of the azure licensing portal was the detail. The m365 center has always been sparse on detail and the design/navigation is cumbersome. In the azure portal, I can see license assignments per sku on a user, it can show conflicts and provides details on deficits (who is without a license or if there is a double assignment error for multiple presets). I am kind of upset about this without being able to see a preview. If it's the current portal, I'm definitely upset.

consolidation makes sense, but I guess I'm just cranky.

[#5]

I wouldn't get too upset just yet. Let the rationalization process play out and allow Microsoft to make the changeover and introduce some new functionality (some coming, some already there) to upgrade the Microsoft 365 admin center. I think we should be able to make a
better judgment on the transition at the end of 2024.

And there's always PowerShell to slice and dice licensing data any way you care to have it. like https://office365itpros.com/2024/02/14/microsoft-365-licensing-report/

[#6]

Some thoughts about why this change isn't so bad:

The Benefits of Rationalizing License Management in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

The decision to rationalize license management in the Microsoft 365 admin center wasn’t popular but the signs are that it could deliver benefits to customers in the form of new features and functionality. The first updates are a GUI to manage self-service purchases and trials together with notifications to administrators when a user makes a self-service purchase. More needs to happen, but positive indications are there.

https://office365itpros.com/2024/08/21/license-management-m365/