Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners topics

CSP Account suspended without notification, no explanation given

bjcls — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:54:57 GMT

Hello Microsoft Community,

I'm hoping someone here has experienced something similar and can point me in the right direction.

I have been a Microsoft Partner since 2019. This past January I renewed my Partner Success Core Benefits pack. A couple of weeks ago I noticed I had lost access to all my benefits. I opened a support case, and after going back and forth I still have no resolution.

The only explanation I've received is a reference to section 4.b of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program Agreement, which states that either party can terminate the relationship with 30 days' notice and without providing a reason. No notification was ever sent to me. No 30-day notice. I simply woke up one day with no access.

At one point I was told I could re-enroll under a new tenant. I tried this, and it didn't work. When I followed up, the support team went back to citing section 4.b and closed the door again.

I understand I'm a small partner in Microsoft's ecosystem, but I've invested years building my business around this partnership, renewed my benefits in good faith just a few months ago, and I would love to find a constructive way forward.

My questions for the community:

1. **Is there a formal escalation path** beyond standard Partner Center support cases?

2. **Has anyone successfully re-enrolled** after a suspension of this kind, and what was the process?

Any guidance, shared experience, or contacts would be enormously appreciated. I am not looking to complain, I just want to understand my options and get back to serving my customers.

Thank you in advance.

Renovaciones programadas en el Partner Center para Licencias CSP

FALVAREZ — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:54:20 GMT

Alguien ha tenido problemas con su Renovación de licencias dentro del Partner, que las dejes programadas y cuando ingresan de nuevo al cliente se borra la programación?

ICYMI: Turn upcoming virtualization licensing changes into a growth opportunity

JillArmourMicrosoft — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:40:24 GMT

Seize the market shift driven by recent virtualization licensing changes by accelerating the move from Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA)-based licensing to a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) model.

CSP account suspended without notice, no explanation given. What are my options?

bjcls — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:37:08 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone in the community or perhaps someone from Microsoft can help me understand what happened and what I can do next. I've been a Microsoft partner since 2019, and last January I renewed my Partner Success Core Benefits program. A few months later, I discovered my CSP account had been suspended with no prior notification whatsoever.

I opened a support ticket, and the response I received cited section 4.b of the Microsoft AI Cloud Program Agreement, essentially stating that Microsoft can terminate a partner relationship with 30 days' notice and is not required to provide a reason. I understand this is contractually possible but I received no notice, and no explanation.

After re-opening the case multiple times, I was told to enroll into a new tenant with a new enrollment. I attempted this, but it did not work. When I followed up, I received copy-paste responses directing me back to the same steps.

To summarize where I am right now:

Partner since 2019, with renewed subscriptions as recently as January
Account suspended and no advance notice received
No explanation provided, citing section 4.b of the agreement
New tenant enrollment suggested but unsuccessful
Support has been non-responsive beyond templated replies

I'm not here to argue, I accept that Microsoft has the right to make decisions about its partner ecosystem. What I'm asking for is basic transparency: did I do something wrong? If there was a compliance issue, a policy violation, or any other reason for the suspension, I would genuinely like to know so I can understand and, if possible, address it.

I also have some practical questions the community may be able to help with:

Is there a formal appeal or review process for suspended partner accounts?
Is new enrollment genuinely possible after a termination under 4.b, and if so, what are the correct steps?
Has anyone else experienced this and found a way to resolve it constructively?
Is there an escalation path beyond the standard support ticket process?

I know I'm a small partner and this is likely a minor matter from Microsoft's perspective. But for a small business that has invested years in this program and renewed in good faith just months ago, this situation has had a real impact. A clear explanation, even a difficult one would go a long way.

Any guidance, shared experiences, or pointers to the right escalation channel would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Unified for Partners (UfP) - Pricing

NickG — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 01:17:52 GMT

We are a Microsoft Direct CSP currently purchasing Premier Support for Partners (PSfP). With Premier support we are allowed 30 cases/year and after that you have to pay approx. $650/case. We do a good job of handling issues on our own and only open tickets on our customers behalf as a last resort. We will have approx. 20 cases this year and won't need to purchase any additional.

Under (UfP), based on the datasheet released we will qualify for a 40% discount on the Licensing & Azure rates. With the 40% discount our annual costs will increase 8x what we are currently paying. Our cost/case will go up to $12,725(1,800% increase)

Is Microsoft trying to put their existing CSPs out of business with this pricing model? We have been driving new business and been a model partner. We have already had to deal with the complications of all of the risk and additional issues brought on by NCE and now we are going to be price gouged for support. The marketing materials are trying to make this look like a benefit to us when in fact it is the complete opposite.

Will there be exceptions to this new pricing model? It made a lot more sense to charge CSPs per case they open above the 30 allowed. Why wouldn't Microsoft just increase the cost of the additional cases? This would make CSPs double think about opening a case that they may be able to solve on their own. (UfP) is going to punish the good CSPs by spreading the cost of companies abusing the system across the board.

We would love to have the opportunity to express our concerns with a Microsoft representative in the CSP program. We have already made our PDM and Success Manager aware of the impact that this will have.

Direct Bill Partner Status - Terminated

Amarbat — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 09:11:31 GMT

Hello,

I'm writing here after four months of unresolved escalation through every standard support channel, and after reading the recent threads from ShayD , swathen , and ElDani . Our case appears to belong to the same family of issues, and I'm hoping raising it publicly will help both reach the correct internal Microsoft team and establish the broader pattern that seems to be affecting multiple partners across different markets.

Who we are

We are a longstanding Microsoft CSP partner based in Mongolia. We are the only Direct Bill CSP partner in the country, one of our market's top CSPs overall, and a multi-time Microsoft Country Partner of the Year. We service a large active customer base across enterprise, public sector, and SMB segments.

What happened

February 2, 2026: Original support case opened regarding a billing report discrepancy that surfaced in our Partner Center data.
March 31, 2026: Microsoft formally acknowledged, in writing, in case #2602020010000623, that the discrepancy was caused by a Microsoft-side reporting error — not by any action or non-compliance on our part.
April 1, 2026 — one day after the written acknowledgment of fault: Our Direct Bill Partner status was revoked by the system, and our Partner Center management capabilities were disabled the same day. We can no longer provision, modify, or service customer subscriptions.
Since April 1: We have opened five separate support cases attempting to resolve the revocation. Each has been force-closed with instructions to file a new one. None has produced a named owner, a timeline, or a resolution path. Responses have consistently been variations of "under review" or "identifying the correct team."
A TP&D ticket filed on the recommendation of our ASfP support manager was closed as out-of-scope. Our ASfP manager has confirmed that they cannot identify the correct internal escalation path, and mentioned that similar cases have been observed in other markets recently.

Current impact

A large base of end customers — including public sector and enterprise accounts — can no longer be properly serviced through their established CSP relationship.
As the only Direct Bill CSP, our incapacitation effectively means Microsoft currently has no functioning Direct Bill CSP coverage in an entire country. Any customer requiring services through this channel has no path to receive them at the moment.
Customer impact is accelerating each week the situation persists, and the reputational consequences are extending into the local market more broadly.

What we're asking for

Escalation of the above tickets to the appropriate CSP Accounts & Enrollment team, or to whichever internal Microsoft team owns erroneous Direct Bill revocations arising from billing report errors.
Reinstatement of our Direct Bill Partner status, given that Microsoft has already formally acknowledged in writing that the root cause was an internal reporting error.
Assignment of a named owner with authority to drive this to closure — not another ticket transfer into a queue.

A broader note for Microsoft and the community

In the past several weeks, multiple partners have posted here about erroneous or unexplained Direct Bill terminations. ShayD 's thread (resolved after Microsoft formally acknowledged the termination notice was sent in error), @swathen's thread (revenue classification / visibility gap causing an eligibility review failure despite provable revenue), and ElDani 's thread (Direct Bill account suddenly suspended April 1, 2026 — same date as ours) all share meaningful structural similarities with our case.

Our situation makes at least the fourth public report of a similar pattern within roughly the last two months. I'm raising it here not to escalate emotionally, but because it genuinely seems worth Microsoft's internal attention that this may be a systemic issue in the billing classification or partner status pipeline, rather than a set of unrelated isolated cases. If anyone at Microsoft is tracking this pattern internally, our case is one more data point and we'd welcome being part of whatever review is happening.

Any Microsoft employee who can help route this to the right team, or any partners who have successfully navigated a similar situation, please reach out. Full case documentation — including Microsoft's written acknowledgment, the complete chronological case history, and supporting materials — is available on request through direct message.

Thank you for reading.

Direct Bill - Suspended

ElDani — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:11:46 GMT

Hello

Today our CSP Direct account was suddenly suspended, and unfortunately we still do not know the reason.

We opened a support ticket immediately and received a phone call shortly afterwards informing us that the case had been escalated to the Accounts and Enrollment team. However, since then, we have not received any further updates, nor any reply to our follow-up emails.

At the moment, existing subscriptions are still being renewed automatically, which is a relief, but we are currently unable to perform any management actions on the existing subscriptions.

I am becoming increasingly concerned that this may be one of the cases I have seen mentioned here by other partners. We currently manage hundreds of customers and thousands of subscriptions, all of which are now effectively without commercial management.

Has anyone gone through a similar situation and can offer any advice, guidance, or suggestions on how to escalate the case and speed up the resolution process?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Daniel

Unified for Partners (UfP)

jonwbstr24 — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:28:04 GMT

Hello!

A few months ago at Microsoft Ignite, Dan Rippey shared an update on The Future of Partner Support - Customer + Partner + Microsoft.

Dan brought 'Unified for Partners' center stage and mentioned that Microsoft is going into listening mode and taking partner feedback. It's easy to share feedback with Microsoft by visiting booths at Ignite. What are some ways partners can share feedback with Dan and others at Microsoft year round?

For reference, we have a signed NDA with Microsoft if that helps!

My first thought are the two community calls that were running for most of 2025. They were the CSP Technical Training Series and Microsoft Partner Community Q&A Call. However, I don't see any upcoming events scheduled...

Thanks!

-jon

Transitioning from Direct Bill to Indirect Reseller

fvalieri — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 07:44:25 GMT

I am sharing our experience regarding transition from DB to IR started 4 months ago to understand the better approach to manage our partner centers in the future. We started transitioning from Direct Bill to Indirect Reseller in November 2025.

We currently have:
one PGA with two different associated CSP PLAs: Direct Bill PLA and Indirect Reseller PLA.

We operate with two different Partner Centers:
"first" PC used for the PGA and the Direct Bill PLA

"second" used for the Indirect Reseller PLA

At the moment, everything is working correctly, as we are actively transferring customers from the Direct Bill model to the Indirect Reseller model, Incentives for the Indirect Reseller (PLA IR) are being received correctly, designations are managed under the PGA tenant, ecc.

Regarding TTM, we exceed the 1M‑dollar requirement, but only at the PGA level, as it currently includes both DB and IR revenue. Do you know whether Microsoft requires the 1M‑dollar threshold to be met at the PGA level by combining DB and IR revenue, or if only DB revenue counts for maintaining Direct Bill status?

Our other question concerns the end of the customers migration, considering that the Direct Bill PLA will eventually become restricted or revoked.

Whether it is recommended to continue using two separate Partner Centers, first for Membership, Incentives, Designations, Earnings, and overall partner management and the second exclusively for CSP Tier-2 customer management.
Or whether you suggest alternative or better scenarios for managing the Partner Center structure once the transition is fully completed.

Tks for feedback and information.

Fabrizio

URGENT: CSP Direct Bill Termination due to Revenue Discrepancy / Visibility Gap Support Exhausted

swathen — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:54:49 GMT

We’re currently working through a CSP Direct Bill eligibility review and have run into a discrepancy that we’re hoping other partners may have experience with.

Our organization has been operating under CSP Direct Bill and, based on Partner Center indicators and prior guidance from Microsoft, we believed we were meeting the ~$1M TTM revenue requirement. However, we were recently informed by Microsoft that our Direct Bill revenue is being calculated at approximately $892K, below the threshold.

The key issue appears to be related to revenue classification:

Microsoft indicated that some of our revenue may be attributed to CSP Indirect Reseller (IR), even though we do not actively transact through a distributor.
All licensing is billed directly by Microsoft, and we can provide invoices to support this.
We’ve also been told that when tenants are associated with both Direct Bill and Indirect models, the 12-month revenue breakdown is not visible in Partner Center.
Microsoft has acknowledged that this visibility gap exists and that partners cannot currently see the same classification used internally.

Our case is currently under review with Microsoft, but we’re trying to better understand:

Has anyone encountered a situation where tenants were classified as indirect without actively selling through a distributor?
Are there any reliable ways to identify which customers or subscriptions may be tagged as indirect?
Has anyone successfully reconciled or corrected this type of revenue classification issue?

Any insights or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated, especially if you’ve navigated this during a Direct Bill eligibility review.

Thanks in advance.

Microsoft SMB Copilot Bundles — CSP Partners Undercut on Pricing. Are Others Experiencing This?

DerekNathan — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 03:35:40 GMT

I want to raise something that's creating real problems for us as a CSP partner, and I suspect we're not alone.

Microsoft recently launched the SMB Copilot Business bundles — including a M365 Business Premium + Copilot Business bundle at 25% off. Great initiative. The problem? Through eCommerce (direct), customers can purchase this bundle from 1 seat. Through CSP, the bundle has a 10-seat minimum.

This is causing a very specific and common issue: we have customers with well over 10 seats on Business Premium who want to trial Copilot with a small group first — say 3 to 8 users — before committing to a wider rollout. That's a completely reasonable approach. But because CSP enforces a 10-seat minimum on the bundle, we can't offer them the discounted pricing for a small initial rollout. Meanwhile, they can see that if they went direct with Microsoft, they'd get 25% off from just 1 seat.

The result? Our customers are asking us why we — their trusted Microsoft Partner — are charging them more than Microsoft itself. Some are outright accusing us of trying to rip them off. These aren't micro-businesses slipping through the cracks. These are established customers with legitimate deployments who simply want to pilot Copilot sensibly before scaling up.

We've raised this with Microsoft and the justification we received boils down to: the direct channel serves even the smallest customers, while CSP requires a 10-seat minimum to "ensure sufficient scale and support for partner-led deals" and to "protect partner business interests."

With respect, this doesn't protect our interests at all. It actively undermines them. Here's what's actually happening:

• Customers who want to trial Copilot on a handful of seats see a better deal going direct and question why they're paying a partner at all

• It erodes trust in the partner relationship — the very thing Microsoft says it wants to strengthen

• It creates an incentive for customers to move licensing to the direct channel for the trial, fragmenting their management and making our job harder

• We're left in the impossible position of either absorbing margin to match the direct price, or losing the customer's confidence

• Ironically, it discourages the very Copilot adoption Microsoft is pushing — customers who would happily trial on a few seats are put off by being told they need to commit to 10 or more through us

We're not asking for special treatment. We're asking for parity. If Microsoft believes 25% off is the right price for this bundle, let us offer it to our customers too — regardless of how many seats they want to start with. We're the ones providing the onboarding, the training, the support, and the ongoing management. We shouldn't be penalised for it.

Is anyone else running into this with customers who want to trial Copilot on fewer than 10 seats? How are you handling the conversation when they come to you asking why Microsoft is cheaper direct?

Would love to hear how others are navigating this, and whether there's any appetite to push back on this collectively.

MAICP - Legal Info and Identifier Pages are Blank - Partnership Delays

asimawan13 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 01:00:51 GMT

Hi All,

I need some serious support.

I provided initial details for the MAICP on 20-Feb-26 and on log in to the partner center 'Account Settings' the 'Legal Info' and 'Identifier' Pages are completely blank, so I cannot provide any details for further progress.

I wanted to contact someone, but the support links and pages seem to be too tricky to get a hang as how to contact someine and lodge a ticket, as yet I have not become a partner. The support pages have some dropdowns and has only the 'review solutions' articles to go to and NO TICKET can be submitted.

I went to all links provided by the Microsoft Experts in different chats, but COULD NOT figure out as how can I submit a ticket.

Can someone provide a real solution, rather than just providing a series of links which do not lead anywhere?

The problem scenario is below:

The Pages which are blank:

Support Submission Page:

See it is only providing either 'Review Solution' - which takes to loops of reading and coming back to same pages with no solution or information about UPDATING, while I have not been able to provide even initial details.

Even the page for support from AI the 'Workspace' cannot be added as below, I feel like stuck and need some great help please.

Can someone please guide with some solution, as I have been waiting for many days now, almost three weeks and have no way of raising the ticket for support as well?

Many thanks in advance.

Best Regards,

Asim

February Incentive Payment Not Received – Unable to Create Support Ticket

sycns — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 07:29:56 GMT

Hello Team,

We have not received the incentive payment for February and would like assistance reviewing this issue.

Our organization meets the requirements under the App Innovation solution area and is eligible to receive Azure-related incentives.

However, the February payment has not been deposited.

Additionally, we are unable to create a support ticket in Partner Center

because the AI Assistant interface prevents access to the support request page.

Could you please check if there are any issues with our eligibility, payment profile, or required documentation, or help escalate this matter to the appropriate support team?

Thank you.

Character limited for Partner Support Ticket notes

jonwbstr24 — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 17:23:31 GMT

When updating a partner center support ticket from the Partner Center (https://partner.microsoft.com/dashboard/v2/support/servicerequests)

However, the textbox for adding a new note from the portal has a max length of 80 characters. Has anyone else noticed this?

I shared this observation with the partner center support team a while ago and learned that the portal is working as intended. The web portal should only be used for adding short notes. For longer notes, partners should update the ticket via email. I hoped my feedback might reach someone that could make this improvement to the partner experience, but it's taking longer than expected.

Has anyone else noticed this issue, or am I the only partner that finds this behavior less than ideal?

On more than one occasion I have modified the HTML using the browser dev tools by changing the maxlength="80" to "maxlength="800" and didn't have any trouble adding the longer note.

Has anyone else run into this challenge and used the a workaround like the one I used?

Azure Plan CSP Pricelist Download

nick_Anag — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 11:50:55 GMT

Dear community,

Hope you are doing great.

We are a Distributor (ex. Indirect Provider) and we recently discovered a change in terms of Pricing in Partner Center, and more specifically when it comes to Azure Plan Pricelists download.

Usually, we were able to download the respective Azure Plan pricelist as a Category under the NCE option. However, what we see now is an option in Beta which redirects us to the Azure Portal.

Could you please be so kind to help us identify how will we be able to download the CSV Azure Plan Pricelists as we were doing couple months ago?

Thank you so much in advance for your assistance!

Nick

Renew CSP subscription

max2626 — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 06:40:04 GMT

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding a CSP subscription renewal.

I work for a company that is not a Microsoft partner. Previously, we worked with a partner from whom we purchased Microsoft Dynamics 365 FO and some other licenses.

We recently received an email from this former partner stating that we need to renew a CSP subscription. For your information, we are a customer, not a partner.

Could you please clarify whether this CSP subscription is something we need to renew ourselves, or if this is the responsibility of the partner?

I would also appreciate your advice, as I am concerned this might not be legitimate. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Best regards,

I'am getting challenges when Creating partner Account

OrbitwavetechnologiesLtd — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:36:11 GMT

Good evening iam getting challenges when creating partner account for the last 5 Months alot of errors with any support.You can send support feedback to email address removed for privacy reasons.

URGENT: CSP Direct-Bill Termination. Mistakenly. Support Exhausted, Customers at Risk. MSFT, Help

ShayD — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:58:34 GMT

We are a longstanding Microsoft partner (AOS-G and CSP Direct Bill) and urgently need escalation. Our support channels, including GetHelp escalation, have been unable to resolve or explain an unexplained and unwarranted termination notice, and the 30-day clock is running. This directly impacts our mutual customers and if not resolved ASAP.

What Happened

January 29, 2026: We received a 30-day termination notice stating we have not met CSP direct bill eligibility requirements. We are indeed compliant and believe this is an error. We provided evidence of compliance to Support and GetHelp several times, but no one has been able to identify what requirement we allegedly fail to meet or propose a solution. They continually say they are working on the issue and will get back to us in a couple days.
- Notably, we did not receive a 90-day or 60-day advance notice as required by Microsoft's documented process for at risk Direct Sell partners. We confirmed via Exchange message trace that no related emails were received in the prior 90 days.
January 20: Nine days before the notice, we began receiving Error 715-123220 preventing us from adding new customers in Partner Center, suggesting our capabilities were already restricted before we were even notified.

Tickets Needing Escalation

#1 — GetHelp #11414107 / Support Request #2602030010000038 CSP Direct Bill termination notice. No substantive response beyond "we are working on it."

#2 — GetHelp #11412447 / Support Request #2601200010001797 Error 715-123220 preventing new customer additions since January 20. Same status.

Microsoft, please help:

We request these tickets be escalated to the appropriate CSP or Legal team for immediate review and to stop the termination process ASAP.

Any Microsoft staff who can assist — we would be deeply grateful!

Thank you, sincerely.

Shay

Duplicate functionality due to added functionality (1st of July)

Pascal3 — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 08:41:30 GMT

In July additional functionality will be added to several Microsoft products, in this case I have a customer that currently has Microsoft 365 E3 and a separate Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 license.

Both licenses will be renewed on the 31st of march, therefore an annual subscription until 30th of march 2027. In July the functionality of de Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 will become part of the Microsoft 365 E3 plan. Will it be possible to cancel the remaining months of the Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 license or do we need to accommodate for this and change the Defender for Office license to monthly and then cancel the subscription the 1st of July?

ICYMI | Upcoming CSP events!

JillArmourMicrosoft — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 23:28:04 GMT

Upcoming events

Be sure to register for the latest upcoming digital and in-person events in AI Business Solutions.

January 22 (New York) – AI Tour for Partners
January 27-29 (EMEA/Americas) – Accelerate Agentic AI – Project Ready
January 27-29 (Americas) – Dynamics 365 Solution Architect Bootcamp (AI ERP)
January 28-30 (Asia) – Dynamics 365 Solution Architect Bootcamp (AI ERP)
January 28-30 (EMEA/Americas) – Accelerate Agentic AI – Project Ready
January 29 – CSP Partner Hour
February 3-4 (Brazil) – Implementing D365 Contact Center
February 3-4 (Asia) – Agent-Powered Business Processes Automation
February 4-5 (EMEA) – Agent-Powered Business Processes Automation
February 4-5 (Americas) – Agent-Powered Business Processes Automation
February 9 (EMEA) – Level Up CSP Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agents, and Dynamics 365 Business Central Sales Bootcamp
February 10 (Americas) – Level Up CSP Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agents, and Dynamics 365 Business Central Sales Bootcamp
February 10 (EMEA) – Level Up CSP Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agents Technical Bootcamp
February 10 (São Paulo) – AI Tour for Partners
February 11 (Americas) – Level Up CSP Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agents Technical Bootcamp
February 26 (London) – AI Tour for Partners
March 10 (Paris) – AI Tour for Partners
March 17-19 (San Diego) – AI Agent and Copilot Summit NA
March 24 (Seoul) – AI Tour for Partners
April 8 (Tokyo) – AI Tour for Partners
April 20 (Sydney) – AI Tour for Partners
May 5 (Zurich) – AI Tour for Partners

On-demand digital events

ICYMI – Access content from recent digital events on demand!