EA to CSP: Microsoft’s Licensing Shake-Up Explained

An Interview with Michael Connaker of TechNet UC on Important Changes Coming November 1st

 Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft’s EA to CSP Transition: Starting November 1st, 2025, Microsoft is shifting from Enterprise Agreements (EA) to Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) models for more SMBs.

• Flattened Discount Structures: Microsoft will standardize EA discount tiers across organizations with 2,400 to 30,000 users, reducing the pricing advantage previously tied to scale.

• New Partner Evaluation Model: The legacy Gold/Silver Partner system is being replaced by the Solutions Partner program, which emphasizes technical certifications, deployment experience, and customer impact.

• Renewal Impact Timeline: Organizations will feel the effects of these changes at their next renewal cycle, potentially facing higher costs or needing to switch to CSP if they fall below the new EA eligibility threshold.

• TechNet UC’s Value Proposition: As a premier Microsoft Solutions Partner, TechNet UC offers flexible contract terms, integrated licensing and services, and rapid, personalized support to deliver “Added Value Without Added Cost.”

*Editors Note: This interview was conducted by Mike Guerrieri, Head of Marketing and Communications for TechNet UC. Parts were edited for readability and clarity.

Mike Guerrieri 
I’m here with Michael Connacker, who is the Vice President of Sales for TechNet UC, because we have some major transitions coming up on the horizon as it relates to Microsoft and the transition from EA to CSP. So we're going to talk to you a little bit about that. How are you doing, Mike?

Michael Connaker
Great. Thank you, Mike. Looking forward to chatting.

Mike Guerrieri 
Excellent. Likewise. All right. So why don't you give us a quick overview and timeline on what's going on here with the transition from, first of all, what is EA to CSP? What does that stand for and what does this mean for companies?

Michael Connaker
Yeah. And I'll kind of start from the beginning. So, Microsoft is really focusing on providing more choice to their end customers in terms of the partners that they work with. And historically that choice has been determined by what your size of your organization is and either you're big enough for an EA and you end up in the EA program.

Or you go to a cloud solution provider and going forward they want the customer to be able to choose the partner that works best for them, the one that has the expertise that they need, that has the ability to jump in their environment and help them with various Microsoft questions and that's where the direction where

Microsoft is heading and it's two-fold really. They are expanding how how those CS PS can ultimately engage and how many customers they can engage with. And then they're also becoming more rigorous on what their partner network looks like and how they evaluate their partners, so.

If you've heard of the Microsoft Gold and Silver Partner program in the past, that's gone gone away now and instead they're moving to the Solutions Partner program. And what that requires is not only how much spend does that partner have with Microsoft, but they have shown they've deployed Microsoft in various environments and complex scenarios.

And they have certifications of the engineering staff on hand. So that's kind of the background on on where they're going in the partnership program as a whole. But for today and really what we're here to talk about, the most breaking news is who's going to be eligible for CEAS going forward.
What are the discounts going to look like for EAS going forward and and those are going to be the biggest changes coming up here in the near future.

Mike Guerrieri
Great. So, what was the standard before in terms of size of company and amount of licenses and what will it be after the change goes into effect, which by the way is November 1st?

Michael Connaker
Yep, change is coming up on November 1st. When customers are really going to see that impact is at their renewal date when they go to renew either finding out that they need to move to the CSP program or you know having their renewal come in at a different discount threshold and previously to be eligible for an EA, it was in the low hundreds. So, you know 250 users, 500 users may be eligible for an EA. So, a lot of those still chose to go to the CSP program, even up to the thousands. But going forward it's going to be, it's going to be a 2,400 minimum for EAS is what we're hearing. So, the other piece is on the discount threshold. So while you may be eligible for an EA going forward, you may get your EA renewal quote and find out that it's, you know, gone up significantly or it's not at the same price that it was before and that's going all the way up to 30,000 users. They're really flattening the discount structures across the board.

Mike Guerrieri
OK. Let's talk a little bit more about that. What does that flattened structure mean and what is the structure with Microsoft going forward?

Michael Connaker
The structure is going to be what they call their different levels of of size of an organization and regardless of that level from zero to 10,000, now 2,400 to 10,000, it's going to be effectively the same base discount across those EAS, so where that brings in the CSP program is the ability for you to go to the CSP and ultimately have a similar price point that that you can work with that partner and get the expertise that you need and that dedication in your environment.

Mike Guerrieri
Got it. Let's talk about TechNet UC and how it relates here. So how can a company like TechNet UC, who's a premier Microsoft Solutions Partner, help companies that are now faced with this transition?

Michael Connaker
Yeah. So, a lot of companies in the EA program, you know it fits great for a lot of a lot of organizations. For some it's too rigid. You're you're ultimately committing to a three-year term every time that you sign your EA, you're committing to a certain volume spend with Microsoft every time you sign your EA and you may have things coming up in your organization that that just doesn't fit for.

You may be trying to deploy certain things and you're going to a different partner for help with deployment or management of Microsoft than your EA provider because they have that level of expertise that you're looking for and and you need to go to multiple partner sources.

So what we're going to have going forward here with Technet is, is the ability to deliver not only as your as your licensing partner, but your professional services, managed services partner as needed and you have that one dedicated partner for all things Microsoft and and that's really where we step in.

We also have the ability to do one-year contracts, month-to-month contracts depending on what you need and and really bring that flexibility to your environment at a competitive price point.

Mike Guerrieri
I know that's something that we've said before is that that one of TechNet UC differentiators is bringing “Added Value Without Added Cost”. Walk us through how do we do that? What does that mean for the for the end consumer?

Michael Connaker
Well, you could go buy your Microsoft licenses direct from Microsoft and ultimately get the licenses and just manage there. But do you have the access to engineers that you want? Do you have a support agent that's going to pick up within a couple of minutes for you and and answer any tickets that you've got? Do you have, you know, the ability to roadmap out your Microsoft products and that's where we come to the table within the management of our licensing customers. We're going to sit down and quarterly business reviews. We're gonna talk about what you're trying to accomplish with Microsoft. You're gonna meet our engineers, know exactly how they're gonna deploy things going forward, and we're gonna bring that extra value of realizing the full value of the Microsoft bundle suite that you've chosen and help you get to that realization.

Mike Guerrieri
Is there anything we left out that you want to add?

Michael Connaker
I think the biggest thing that differentiates technet UC is, is our engineering responsiveness. We have 5 of 6 Solution Partner designations today. I talked about that program at the beginning really focusing on the quality of the engineers that are on staff, the deployments that we've done in the past and we've achieved five of those six designations. Now the only one we don't work with is Dynamics. But you know, we’ve really shown that we've come to the table with Microsoft's new partnership program. We've worked these types of things. We've seen you have a challenge in your environment. We've done it before. We've often seen that challenge before. We're very nimble in being able to work with our customers and and bring that that value and ultimately delivery on time and on schedule.

Mike Guerrieri
Yeah. And I have to say as somebody who, you know, not only works with Technet UC, but is also a customer of TechNet UC, one of the things that's really spectacular is there's so many platforms now where you just fill out a digital ticket and it just goes off into the ether and you don't know where it is. But with Technet, you see you have US based engineers, they're very quick to reply. You know who your project manager is, you're talking to human beings. Tell me about why that's such a core part of your business and your mission.

Michael Connaker
Yeah, it it's huge for us and that’s because our founders of our organization had this the same challenges. They've worked with large providers before they've worked with the the manufacturers and things like that and seeing how difficult it can be to to really get on with a real person to have somebody answer your ticket to find a path resolution to get lost in those escalations of tickets and now you know it's on another team and there's another week delay to get you back on with your ticket and they don't have the background info, so the entire organization is built in a way that anybody can jump in and help. The people that you speak with at the beginning, you know on the engineering side are gonna be your engineers in the long run. The support agents that you have are dedicated to your account. They're going to be there watching your tickets. They know you know as much as anybody about supporting a Microsoft environment. And once they jump in and and start supporting, you're going to get a resolution and that's our dedication. Plus, responsiveness—you're not going to find a more responsive company in the market.

Mike Guerrieri
Perfect. So, if somebody has questions or they're interested in in learning more about TechNet UC and how they can help, how do they get in touch with us to do that?

Michael Connaker
Yeah, two main ways. So, you can e-mail contact at technetuc.com or you can go to technetuc.com's website and take a look and submit a form there as well.

Mike Guerrieri
Yes. I can vouch for that. All right, perfect. Well, I think this is really informative. Thanks for sharing the info. And again, go to www.technetuc.com. All the information to contact Michael is right there, so reach out. Thanks.

*TechNet UC is a premier Microsoft Solutions Partner specializing in digital transformation, unified communications, and managed IT services. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, TechNet UC empowers organizations across industries—especially life sciences—to optimize their Microsoft investments through customized frameworks, rapid support, and expert deployment. With deep expertise in Microsoft Azure, Intune, Office 365, and Zero Trust security, TechNet UC delivers scalable, secure, and cost-effective solutions for hybrid and remote work environments. Contact us using the form below.