Microsoft Enterprise Agreement renewal: how to negotiate

The old playbook focused on the price level: reach level C or D, and the discount follows. That lever has been removed for online services. Microsoft's Volume Licensing Central announcement says that from 1 November 2025 all online services have a single price across price levels A to D in the EA, the Online Services Premium Agreement and the MPSA. The change applies at the customer's next renewal, or when you buy an online service not yet on your customer price sheet. On-premises software pricing is unchanged, and US Government and worldwide Education price lists are excluded.

What is left to work with falls into five levers, in the order we use them.

Our sequence for a renewal runs backwards from the end date. First the licensing position and usage, then tier decisions (see our E3 vs E5 guide), then the reclaim of unused seats, and only then the contract comparison in our EA vs CSP vs MCA-E guide.

The timeline below is our working schedule, not a Microsoft requirement. Microsoft's own deadlines come in later, for example the anniversary orders and the expiration date, and they are rigid. The earlier steps are yours to set, and they are where most of the value sits.

Two points about that table. First, the usage analysis comes before the proposal. A proposal built on last year's quantities locks in last year's waste. Second, ask early whether the renewal will be offered as an EA at all. A renewal as an EA is not guaranteed: Microsoft decides what it offers at renewal, and we see direct, cloud only customers pointed to MCA-E or CSP. Do not plan around a renewal you have not confirmed in writing.

The price level change is described above. The second change, announced in Microsoft's November 2025 partner announcements, is the return of the Teams-inclusive Microsoft 365 and Office 365 enterprise suites next to the no Teams suites, with updated prices for the no Teams suites. For a renewal, it means one more decision per user group: with or without Teams. The two variants carry different list prices, which you can see side by side in our price update overview.

A third, quieter change: Microsoft updated the EA document stack in 2025 (templates version 2026.1), including the sections on subscription license reductions, the true-up and annual order, and renewal options. Read the enrollment wording you are being asked to sign. Do not assume it matches the one you signed three years ago.

The consequence for negotiation is plain. The automatic volume discount that justified many EAs for Microsoft 365 is no longer available to anyone by default. What remains is price protection over the term and whatever your account team is prepared to negotiate beyond list.

Microsoft's coverage period guidance gives the example of an enrollment starting on 15 January 2019: the year one true-up goes in 60 to 30 days before 15 January 2020 with a usage date no later than 1 January 2020. The year three order goes in 30 to 0 days before expiration. The same page notes that for EA agreements, a renewal will not be processed unless the true-up or zero-usage orders for all three years are in place.

That has two consequences for a renewal. A missed true-up is a blocker, not a footnote, so check the history of the enrollment early. And the anniversary is the moment where you can still change quantities inside the current term. If you know the next term will be smaller, the reduction right at the last anniversary is worth using in the right window rather than carrying surplus seats into the final year.

Know the floors before you plan a reduction. In an Enterprise Enrollment (EA), for enterprise-wide products, a reduction at the anniversary cannot go below the quantity in the product selection form plus earlier true-ups. Upfront subscription licenses cannot be reduced, and only Additional Products can be reduced freely. In an Enterprise Subscription Enrollment (EAS) the enterprise-wide purchase cannot be reduced during the term at all. The templates are revised regularly, so read the reduction section of your own enrollment, and have your partner confirm the floor in writing, before you promise a number internally.

The true-up also ties into audit exposure. A quantity that was never reported is the starting point for most licensing disputes, and our guide to licensing audits covers what that looks like. Settle the true-up before you negotiate, so the negotiation starts from a clean position.

Microsoft's on-time renewal guidance defines on-time as renewal or extension on or before the expiration date. Each renewal quote carries a clause: if the agreement is signed and the purchase order submitted after the expiration date, the negotiated overall discount decreases by at least three percentage points. The guidance applies to commercial EA, EAS and SCE deals with a negotiated discount, and it excludes deals at list price, public sector, education, nonprofit and deals planned for transition to the new commerce model.

Online services have their own mechanism. Under the extended period term (EPT) service, a customer opted in must at the end of the term either renew within the same program or opt out, for example when migrating to CSP. Otherwise the service starts. Microsoft's page explains how EPT invoices are credited, and that invoices for months before the month in which the renewal is processed are not credited when the renewal is late.

For Azure, the enrollment status documentation states that an enrollment past its end date enters an indefinite extended term and is priced at retail rates, not at discounted pricing. Before the end date, the enrollment administrator should decide whether to renew with more Azure prepayment, transfer to a new enrollment, migrate or disable services. Treat the expiration date as the date by which every one of those decisions has been taken.

Microsoft documents the path in its guide to setting up a billing account for the Microsoft Customer Agreement: if your direct EA enrollment has expired or is about to expire, you can sign an MCA to renew it. Azure subscriptions move to the new billing account without downtime, but the billing hierarchy changes: enrollments become billing profiles, departments become invoice sections, and accounts are no longer supported. The same page states that expiring indirect EAs currently cannot be renewed with an MCA.

The eligibility shift matters for your leverage. If Microsoft or your partner signals that the EA may not be offered, the realistic alternatives (MCA-E, CSP) change what you can ask for, because they have different reduction rights and terms. Our comparison of the three agreements lays out the differences point by point, including the 500 seat EA minimum and the seven day window for reducing CSP subscriptions.

One trap to check before you move: Software Assurance and the entitlements that come with the EA. Subscriptions and Software Assurance rights end with the enrollment. List the entitlements you rely on, such as Windows Enterprise or CAL suites, before you decide where Microsoft 365 goes.

On support, our practice is simple. Technical support from Microsoft is a separate purchase from the licenses, and the price basis is worth asking about in writing. Ask what the support fee is calculated on, whether it changes when you reduce licenses, and which date it renews. If it renews on a different day than the EA, the two negotiations run apart and neither side concedes anything across them.

On Azure, the commitment is the part that can hurt after signature. A prepayment or commitment you do not consume is billed or lost, depending on the agreement, so size it from actual consumption data, not from budget ambition. Microsoft's Azure EA pricing page explains that if rates for a service fall during the term, existing customers receive the lower rate, and that if rates rise later, your price does not rise beyond your price protection ceiling. That is the protection you buy with the term, and it applies to Azure services, so check the wording for the online services you hold.

On 15 January 2026, the Swiss Competition Commission's secretariat (COMCO, in German WEKO) opened a preliminary investigation into Microsoft's licensing prices in Switzerland, with a focus on Microsoft 365, after complaints. It examines whether the price increases point to unlawful restraints of competition that would justify a full investigation. It changes no obligation in your current contract. It is context, and a reason to document in writing what Microsoft offered you and when.

In practical terms, ask for the quote in your agreement currency (CHF or EUR) with the price per SKU, compare it with the per-user numbers in our price update overview for proportions, and keep the older price sheet. The percentage change transfers better than a dollar figure to a budget in CHF or EUR.