The Westcoast Cloud Team
November 29, 2021

Open Licensing is about to end: here’s what you need to know

We’ve been counting down on this one for a while now. But the time has almost come to say a final farewell to Microsoft’s Open Licensing program. The scheme wraps up on 31 December 2021. But in its place, there is CSP. Customers will instead be able to purchase perpetual licences through the CSP program.

How will this model work? And what will it change things for you and your customers? Let’s dive into the details!

Wait, what’s happening again?

From the start of next year, it won’t be possible to purchase or renew licences through the Open Agreement. Instead, it’ll happen through CSP perpetual model.

If your customers have purchased perpetual licences before the current program ends in 2022, not to worry – they will still have full access to them through the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

Haven’t spoken to them about switching over to CSP yet? It’s time to have that conversation. If you need any help, our SureStep team can provide step-by-step support to help with this transition.

Why is Microsoft making these changes?

Microsoft wants to offer customers an easier way to buy its products. And this includes offering through CSP Perpetual (rather than a fixed annual fee) that makes it easier for them to control costs.

Here’s what Microsoft has to say about the benefits that customers can expect following this change:

“Instead of buying through a variety of licensing programmes, you will be able to purchase through a newly created, fully digital agreement, which we simply call the Microsoft Customer Agreement. Our goal is to provide a consistent and simplified purchase experience, with greater flexibility in how and where you buy.”

What are the benefits of buying through CSP?

Put Simply, CSP is a fairer Model to purchase your Licenses through. You can buy your O365/M365 Licenses on a monthly basis which is price protected for 12 months, and can now purchase CSP Perpetual Licenses, paid upfront and also have the indefinite rights to use this software.

Here’s some of the main benefits that your clients need to know about:

  • No minimum number of licences

    You only need to order and provision one licence through the Westcoast Cloud Marketplace.

  • No minimum contract commitment

    As long as you’re a Westcoast Cloud partner (with a for each user set up on our marketplace), you won’t be locked into a contract.

  • Ease of purchasing and provisioning

    Licences will be available almost instantly through our marketplace.

  • Say goodbye to SLA delays

    SLAs for Product Keys will appear within 15 minutes in the End Users M365 Admin Portal, if provisioned through the Westcoast Cloud Market place. Until Microsoft takes this process in-house, we’ll email you these through our marketplace.

Anything else I need to know?

If you compare the CSP and Open Licensing program, they’re pretty much identical. The only difference is that you have 30 days to cancel CSP, compared to 60 days with Open Licensing.

The products available are also virtually the same. In fact, the only products that won’t be available through CSP are those that came with software assurance (such as Core Infrastructure Server Suite, Dynamics, Azure DevOps, Visual Studio with MSDN etc.).

Helping you transition your customers to CSP

With the end of the Open Licensing program just weeks away, it’s time to start moving your customers over to CSP. And our SureStep team are here to help with that potentially complicated task.

Using data from Microsoft, they can tell you all about your customers’ current licensing situation. From when their agreements are due to the end, to the type and value of the agreements that they have in place.

Drop us a message if you want to know more. And to hear more on this whole topic, we recommend checking out our recent webinar.