Licensing guide
Which Microsoft licensing model fits your organisation
The decision is usually made on headline unit price, which is the least reliable basis for it. Here is what actually differs.
Microsoft's purchasing programmes differ in three ways that matter more than unit price: commitment shape, billing arrangement, and how much flexibility you retain mid-term.
The three that matter
Commitment shape
CSP subscriptions are annual, with seats addable any time and reducible at the anniversary. An Enterprise Agreement commits you for three years at a baseline count, with a true-up for additions. Stable headcount favours the agreement; changing headcount favours CSP.
Billing
CSP is billed by your partner in INR on a standard GST invoice. Volume agreements often involve direct billing and foreign exchange exposure. For organisations that need clean input credit without currency risk, that difference is substantive.
Mid-term flexibility
Under CSP you can move a user between plans or add a mid-year cohort without renegotiating. Under an agreement, changes flow through the true-up process, which is slower and less forgiving.
Rough thresholds
- Below 250 seats — CSP almost always. The flexibility is worth more than the price protection, and an agreement's administrative overhead is disproportionate.
- 250 to 500 seats — genuinely worth modelling both, across the full three-year term including a scenario where headcount falls.
- Above 500 seats — an agreement usually wins on price, but only if the baseline count is set accurately rather than against optimistic growth.
Software Assurance, and whether you need it
Software Assurance adds upgrade rights, licence mobility and deployment benefits to volume licences. It is bundled into some agreements and optional on others.
Licence mobility is the benefit that most often decides it: without it, a SQL Server or Windows Server licence cannot be moved to cloud infrastructure. If any part of your estate is heading to Azure or AWS, check this before committing either way.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Cloud Solution Provider programme?
When is an Enterprise Agreement worth considering?
What is Software Assurance and do we need it?
Get your licensing position modelled
Send us your current agreements, subscriptions and renewal dates. We will model the alternatives across a full term and show the assumptions so you can challenge them.