Questions about EA to CSP and your Azure invoice

With a direct EA, you do not need to migrate anything technically. As an approved partner, Intercept carries out an administrative migration: only billing ownership moves. Your resources keep running, subscription and resource IDs stay the same and existing permissions remain in place. With an indirect EA this is not possible; Intercept then handles the technical migration to CSP subscriptions in your own tenant from start to finish.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026

Not with a transfer from a direct EA or MCA-E: Microsoft only changes the billing relationship and your services keep running. During a migration, the resource groups are temporarily locked for changes, while the resources themselves keep working. Depending on the resources, a migration can cause downtime. The technical check shows you in advance which resources this applies to.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026, Microsoft, 29 July 2025

In a transfer, they can move with your subscriptions. If your billing currency changes, monthly billed plans stop at the next billing period. Savings plans from an EA in a currency other than US dollars can be replaced automatically with one-year plans, or you arrange new plans through Azure support. In a migration, they do not move automatically; we then plan around their term.

Source: Microsoft, 29 December 2025

Your increases do. Previously applied quota increases move to the CSP subscription. If you never had an increase, the default CSP limit applies; we request extra quota in advance.

Source: Microsoft, 17 August 2026

No. There is no administrative migration from pay-as-you-go or an MCA signed online to CSP, not even for partners. Your resources move to new CSP subscriptions in your own tenant. You do not have to do this yourself: Intercept handles the migration from start to finish, from the technical check to aftercare, one resource group at a time and at a moment that suits you.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026, Microsoft, 29 December 2025

Yes, Intercept specialises in this. Acquisitions, test environments or old arrangements often leave Azure spread across multiple tenants, each with its own management and sometimes its own invoice. We merge them into one tenant, with one invoice under one contract. Microsoft itself mentions consolidating into one tenant as an alternative to a separate transfer for each tenant. When a subscription moves to another tenant, its Azure role assignments are removed; we record them in advance and restore them afterwards.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026, Microsoft, 17 August 2026

Check who invoices your EA. If the invoice comes directly from Microsoft, you have a direct EA. If it comes from a licensing partner (LSP), it is an indirect EA.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026

Often you can, because Azure subscriptions can be transferred mid-term. Whether it pays off depends on what you have already committed to, such as a prepayment, a commitment or reservations. We run the numbers and tell you if waiting is better.

Subscriptions that continue under an extended term remain transferable until they move to a new enrollment or are cancelled. Intercept can still transfer them: get in touch and we plan from today.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026

Maybe. At renewal, Microsoft generally directs smaller organisations to MCA-E or CSP. Market sources mention a threshold of around 2,400 users, but Microsoft has not published a fixed threshold. Your renewal notice or your LSP will give you a definite answer.

Source: Market source

Probably not. The removal of price levels B to D applied to online services such as Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365. According to most sources, Azure usage had no price levels. If you kept an EA mainly for the volume discount on Microsoft 365, that reason no longer exists.

Source: Market source, Market source

Indicatively 5 to 12% on all your Azure usage, rising with your monthly usage. From €50,000 a month, the CSP Enterprise programme applies, with up to 12% discount. Your final percentage is in your calculation.

Source: Intercept

Microsoft rewards partners that manage a customer's Azure environment. We pass part of that on to you as a discount on your usage.

Sometimes it is. If you have a large consumption commitment with Microsoft, going direct may work out cheaper. Without a commitment, you generally pay the list price with MCA-E. We calculate both routes and tell you honestly which one is better.

Start with visibility per application: which model, which workload, which team. Then choose per application between paying per token and fixed capacity in Microsoft Foundry, scale or pause Fabric capacity when it is not in use, and match Copilot licences to the people who use them. Intercept helps with this, so you can scale up AI without surprises on your invoice.

That is settled in advance: a fixed price in your proposal, with no extra charges afterwards. After that, you only pay for your Azure usage, with a discount.

No, not for a VAT-registered business in the EU. Microsoft Ireland and Intercept BV invoice business customers in other EU countries under the reverse charge, so you account for the VAT yourself. Dutch customers pay 21% VAT on Intercept's invoice, which they reclaim as input tax. On balance, it comes to the same. What does differ: you get a monthly invoice from Intercept, and the customer portal shows your costs per subscription, resource group and resource.

No. Your tenant and subscriptions remain yours, and an Azure plan can move to another CSP partner later. Only the CSP Enterprise programme from €50,000 a month has a minimum term of twelve months.

Source: Intercept

Yes, and for the better. Your support plan with Microsoft does not move with you; after the transfer, Intercept as your CSP partner is responsible for your support. Below €50,000 a month, that support is included: a regular point of contact with specialists who know your environment, 24/7 if you want, and we bring in Microsoft where needed. From €50,000 a month, 24/7 CSP Enterprise Support is part of the programme, at a reduced rate.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026, Microsoft

Not automatically in an administrative migration: only the billing relationship changes and existing permissions stay as they are. In a technical migration, Intercept needs temporary permissions in your tenant to move resources. The plan sets out which ones, and you revoke them afterwards. For management and support, we agree together on which access remains.

Source: Microsoft, 21 August 2026

Yes, on certain conditions: you have been a customer for at least six months, have no outstanding balance and are above a usage threshold that differs per country. With pay-as-you-go, you request it through a support ticket; with an MCA, in the Azure portal. After that, you cannot go back to a credit card as your default payment method.

Source: Microsoft, 26 August 2026

Yes. We handle the migration from start to finish, administrative or technical, at a fixed price. You keep the customer relationship.

Source: Microsoft, 17 August 2026