Microsoft CSP, short for the Cloud Solution Provider program, is how Microsoft lets partners sell its cloud subscriptions, such as Microsoft 365, to their customers. The partner provisions and manages your subscriptions, bills you, and is your first point of contact for support. Microsoft still runs the service, and your admins still manage it in your own Microsoft 365 admin center.
Buying through a CSP partner changes who you deal with for billing, support and subscription changes. It does not change the agreement you accept or the core rules on terms, cancellation and renewal. This guide explains both sides so you can compare a CSP partner with buying direct.
OPS is a Microsoft CSP partner and resells Microsoft 365 through its Collaboration & Workplace practice. Everything below is drawn from Microsoft's own documentation, checked on October 28, 2026.
How the CSP program works
Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework describes CSP as a service that gives partners access to Microsoft cloud services within one platform. According to Microsoft, it lets partners:
- Own the customer lifecycle and the end-to-end relationship.
- Set pricing and terms, and bill customers directly.
- Provision and manage subscriptions.
- Attach services that add value.
- Act as the customer's first point of contact for support.
Microsoft supports three partner relationships in CSP. Direct-bill partners buy from Microsoft and sell to their customers. Indirect providers, also called distributors, resell to indirect resellers, who then serve end customers. Microsoft bills only direct-bill partners and indirect providers, and leaves each partner to decide how it bills its own customers.
What you sign
Before a partner can place an order for you, your organization must accept the Microsoft Customer Agreement. Microsoft's admin guidance explains the steps. The partner emails an invitation, and a billing administrator reviews the agreement and accepts it in the Microsoft 365 admin center. A partner can also attest to your acceptance, and Microsoft then emails your primary contact to confirm the attestation.
This is the same agreement used in other channels. Microsoft says the Microsoft Customer Agreement was designed to standardize purchasing across all buying channels, and a Microsoft Customer Agreement billing account is created whether you work with a Microsoft representative, an authorized partner, or buy on your own.
CSP partner or direct from Microsoft
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| Area | Through a CSP partner | Direct from Microsoft |
|---|---|---|
| Who bills you | The partner, on pricing and terms it sets | Microsoft, through your billing account |
| First line of support | The partner. CSP customers can't create support requests with Microsoft themselves | Microsoft support, if at least one subscription was bought through Microsoft |
| Buying and canceling | Ask the partner | Your admins, in the Microsoft 365 admin center |
| Day-to-day admin | Your admins, in the Microsoft 365 admin center | Your admins, in the Microsoft 365 admin center |
Microsoft's partner support guidance sets out the CSP side. Partners must receive, diagnose and resolve support requests within baseline boundaries, and they can charge for support. Customers keep full use of the admin center for configuration "as if they purchased directly from Microsoft," but must contact their partner to buy more or cancel. Subscription communications come from the partner, although Microsoft may still contact CSP customers directly about service incidents.
For direct customers, Microsoft's support page for admins states that you need at least one subscription bought through Microsoft to use Microsoft support. If every subscription came through a partner, you contact the partner.
Partners can also ask for admin roles in your tenant. With granular delegated admin privileges (GDAP), you approve the specific roles a partner requests, and Microsoft says you can remove admin roles at any time without ending the reseller relationship.
New commerce terms
As of September 1, 2024, Microsoft states that all license-based subscription purchases are on new commerce, except some five-year and six-year public sector legacy offers. The main rules, from Microsoft's Partner Center billing overview, are:
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| Rule | What Microsoft's documentation says |
|---|---|
| Term length | 1, 12 or 36 months, with the option to align the end date to another subscription or the calendar month |
| Billing frequency | Upfront or one-time, monthly, or annual |
| Price lock | License-based prices are guaranteed for the billing term and may change at renewal |
| Full refund | Cancel within 24 hours |
| Prorated refund | Cancel within seven days of purchase or renewal |
| After seven days | No refund, and the full term is payable |
| Renewal | Subscriptions renew automatically according to their term unless auto-renew is turned off |
Not every term and billing combination exists for every product. Microsoft describes monthly, annual and three-year terms as available "for many subscriptions."
Two details matter in practice. First, Microsoft's guide to managing CSP subscriptions says partners have a seven-day window to cancel or reduce licenses after a renewal completes, and can schedule changes for the next renewal, such as a different product, license count, term or billing frequency. Second, Microsoft's cancellation policy notes that a monthly term can be canceled at the end of any month. If seat counts move often, compare a monthly term with an annual one before you commit.
What does not change
Buying through a CSP partner leaves these points the same:
- You accept the Microsoft Customer Agreement, as you would when buying direct.
- Microsoft's cancellation rules for business subscriptions give the same seven-day prorated refund window whether you bought from a Microsoft partner or directly from Microsoft. Orders placed through a proposal from a Microsoft seller follow different rules.
- Your admins configure the services themselves in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- You can see which partners have a relationship with your tenant, and which hold admin roles, on the Partner relationships page in the admin center.
When an Enterprise Agreement fits instead
Microsoft positions its Enterprise Agreement for organizations with 500 or more users or devices that want to license software and cloud services for a minimum three-year period. If you are below that size, the practical comparison is the one in this guide, between a CSP partner and buying direct.
What to check when choosing a CSP partner
Use this list when you compare partners or review your current one.
- Support model. Ask who answers first, during which hours, by which contact method, and what support costs. Microsoft expects partners to tell customers all four.
- Escalation path. Ask how the partner escalates cases to Microsoft and how it keeps you informed. Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework recommends working with your CSP partner to understand how support cases and escalations work.
- Admin roles. Ask which GDAP roles the partner requests, why each is needed, and for how long.
- Term and billing. Confirm the term, billing frequency, renewal date and auto-renew setting for every subscription.
- Seven-day window. Agree how quickly the partner acts on a cancellation or reduction request, since the window is short.
- Renewal reviews. Ask whether the partner reviews seat counts and plans before each renewal and schedules changes in advance.
- Services beyond licenses. Ask what deployment, migration and security work is included and what is billed separately.
- Exit. Ask how the relationship ends. Microsoft says to contact your partner to end a relationship, and that removing admin roles alone does not end it.
Common questions
Is Microsoft CSP the same as buying from Microsoft?
You get the same Microsoft 365 services and accept the same Microsoft Customer Agreement. The difference is that the partner bills you, handles first-line support and processes purchases and cancellations.
Can I cancel a subscription bought through a CSP partner?
Yes, within limits. Microsoft gives a full refund if you cancel within 24 hours and a prorated refund within seven days of purchase or renewal. After seven days, the full term is payable. Ask your partner to process the cancellation.
Can a CSP partner access my Microsoft 365 tenant?
Only with the admin roles you approve. Microsoft's GDAP feature lets partners work with limited, specific roles, and you can remove those roles at any time in the admin center.
Can I get support from Microsoft if I buy through a partner?
Microsoft states that CSP customers can't create support requests themselves and must contact their partner. Microsoft support for admins requires at least one subscription bought through Microsoft.
Is OPS a Microsoft partner?
Yes. OPS is a Microsoft CSP partner and resells, deploys and supports Microsoft 365 through its Collaboration & Workplace practice.
Buy and manage Microsoft 365 with OPS
OPS is a Microsoft CSP partner. The Microsoft 365 service page explains how the Collaboration & Workplace practice licenses, deploys and supports Microsoft 365. If a renewal is coming up, read Microsoft 365 price changes in 2026 before you choose terms.
Sources
- Microsoft, Overview of Partner Center billing. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, New commerce license-based overview. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Cloud Solution Provider service. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Supported CSP partner relationships. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Manage Microsoft-certified solution provider partner relationships. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, How to confirm that your customer accepted the Microsoft Customer Agreement. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Understand your Microsoft business billing account. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Provide different types of support to your customers. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Get help and support for Microsoft 365 for business. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Create customer subscriptions in Partner Center. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, New commerce experience cancellation policy. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Cancel your Microsoft business subscription. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Obtain a customer's admin privileges. Checked October 28, 2026.
- Microsoft, Enterprise Agreement. Checked October 28, 2026.