Transfer a customer's Azure subscriptions to a different partner
Applies to: Partner Center | Partner Center for Microsoft Cloud for US Government
Appropriate roles: Admin agent
This article describes how a customer can transfer an Azure subscription from their current Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) to another CSP.
Note
This article describes transferring Azure legacy subscriptions only. As previously announced, CSP partners should migrate their Azure subscriptions to Azure plan. You can find the partner transfer steps for Azure plan subscriptions in the Transfer Azure plan subscriptions article.
The Transfer an Azure subscription to another partner section describes how a customer can transfer a Microsoft Azure subscription from one Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) to another.
The Transfer a previous Azure offer subscription without converting it to the Azure plan section briefly describes how the new Azure plan is being introduced. Then, it describes a special case where you can transfer some subscriptions to the previous Azure offer to another CSP without converting them to the new Azure plan.
The customer, the current service provider, and a new service provider, all have responsibilities in transferring a customer subscription to a new Azure service provider. A customer should plan to work closely with the current partner to make the transition go smoothly.
Find high-level information to help Azure subscribers transfer subscriptions to and from CSP partners in Transfer Azure subscriptions between subscribers and CSPs.
Find more information about how customers can change their Azure subscriptions from one partner to another in Transfer a customer's Azure subscriptions to a different CSP
Prerequisites
- A CSP Partner must have a reseller relationship with a customer before a subscription can be transferred. For more information, see How to request a reseller relationship from a customer in Partner Center.
- A partner must be a direct provider or an indirect provider to transfer a subscription.
- New commerce subscriptions associated with the following offerings can be transferred: Azure plan, Office 365, Enterprise Mobility Suite, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Partners can learn how to transfer new commerce subscriptions in the transfer documentation.
- A customer must be in the same country/region as a partner to transfer a subscription.
- Partners operating in Microsoft Cloud for US Government must request permission to manage a customer's service or subscription. For more information, see Obtain permissions to manage a customer's service or subscription.
Transfer Azure subscriptions to another partner
Transferring an Azure subscription from one CSP partner to another is a multistep process that requires actions by the customer, the current partner, and the new partner at various stages. The following table is intended as a sequence diagram to help clarify who does what and when.
Understand the responsibilities of transferring a customer subscription
Step | Customer | Current partner | New partner |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Customer notifies Microsoft and current partner in writing | ||
2 | Create support ticket to request transfer | ||
3 | Send completed transfer form to customer | ||
4 | Complete Change of Cloud Solution Provider form | ||
5 | Review, sign, and return the form | Review, sign, and return the form | |
6 | [Review the form and attach it to service request](#step-6-current-partner-reviews-the -form-and-attaches-it-to-the-service-request) | ||
7 | Remove the old partner from the account | ||
8 | Remove the outdated access permissions |
Steps to transfer a customer subscription to a new Azure service provider
Here are the steps to transfer a customer subscription to a new Azure service provider.
Step 1: Customer contacts the current partner in writing
The customer starts the transfer process by notifying both Microsoft and the current CSP Partner in writing (that is, not verbally) of their request to transfer a subscription.
Step 2: Current provider creates an Azure support ticket to request a transfer
The current partner creates an Azure support ticket to request a subscription transfer.
Note
It's the current partner's responsibility to create the support ticket that initiates the transfer process. Microsoft doesn't intervene on behalf of the customer or the new partner.
To create a support ticket to request a transfer, use the following steps:
- In the Partner Center menu, select Customers, select the customer from the list, and then select Service management.
- In the Support tickets section, select New ticket and then Microsoft Azure.
- In the Azure portal, select New support request.
- In Step 1 of the support request, choose Subscription management as the issue type, specify the Subscription ID that you want transferred, and choose Cloud Solution Provider as the support plan.
- In Step 2, select C-Minimal impact and choose Other General Questions as the problem type.
Step 3: Current partner completes transfer form and sends it to the customer
The current partner downloads and complete the Change of Cloud Solution Provider form, signs it, and then sends it to the customer.
Step 4: Current partner completes the Change of Cloud Solution Provider form
The current partner completes the Change of Cloud Solution Provider form, signs it, and sends it to the customer.
Among the information needed to complete the Change of Cloud Solution Provider form is:
- Current partner's contact information and Microsoft ID (which can be found in the Partner Center menu by selecting Account settings > Organization profile).
- Customer's Microsoft ID (which can be found in the Partner Center menu by selecting Customers and then expanding the customer's listing to reveal their Microsoft ID).
- Subscription ID to transfer (which can be found which can be found in the Partner Center menu by selecting Customers and then expanding the customer's listing, selecting View Subscriptions, and then expanding the chosen subscription to reveal the Subscription ID.
Step 5: The customer and new partner review and return the form
Working together, the customer and the new partner:
- Review the form, fill in information about the new partner, and sign it.
- Confirm that the new customer has a contract agreement in place.
- Send the form back to the current partner.
Step 6: Current partner reviews the form and attaches it to the service request
When the current partner receives the form, they:
- Make sure the form includes contact information for both partner admins. Microsoft Support contacts both admins to verify the transfer.
- Verify that they have all three signatures, then use the File Upload option to attach the completed form to the existing service request. A Microsoft support engineer contacts them within eight business hours to validate receipt and completion.
Step 7: New partner removes the old partner from the account
The new partner updates the Azure subscription settings in PowerShell to remove the old partner from the account.
Note
The first PowerShell cmdlet requires the customer's Tenant ID, which appears in Partner Center as the customer's Microsoft ID. The procedure that follows describes how to find the customer's Microsoft ID (Tenant ID) for use in the cmdlet.
To find a customer's Microsoft ID (Tenant ID) for use in the Connect-AzAccount
PowerShell cmdlet:
- Sign in to Partner Center and select Customers.
- Select the customer you want.
- Select the down arrow to expand the customer's listing. You can see information about the customer's Domain name and the customer's Microsoft ID.
- Use the 16-digit Microsoft ID in the PowerShell cmdlet that follows this procedure.
The first PowerShell cmdlet adds the new partner as the reseller on the account:
Connect-AzAccount -Tenant 'xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx'
The second cmdlet displays the roles on the account, including previous CSP partners:
Get-AzRoleAssignment
Step 8: New partner removes the outdated access permissions
To remove the outdated access permissions, use the following steps:
- In the Partner Center menu, select Customers.
- Locate the customer on the customer list.
- Double-click the customer's company name. The customer Subscriptions page appears.
- In the customer detail menu, select Service management.
- Under Microsoft Azure, select Microsoft Azure Management Portal.
Transfer a previous Azure offer subscription without converting it to the Azure plan
This section briefly describes how the new Azure plan is being introduced. Then, it describes a special case where you can transfer some subscriptions in the previous Azure offer to another CSP without converting them to the new Azure plan.
Note
To transfer a customer's Azure subscriptions that were purchased under the previous Azure offer to a new CSP and convert them to the Azure plan, which is the default action, see the previous section Transfer an Azure subscription to another partner, and the article Transfer a customer's Azure subscriptions to a different CSP (under an Azure plan).
Learn about the Azure plan and the previous Azure offer
Microsoft introduced a new commerce experience, the Azure plan, in July 2021. To give partners time to incorporate new features with their services and transition customers from the previous Azure offer (MS-AZR-0145p) to the Azure plan, the previous Azure offer continues to be available for a limited time.
The transition from the previous Azure offer to the Azure plan is in three phases:
Phase 1: Since the introduction of the Azure plan in July 2021, all new Azure CSP program customers are placed on the Azure plan. Partners can continue to transact the previous Azure offer with customers who already purchased it.
Phase 2: On February 1, 2022, incentives and partner margin opportunity were removed from the previous Azure offer.
Phase 3: In phase 3 (planned for July 31, 2022), any remaining customers on the previous Azure offer are migrated to the new Azure offer in the CSP program (Azure plan). Any existing Azure partner shared services (APSS) on the previous Azure offer continues to be available until they're transferred to a different sales motion or until APSS is removed. APSS is eventually removed from the previous Azure offer and isn't available as part of the new Azure offer (Azure plan).
Transfer subscriptions without conversion
This section describes the special case of transferring a subscription that was purchased under the previous Azure offer to a new CSP provider, without converting it to the Azure plan.
A customer's subscription to the previous Azure offer can be transferred to a new CSP partner without conversion to the Azure plan by using the steps in the previous section, Transfer Azure subscriptions to another partner, if:
- The previous Azure offer is still available.
- Both the current partner and the new partner have a customer with a subscription to the previous Azure offer.
If only the current partner has a customer with a subscription to the previous Azure offer, the current partner can use the transition tool to move the customer's subscription to the new partner while simultaneously converting it to the new Azure plan.
Note
Only partners that have a direct-billing relationship with Microsoft can access the transition tool. Indirect resellers need to work with their indirect providers to use the transition tool.
Related content
- Transfer Azure subscriptions
- Transfer Azure subscriptions under an Azure plan
- Download the CSP Subscription Transfer form
- Learn about multipartner support
- Learn about multichannel support