How to buy Dynamics 365?
Buying Dynamics 365 Licensing may seem a complex task at first, but we are here to explain the main practices of purchasing a Microsoft Licensing for your business.
Enterprise agreement (EA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP)
Depending on your situation and geographic location, there are different way to purchase Dynamics 365 and other Microsoft products. These are the two most popular ways: Enterprise Agreement (EA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP).
The Microsoft Enterprise Agreement offers the best value to organizations with at least 250 users or devices. However, there are some cases where an organization with fewer users could make EA work for their situation.
During the term of an EA, you can add and adjust the number of users, devices, products, and services at any time without having to place individual purchase orders and account for changes through the annual True-up process.
Moreover, Microsoft offers a lower price to their customers who buy in bulk, or operate in government or education.
The second way, Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), is an opportunity to work with Microsoft partner to secure the Microsoft products and services required by your organization.
While CSP program has the access to the same Microsoft cloud offerings and the same Azure cloud services compared to EA, the experience is different. With the CSP program, there is a choice of a a month-to-month subscription with a one-year or three-year agreement. Therefore, you don’t need to make a large commitment at the start and can increase or decrease subscriptions on a month-to-month basis.
Also, if your needs change in terms of user numbers, or if you need to add a new product, you can do it right away, and your agreement will adjust as necessary. This superior flexibility is often the first thing drawing organizations toward CSPs and away from EAs.
Another differentiating factor is the lower user number required to get started with the Microsoft CSP Program. Usually, the minimum user requirement is between 1 and 20 depending on the product.
Find Dynamics 365 country, language, and localization availability here.
Some Dynamics 365 services are available for purchase via pay-as-you-go meter. Azure subscription enables you to pay for what you use, and your account is billed monthly. For example, you can enable pay-as you-go billing for Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection services.
Note that for Dynamics 365, mixing licenses across different licensing programs—for instance, using a volume licensing agreement for one product and a license bought through a reseller partner for another—on a single tenant is not recommended and could lead to incompatible subscriptions. Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA/CSP) licenses may be mixed with Enterprise Agreement (EA) licenses, however, for short-term purposes.
