Microsoft Ending EA / MPSA Volume Discounts: What It Means & What You Should Do

Written by T-Tech | Sep 16, 2025 4:01:57 PM

Starting 1 November 2025, Microsoft is removing its volume-based discount tiers for many Online Services under its Enterprise Agreement (EA), Microsoft Products & Services Agreement (MPSA), and related licensing programs globally. This is a major shift for organisations that have relied on bulk discounts.

What’s Changing

All volume licensing discounts for Microsoft’s Online Services (Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, Power, GitHub, security/compliance/identity products) will be flattened: customers will pay the Level A / list price, regardless of user count.
The changes apply to EA, MPSA, and OSPA (in China) programs
On-premises software licensing is not affected. The change is for online/cloud-based services only.
Education customers and (in many jurisdictions) government clients may be exempted.

Who Will Be Most Impacted

Organisations with large user counts (especially Level B, C, D customers under EA) will see the biggest cost increases.
For example, a company with 15,000+ users could see increases of ~12% on the relevant cloud services compared to previous discounted contracts under Level D.
Smaller organisations that had volume discounts will also be impacted, though the absolute monetary increase will, of course, be less. But for many, discount thresholds (bands) will no longer apply.

What You Should Do Now

Here’s a suggested checklist so you’re not caught off guard:

Action	Why It Matters
Review your renewal dates	If your EA / MPSA renews before or around Nov 2025, now is the time to negotiate and lock in terms if possible.
Gather your usage data & key metrics	Number of users, which services used, under-utilised licenses, overlapping plans, etc. Crucial input to build accurate cost models.
Engage with Microsoft / your partner or CSP	Explore alternative channels (CSP, MCA), get clarity on what concessions might still be possible, or whether multi-year deals or bundling help mitigate cost rises.
Explore optimisation, governance & rightsizing	Decommission outdated licences, remove underused ones, consider whether lower-cost plans might suffice. Better governance can reduce wasted spend.
Map out budget scenarios	Do financial modelling: what cost increases you expect under flat pricing; what savings you can get via optimisation; how shifts to CSP or MCA would change costs.
Seek expert advice if needed	For large environments, or complex licensing footprints, engaging a Microsoft licensing consultant or partner can pay off.

How CSP Might Be Part of the Solution

In our recent communications, we’ve been talking to customers who are looking at Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) as an alternative. Here’s how the CSP model can help:

CSPs often provide added-value services (governance, support, usage monitoring) that go beyond just licensing.
Flexibility: adding or reducing licenses can be more agile; changes may be more easily managed via partner relationships.
In many cases, CSPs are proving competitive on pricing relative to what many organisations will face under the new flat list price model.
If you aren’t familiar with CSPs, now is a good time for a short conversation, even if just to understand what’s possible.

Our Offer: We’re Here to Help

We’ve sent a note to our customers already, because we believe this change is significant. If you have an EA or MPSA with Microsoft, here’s what we can help you with:

Cost impact assessment for your current and future licensing spend under the new rules.
Exploration of alternative procurement routes, including CSP, MCA etc.
Licensing review & optimisation, to identify wasted spend, under-utilised licences, redundant features, etc.
Strategy & negotiation support ahead of your renewal, so you’re not caught by surprise.

If this is something you want to explore, we’d be happy to have a brief chat (15 mins is often enough to give you some useful insight). Drop us a line

Final Thoughts

This is more than just a pricing update, it signals Microsoft’s move toward simpler, more transparent pricing but also less automatic reward for scale. If you’ve benefitted from Level B, C or D discounts in the past, there will be material cost implications going forward unless you take strategic action.

The good news is, with foresight, data, and the right partner, there is room to manage the transition, reduce waste, and still make cloud licensing work in a scalable, cost-efficient way.

If you want us to help you map out what this means for your organisation, just say the word.

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