Updated: March 2016

Introducing the Partner Center

Entering the Partner Center
Creating new Customers
Ordering and managing subscriptions
Office 365 plan upgrades
View your current and past invoice details
Managing support tickets
Viewing a customers service health
Updating a customers account details
Updating your CSP account settings
Viewing updates in the Notification center
Multi-channel capabilities
Multi-Partner capabilities
The enhanced portal experience for Partners to provision and manage customers

Office 365,
Provision Admin-on-
Intune, EMS,
Easy to Use Customers & behalf-of
Azure*, CRM
Subscriptions customers
Online*

Multi-channel
& View Your CSP API access CSP Content &
Multi- Invoices* & onboarding* Resources
Partner* *= new capabilities
*= new capabilities

Partner Center can be accessed at http://partnercenter.microsoft.com

To help with the transition, the Partner Admin Center will be available for at least until October 2015
All Partners onboarded after July 12, 2015 will only have access to the Partner Center
All new features after July 12, 2015 will only be included in the Partner Center
Go to https://partnercenter.microsoft.com to go to the Partner
Center homepage. Click on Dashboard or Sign in to Partner
Center.
Use the credentials associated with the tenant you used to onboard
to CSP. For Partners who used the Partner Admin Center, its the
same credentials that you have been using.
After signing in, you are taken to the Dashboard page. Here you
will find quick links to top tasks. Note: depending on your
permissions, certain links may or may not be displayed.
To create a new customer, go to the
Dashboard and click Add new
customer.
If you are already on the Customers
page, click on the Add customer
button.
Fill out the new customer information.
If the primary domain is already taken,
you will need to select a different
domain. Click Next: Offer info.
Select one or more offers, along with the number of licenses
for each offer. In this example, the Microsoft Azure pay-as-
you-go offer and Office 365 E1 are selected.
Click Next: Review
Note that there are different tabs for
Enterprise offers and Small Business
offers.
Review the new customer and offer
details. If you need to change anything,
click on one of the Update links.
Otherwise, click Submit.
View the new customer confirmation.
Click Done.
The new customer will appear on the
Customers list. Note: it may take up to a couple
of minutes for the customer to appear on the
list.
Click on the down arrow in the far right
column next to a customer provides
additional information and quick links to
the individual service admin portals.
To provision new subscriptions for a customer, first click on the
down arrow in the far right column to show the expanded
details for the customer. Then click Add subscriptions.
Select the offer(s) and number of
licenses for each new subscription. Click
Submit.
New subscriptions now appear on the customers Subscriptions
page. You can see the number of licenses in the Quantity column
and the date in which the subscription auto-renews in the Status
column.
To order add-ons for the subscription or to change the
number of licenses, click on the subscription link.
You can choose to give the subscription a nickname. You can
also change the number of licenses, order add-ons or change
the status of a subscription.
In this example the license quantity is increased to 20 total
licenses. 20 licenses of Exchange Online Archiving for Exchange
Online is also added. Click Submit.
View the updated number of licenses on the
Subscriptions page. You can also see the new add-on
subscription.
To change the status of a subscription,
click on Suspended. Then click Done.
On the Subscriptions page, the Status column
reflects the updated subscription status. In this
example the subscription is Suspended.
The Office 365 plan upgrade functionality (released in February 2016) gives Partners the
ability to upgrade a customers Office 365 Business plan. With the initial release of the plan
upgrade functionality, you can upgrade a customers Office 365 Business, Business Essentials
or Business Premium subscription.
You are only able to upgrade plans you provisioned as a CSP Partner
Plan eligible for upgrade include Business, Business Essentials and Business Premium plans
(more upgrade options to come in the future)
Upgrading a plan automatically transfers licenses to the new plan
Upgraded plan receives a new 1-year subscription and new renewal date

Additional information can be found on

the Partner Center help pages.
 The table below shows the Office 365 plans that can be upgraded. This list will grow as more
plans are supported in the plan upgrade feature. The intent is to also enable upgrade
options for Office 365 Enterprise plans.

Plans currently
available for
upgrades
Offer Name Possible Upgrades
Office 365 Business Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 ProPlus
Office 365 Enterprise E5

Office 365 Business Premium Office 365 Enterprise E3

Office 365 Enterprise E5

Office 365 Business Essentials Office 365 Enterprise E1

Office 365 Enterprise E3
Office 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Enterprise E5
To get started, go
to the customers
Subscriptions
page

On the customers Subscriptions page, click on the Business

plan that youd like to upgrade. In this example, the Partner
wants to upgrade the customers Office 365 Business plan.
You can also see
if an upgrade is
available by
viewing the
subscription
drop-down
details

On the customers Subscriptions page, click on the down arrow in the right
column to view additional subscription details. If the subscription can be
upgraded, you will see the Upgrade available link.
On the
subscription
details page,
youll see a
notification if the
subscription is
eligible to be
upgraded

On the details page for the subscription, you will see a grey
notification bar if the subscription is eligible to be upgraded. Click
Upgrade now to begin the upgrade process.
It may take a few
seconds to
display the
upgrade options

It may take a few seconds for the page to display the

upgrade options.
Select among the
available upgrade
options

A list of available upgrade options will be displayed. Review the options

and select the desired upgrade option. In this example, the Partner is
selecting to upgrade the customers Business plan to E3.
Unavailable
upgrade options
are greyed out

Unavailable upgrade options are greyed out. Click on the (i)

icon to view a description of why the option is not available.
Confirm the
number of
licenses to
transition

Confirm or modify the number of licenses to include in the plan

upgrade. You can add additional licenses, but you cant reduce the
number of licenses during the upgrade. Click Submit.
A notification
confirms that the
upgrade was
completed

A notification bar confirms that the upgrade was completed.

The upgraded
plan shows on
the customers
Subscriptions list

The upgraded subscription appears on the subscription list, along with the
quantity of transitioned licenses. In this example, the Partner transitioned 20 seats
of Business to E3. The original subscription remains on the list, but is in the
Suspended state. This original subscription, which is suspended during the
upgrade process, cant be reactivated.
 Important notes from the Partner Center how-to pages:
Additional notes
on plan upgrades To upgrade a subscription:

The subscription must be active (not suspended or cancelled).

You must have delegated admin privileges for this customer and service. Learn how to
request delegated admin privileges.
The customer cant already have subscriptions that include the additional services.
The customer cant already have the subscriptions you are trying to upgrade them to.

It is possible, in the latter two cases that the customer may have purchased those
subscriptions or services from another partner or another channel, and they wont be able
to purchase them from you unless they cancel their existing ones first. For more
information, see multipartner and multichannel.

For more information about the impact this will have on billing, see the details about
cancelling a subscription and adding a new subscription in common billing scenarios.
From the Partner Center Dashboard, click Billing to
view your current invoice, past invoices and
reconciliation files.
View your bill for the current month, including your account balance due
View a bar chart of your monthly bills for the past 3, 6 or 12 months
View your billing history, by year
Download your bill and reconciliation files (both license-based and usage-based)
The Support tickets functionality (released in January 2016) gives Partners an
aggregated view of support tickets that were opened for Partner Center issues and
for customer technical issues. This includes the ability to:
Open a new support ticket
View Open and Closed support tickets
Add additional information to support tickets
Change the status of a support ticket (e.g. close a ticket or reopen a ticket)

Additional information can be found on the Partner Center help pages.

While on the Dashboard, click Support tickets from the left
navigation area. This will show drop-down links to Partner center
tickets and Customer tickets.
Clicking on Partner center tickets takes you to a view of all tickets
opened for Partner Center issues. In this example, there is one support
ticket opened for a Partner Center issue.
Click on the support ticket ID to view additional details.
On the support ticket details page, you can add notes in the
Recent activity box, or change the status of the ticket from Open
to Closed (in the event the issue has been resolved or no longer
occurs).
Click on Customer tickets to search for all tickets associated with
a given customer.
Search for a customer by name to view all support tickets
associated with that customer.
After searching for a customer, you can view Open and Closed
tickets associated with the customer. Click on the ticket ID to view
additional details about the support ticket.
While viewing additional details about the support ticket, you can
add additional details in the Recent activity box or change the
status of the ticket from Open to Closed.
You can also find support tickets associated with a customer by
going to your customer list in Partner Center, clicking on a
customer and then going to the Service management page for
that customer.
While on the Customers page, click on
the customer in which youd like to
view the current service health status.
Click on the Service management link from the
left navigation area.
While on the Service management page, click on the appropriate
View service health link. For example, if the customer is experiencing
an Azure issue, click on the link in that section of the page.
Clicking on the View service health link brings you to the current service health
status for the selected service. In this example, you are taken to the customers
Azure management portal. Notice that you are accessing the portal in the context
of the customer. In this example, Quarry Rocks.
While on the Customers page, click on
the customer in which youd like to
update the account details.
Click on the Account link from the left
navigation area.
While on the Account page, view the current customer details. To
update or change the information, click Update.
Update the customers Company details and Primary contact details.
Then click Submit.
On the Dashboard, click on Account
settings
On the Partner profile page, view your current profile information.

To update the support contact details that your customers see, click
Update next to the Support section.
On the Support profile page, enter or update your support contact
details. Click Submit.
Under Account settings, click on Partner billing profile to view or
change your billing profile details. Next to Bill-to info, click Update
to view or change your bill-to information.
On the Bill-to info page, update make any updates then click
Submit.
Under Account settings, click on Organization profile to view
information about your organization. Click Update to change profile
details.
After updating your organization profile, click Submit. Note that
you are not able to change your country or your domain name.
From the Dashboard, click Sales to view the latest
pricelists and Offer Matrix.
From the Dashboard, click Notification center to view
important updates and service health information.
View important updates and service health notifications.
User management capabilities enables you to assign or change the role
assigned to an individual within your organization. This establishes the
permissions that users have within the Partner Center and their ability to
manage customers. Click View users to start.
On the User management page, click Add user.
On the Add user page, select the desired role for managing your CSP
customers and the desired role for the ability to manage your own tenant.
Click Add.

Note: Find more information on the permissions for each role here.
 Prior to enabling multi-channel, partners in CSP were only able to order
subscriptions for customers they provisioned (using the Partner Center). However,
its common to work with customers who have an existing tenant. In these cases
you need the ability to provision CSP subscriptions for these customers on the
same tenant. Multi-channel capability makes this possible.

You can provision CSP You can provision CSP You can provision CSP
subscriptions for a subscriptions for a subscriptions for a
customer that has already customer that has existing customer that has existing
has a tenant (i.e. wasnt subscription(s) that you subscription(s) that were
originally provisioned as a previously sold to the previously purchased
CSP customer). customer as an Advisor directly from Microsoft.
Partner.
 Enables CSP subscriptions
Enables partners to Customer retains full
to co-exist with other
provision CSP control over their existing
subscriptions on the same
subscriptions for a subscriptions
tenant (e.g. purchased
customer that has an
directly from Microsoft,
existing tenant
via Open, EA)
 Does NOT impact or Does NOT transition the Does NOT prevent end
change any of the customers existing customers from
customers existing subscriptions over to the purchasing subscriptions
subscriptions another Partner from non CSP Channels

Does NOT allow the Does NOT change the

Partner to change any customers terms or
Advisor Partner-of-Record obligations on any of the
information existing subscriptions
Partner identifies a Partner goes into Customer receives
potential CSP Partner Center;
customer creates a CSP
invitation, sends
to customer
Partner can then Customers
provision CSP existing
subscriptions for subscriptions
customer in the remain unchanged
Partner Center
Microsoft bills Partner Direct, Advisor-lead,
for CSP subscriptions Open and EA
subscriptions remain
unchanged
Partner bills customer DAP relationships
for CSP subscriptions preserved, cannot be
changed by Partner
Customer logs Partner is granted
CSP invitation into its own delegated admin
email tenant and permissions (DAP)
accepts CSP
invitation
Key callouts:
Establishing a CSP relationship with a Partner does
not change or transition existing subscriptions to
POR on existing the CSP provider
subscriptions is
preserved, cannot be The customer is in control of existing subscriptions,
changed by Partner
including the decision whether to renew or let these
subscriptions expire
Terms and billing
arrangement on Partner with DAP can manage and administer the
existing subscriptions service for the customer but cannot modify the
remain unchanged customers non-CSP subscriptions
From either the Dashboard or while on
the Customers page, click on Request
a reseller relationship.
Copy the
relationship
request invitation
text for use in an
email invitation

Copy the CSP relationship invitation text and paste into

your own email template to send to customer(s).
Customer is
prompted to
sign-in into own
admin portal

After receiving the CSP relationship invitation via email from

you, the customer is prompted to sign-in to its own admin
portal (the user must have global admin privileges to accept the
CSP relationship invitation).
Customer signs in
to its tenant

Customer must sign in to its tenant to accept the CSP

invitation. Note that the person accepting the invitation must
have the global admin role permissions on its own tenant.
 This is the what the customer sees after clicking on the invitation link.

Customer reviews
and accepts the
CSP invitation

Customer reviews the CSP invitation details and must click Yes
in the checkbox, and then clicks Authorize CSP to accept.
Partner now
shows up as a
delegated admin
in the customers
admin portal

After accepting the CSP invitation, the partner will then

appear within the customers admin portal in the list of
delegated admins.
Customer now
appears in the
Partner Center on
the Customers
page

Once the customer accepts the CSP invitation, the customer

then appears in your customer list (in this example, the
customer Fourth Coffee just accepted the CSP invitation).
 After the customer accepts your CSP invitation and the customer appears on
you Customers list, you can provision subscriptions and manage that customer
Now you can just as you would any other CSP customer.
manage the
A few important notes about managing your new customer in the Partner
customer in Center:
which you
Only CSP subscriptions are listed for the customer; non-CSP subscriptions
established a CSP (e.g. subscriptions purchased directly from Microsoft) arent shown in the
relationship. Partner Center
You can only provision add-on subscriptions for base subscriptions you
provision as a CSP provider
 Prior to enabling multi-Partner capabilities, customers were only able to be associated with a single Partner in CSP. Once a
customer was connected to a Partner in CSP, that customer was not able to purchase through any other Partner. However,
some customers may want or need to work with more than one Partner. For example, one Partner may be an expert in Office
365, while another Partner may specialize in Microsoft Azure. The multi-Partner capability makes it possible for Partners to
establish a CSP relationship with a customer that already has an existing Partner. While this enables multiple Partners to work
with the same customer tenant, this capability is not designed to migrate or transition any subscriptions or customer
ownership from one Partner to another Partner. Additionally, having more than one Partner is solely at the discretion and
choice of the customer.

Example scenarios:
A customer has an existing Partner that
sold it Office 365 and then establishes a
relationship with a second Partner that
specializes in Microsoft Azure.
A customer has an existing Partner that
sold it Exchange Online, and then
establishes a relationship with a second
Partner that specializes in SharePoint
Online.
A customer has an existing Partner that
specializes in Dynamics CRM Online, and
then establishes a relationship with a
second Partner that specializes in
Microsoft Azure.
The process of a establishing a CSP relationship with a customer that already has a Partner is similar to the
process used in multi-channel capabilities. The basic steps are:
(1) Go into the Partner Center and then go to your Customers list
(2) Click Request a reseller relationship at the top of the page
(3) Copy the email text and invitation URL
(4) Paste the email text and invitation URL into an email and send to your prospective customer
(5) Customer receives your email, clicks on the invitation link and is prompted to log into its tenant
(6) Customer reviews the invitation and clicks to accept the invitation
(7) After accepting the invitation, that customer appears in the Partners customer list in Partner Center
(8) Partner can then provision and manage CSP subscriptions for the customer

Important notes: Multi-Partner Functionality Does Not:

Does NOT impact or change any of the customers existing subscriptions
Does NOT transition the customers existing subscriptions or ownership of the tenant
Does NOT change the terms or customers obligations for any of the existing subscriptions
Does NOT allow the Partner to change any Advisor Partner-of-Record information
Customer already has an existing Partner, as seen when the
customer goes into its own admin portal. In this example,
the customer already has a relationship with Zulu Cloud
Solutions, a Partner.
In Partner Center, from either the
Dashboard or while on the Customers
page, click on Request a reseller
relationship.
Copy the
relationship
request invitation
text for use in an
email invitation

Copy the CSP relationship invitation text and

paste into your own email template to send
to customer(s).
After you send
the invitation, the
customer is
prompted to
sign-in into own
admin portal

After receiving the invitation from you and clicking on the

invitation link, the customer is prompted to sign-in to its
own admin portal (the user must have global admin
privileges to accept the CSP relationship invitation).
Customer signs in
to its tenant

Customer must sign in to its tenant to accept the CSP

invitation. Note that the person accepting the invitation must
have the global admin role permissions on its own tenant.
 This is the what the customer sees after clicking on the invitation link.

Customer reviews
and accepts the
CSP invitation

Customer reviews the CSP invitation details and must click Yes
in the checkbox, and then clicks Authorize CSP to accept.
Partner now
shows up as a
delegated admin
in the customers
admin portal

After accepting the CSP invitation, the partner will then

appear within the customers admin portal in the list of
delegated admins. In this example, Bravo Cloud Solutions is
the additional Partner that was just added.
Customer now
appears in the
Partner Center on
the Customers
page

Once the customer accepts the CSP invitation, the customer

then appears on your customer list (in this example, the
customer Wingtip Toys Inc just accepted the CSP
invitation).
Now you can
provision and
manage
subscriptions for
your new CSP
customer

Notice that there are no subscriptions listed. You are not

able to see or manage subscriptions created by other
Partners. Click Add subscription to create a subscription for
the customer.
Add subscriptions
for your new CSP
customer

Choose the offers. In this example, the Partner orders an

Azure subscription for the customer. Click Submit.
Subscriptions you
provision for the
customer appear
in your Partner
Center.

The new subscription now appears in your Partner Center.

Other Partners are not able to view or manage this
subscription.
 !
Note: Customer
can also remove
a Partner from
having delegated
admin privileges

A customer can choose to remove any or all its Partners from having delegated admin
permissions on its tenant. Note: This does NOT sever the CSP relationship; it only removes
delegated admin privileges so that the Partner is not able to access the customers admin
portal. The Partner is still able to provision subscriptions for the customer and still must
support the customer. The Partner can reestablish delegated admin privileges by resending
the CSP relationship invitation to the customer.
Customer
confirms removal
of Partner from
having delegated
admin privileges

Customer confirms that it wishes to remove the Partner from

having delegated admin privileges.
CSP Partner will
remain listed, but
will no longer
have delegated
admin privileges

Once a customer removes delegated admin privileges from a Partner, the Partner will remain on
the list on the page, but the Relationship column will only say Cloud Solution Provider (the
Admin designation will no longer appear). Note: This does NOT sever the CSP relationship; it
only removes delegated admin privileges so that the Partner is not able to access the customers
admin portal. The CSP Partner is still able to provision subscriptions for the customer and still
must support the customer. The CSP Partner can reestablish delegated admin privileges by
resending the CSP relationship invitation to the customer.