Ready to transition to New Commerce Experience (NCE) early?
But hold on… it’s important to get the full facts before you commit to transitioning your existing or new customer base to a new purchase motion. I got queries from my partner base, and I will help to answer the top questions regarding Microsoft New Commerce Experience across commercial terms and billing, subscription management, timeline, and more.
You can also download the new-commerce-experience-handbook.
1. COMMERCIAL TERM & BILLING
Common Questions for Commercial Terms and Billing:
Q: Are there any “exceptions” to the 7-day cancellation policies for annual or 36-month subscriptions?
A: There will be no exceptions made by Microsoft. They have been very firm with their cancellation policy. Should the customer need more time to assess the subscription value, Microsoft encourages either a Trial or Monthly Subscription (at a price premium) to ensure they’re not locked in for the full term.
Q: Can a customer mix and match - add majority on long-term subscription but add month to month on top to scale up and down?
A: Yes, the customer can mix subscriptions. I suggest to all partners use the 80:20 model. For example, to predict fixed subscriptions (Full Time Employees) with the annual NCE subscription (80%) and all non-fixed subscriptions with the Monthly Premium NCE Subscription (20%).
Please note: Not all NCE per-user subscriptions currently have a Monthly option
Q: Can subscriptions be transferred between dealers/partners, if a customer-dealer/partner relationship goes away? Or is the original dealer/partner still responsible for the annual subscription?
A: The scenario above is not supported. Licenses need to be assigned to a customer at the moment of transaction and cannot be transferred mid-term to another customer (the original purchasing partner and customer owe that obligation until it expires).
2. SUBSCRIPTION MANAGEMENT
Common Questions for Subscription Management:
Q: Will I receive a pro-rated refund similar to CSP legacy with “Monthly” subscriptions in NCE?
A: Monthly subscriptions in NCE offer more flexibility to the partner and customer, however, cancellations after the 7-day (168 hours) cancellation window will not receive a pro-rated refund for the rest of the month. Instead, the monthly subscription will run to its end date and cancel. The partner and customer should still expect to be billed for the full month.
Q: Will all SKUs have a 36-month option?
A: Microsoft is releasing 36-month subscription terms for limited solutions. Dynamics 365 will have 36-month subscriptions available for purchase on NCE upon General Availability and then later release select Microsoft 365 (to be confirmed which) in H2 2022.
Q: I only see Commercial NCE SKUs available on Cloud Marketplace, when will I be able to purchase Education and Charity subscriptions in NCE?
A: There will be a delayed Microsoft launch for Education and NFP/Charity SKUs until Q2 2022. As of today, only Commercial products are available in NCE.
Q: If a partner added seats to an annual subscription in NCE, will it co-term with the original commitment date?
A: Mid-term license quantity upsizes are calculated PTO-rated based on the remaining portion of the current Billing Period of the target Subscription, rounded to the calendar day as a unit.
Q: What are the “allowed” upgrade paths that fall outside of the 7-day cancellation window for NCE?
A:
