Room5.04Floor 5 Microsoft 365
Cloud subscriptions for Microsoft 365, Azure and more
Microsoft 365, Azure and other cloud subscriptions bought, changed and renewed by one team. Every renewal date tracked, every licence matched to a person, and your tenant stays yours.
- Every renewal date tracked
- Every licence matched to a person
- Your tenant stays yours
Buy, change and renew your cloud subscriptions in one place
We sell and manage Microsoft cloud subscriptions through Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider program, along with the other cloud services our clients run, such as Acronis backup. One team sets up your account, buys the licences, changes them when staff join or leave, and watches every renewal date so nothing renews or expires by surprise.
Most offices we meet have licences spread across a credit card on Microsoft’s website, a previous IT provider and a telecom bundle. Nobody is sure what renews when, and a few licences still belong to people who left last year. Bringing them under one account fixes that, and the bill shows each plan and how many you have.
Your Microsoft 365 tenant stays yours. You keep the global admin account, and our access is limited to the roles the work needs, for a set period you can see and end yourself. The rest of our Microsoft work is on the Microsoft 365 support page.
Customer and tenant management
Every subscription hangs off a customer account linked to your Microsoft 365 tenant. For a new business we create the tenant. For an existing one we link the tenant you already have. Either way, the company name, billing contact and domain are set correctly from the start, because they are awkward to change later.
How our admin access works
Microsoft now gives partners granular delegated admin privileges, known as GDAP, in place of the old blanket admin rights. We ask only for the roles the work needs, such as user, licence and help desk administration, and each relationship runs for a set period of up to two years. You approve it from your own Microsoft 365 admin centre, and you can see it and end it there at any time.
- We do not ask for global admin rights for day-to-day work
- Our technicians sign in to your tenant with their own accounts and multi-factor authentication, and those sign-ins show in your logs
- Access is reviewed when it comes up for renewal and removed when the work it covered has ended
Subscription management: licences that match your staff
Day to day, subscription work is mostly people joining and leaving. A new hire needs the right plan before their first morning. A leaver’s mailbox and OneDrive need to go to their manager before the licence is freed for the next person. Both go through our help desk like any other request.
What we change for you
- Adding licences when staff join, on the same renewal date as the rest of the plan
- Reassigning a leaver’s licence to the next hire instead of buying another one
- Upgrading people mid-term, for example from Business Standard to Business Premium
- Adding Copilot, Teams Phone, archiving, extra security or Power BI only for the people who need them
- Mixing plans in one tenant, so frontline staff, office staff and managers each get what fits
- A clear list of every subscription, how many licences are assigned and how many sit unused, whenever you ask
Subscriptions we manage
Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, E5 and frontline plans, and add-ons such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams Phone, Exchange Online Archiving, Entra ID P2 and Power BI Pro. We also handle Windows 365 Cloud PCs, Azure and Acronis backup. If you need something that is not on that list, ask, and we will tell you whether it can go on the same account.
How Microsoft’s subscription terms work
Microsoft’s current rules, known as New Commerce, decide what you can change and when. Most surprises on a Microsoft bill come from these rules rather than from the price list, so we go through them before you commit to anything.
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Annual term | The lower price. You can add licences at any time, but you cannot reduce them until the term renews. |
| Monthly term | About 20% more per licence, in exchange for being able to reduce or cancel at each monthly renewal. |
| Paying monthly on an annual term | Since April 2025, Microsoft charges 5% more to pay monthly than to pay the year up front. The commitment is still for the full year. |
| Seven-day window | A new subscription, a renewal or added licences can be cancelled or reduced for a prorated refund within seven calendar days. After that, the count is locked until renewal. |
| Upgrades and downgrades | Moving people to a higher plan is allowed at any time. Moving down waits for the renewal date. |
| Price changes | Your price is fixed for the term. Increases such as Microsoft’s July 2026 changes apply from your next renewal. |
For most offices the answer is a mix: annual terms for steady staff, a few monthly licences for seasonal or contract workers, and every change to the count made in the weeks before renewal, not after it.
Auto-renew management: no renewal by surprise
Every subscription has its own renewal date, and an office with a dozen plans and add-ons can have a dozen dates. Microsoft renews them automatically unless someone acts first, and there are only seven days to correct a mistake afterwards. We keep a renewal calendar for every client and review each subscription about a month before it renews.
What we check before each renewal
- Licence counts against the people who actually use them, so the count comes down at the one point it can
- Whether each plan is still the right one, or a different plan makes more sense for the next term
- Term length and billing: annual or monthly, paid up front or paid monthly
- Price changes Microsoft has announced for the coming term
- Renewal dates that can be lined up, so the office has fewer dates to track
Why turning auto-renew off is no longer enough
Until May 2026, a subscription that was not renewed kept working for a free grace period while someone decided what to do. That buffer is gone. A subscription at the end of its term now renews, ends that day with users losing access, or rolls onto a paid day-by-day extension priced above Microsoft’s monthly rate. Turning auto-renew off without a cancel instruction usually means the extension, and a bill nobody planned for. We set each subscription to renew, change or end on purpose, and tell you before the date what will happen.
Moving your subscriptions to us
Subscriptions bought through another Microsoft partner can usually be transferred to us mid-term, with no break in service and no change to the licences your staff use. Both partners approve the transfer, and the term and renewal date carry over.
Subscriptions bought on Microsoft’s website or through a telecom bundle move differently. We buy the new subscriptions through our account and time the switch against the old ones’ renewal dates, so you are not paying for both for long. Staff keep working throughout, because their licences simply come from the new subscription instead of the old one.
Before any move we list every subscription you have, where it was bought and when it renews. That list on its own often turns up licences you can drop.
Where offices usually overpay
A licence review looks for spending that has crept in over the years. These are the patterns we find most often, and each is fixed at the subscription’s next renewal so nothing is wasted mid-term.
- Licences still assigned to people who left months ago
- Business Standard plus a separate security product that Business Premium already includes
- Monthly-term licences on staff who have been there for years, costing about 20% more than an annual term
- Annual subscriptions paid monthly where paying up front would save 5% and cash flow allows it
- Add-ons such as archiving or Defender bought on top of a plan that already includes them
- E3 or E5 in an office under 300 people that Business Premium would cover
- Trial subscriptions and spare tenants left running after a project ended
Not sure which plan fits? Our User Migration Bundle page compares Business Premium, E3 and E5 and explains when each one makes sense.
Billing and what the managed plan covers
Subscriptions are billed by us monthly, separate from support, with each plan and quantity listed. On the managed IT plan, adding and removing licences for joiners and leavers goes through the help desk like any other request. Bigger changes are quoted at a fixed price before work starts.
- Licence review and right-sizing before renewalFixed quote
- Moving subscriptions from another partner or from Microsoft directFixed quote
- New Microsoft 365 tenant for a new businessFixed quote
- Company-wide move to Business Premium, E3 or E5Fixed quote
- Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout for selected staffFixed quote
- Renewal date alignment across all subscriptionsFixed quote
Questions people ask
Do we keep control of our Microsoft 365 tenant?
Yes. The global admin account stays with you. Our access uses Microsoft's granular delegated admin roles, limited to what the work needs and to a set period, and you can see it and end it in your own Microsoft 365 admin centre.
Can we reduce licences when someone leaves?
On an annual term, not until it renews, unless the licences were bought or renewed in the last seven days. In the meantime we reassign the licence to the next hire, then lower the count at renewal. Monthly-term licences can be reduced at each monthly renewal.
What happens if we turn off auto-renew?
Since May 2026 there is no free grace period. Unless the subscription is set to cancel, it usually rolls onto a paid day-by-day extension priced above the monthly rate. If it is cancelled, users lose access at the end of the term. We set every subscription to renew, change or end on purpose.
Is Microsoft 365 cheaper through you or directly from Microsoft?
Microsoft's list prices are broadly the same whichever way you buy. The difference is the management: with us, licences, renewals and support sit with the team that runs your IT, and the renewal rules are watched for you.
Can you take over our subscriptions without downtime?
Yes. Subscriptions from another partner can usually be transferred mid-term with no break in service. Subscriptions bought directly from Microsoft are replaced with new ones timed to the old renewal dates, and staff keep working throughout.
Should we pay monthly or annually?
On an annual term, paying the year up front costs 5% less than paying monthly. A monthly term costs about 20% more but can be reduced each month. Most offices put steady staff on annual terms and keep a few monthly licences for seasonal or contract workers.
Do you manage subscriptions other than Microsoft?
Yes. We manage Acronis backup and can add other business cloud services to the same account. Tell us what you use and we will say what can move.
Tell us what’s going on
Pick how urgent it is and leave a way to reach you. The help desk replies by phone or email. If work has stopped, call 647-812-3775 instead.
Something broken, or something to plan?
For anything urgent, call. A technician answers the emergency line 24/7. For everything else, open a ticket and tell us what is going on.