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What's New

Check out this page to stay up to date on VL Central

On this page, previously published as "Latest News," you find updates and announcements outside the Launch Calendar, Journey Map, and the Partner call cadence. What's New contains breaking news about enhancements in VL Central and changes in launch dates, effective dates, or scope. It also points to more resources and readiness updates on the VL Central Hub.

For FAQ and important responses to partner feedback, check the Frequently Asked Questions Sections for the respective VL Central Workspace:

Reporting & Analytics Workspace Enhancements - Custom Reports

  • Date: March 5, 2026
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: Customers, Partners, SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement, Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EA, EAS)

We communicated that a series of fast follow enhancements would be introduced to improve the Select Plus and EA experience within the Reporting & Analytics Workspace in VLC.  

In October, we were excited to share the new Select Plus UI, enabling partners to view report data directly in the browser alongside the existing export functionality. We hope that this enhancement has delivered significant value. 

Effective March 5th, 2026, we’re now pleased to announce further improvements to enhance the EA experience.  

These include: 

  • Introduction of Custom Reports: Users are be able to independently create, customize, and save reports tailored to their needs using different reporting entities, and advanced configuration options.   
  • Faster, Flexible Report Exports: Excel export now supports larger datasets (>600K rows), reduced download times, and file renaming before exporting. Scheduled pricelist exports now allow dynamic selection of current/next month pricelists.  
  • Expanded Column Limits: Users can select up to 70 columns for custom and pricelist reports on UI, enabling comprehensive analysis.  
  • New Columns & Filters: Adjustment Reason, Coverage Length, Extended Amount, and enhanced filters (for example, reconciliation status, program name, sales location, participant types) are now available through Custom reports.   
  • Usability Updates: Addresses top partner feedback and improves flexibility. 

Note: We're introducing a clear separation between Customer PO Number, System PO, and Billing PO Numbers across Purchase Order, Invoice, and Purchase Order Line Items reports. This enhancement may result in column name changes, which could impact existing automation or integrations that rely on current column labels/values. 

For more information about the EA experience, review How to use the Reporting & Analytics workspace | Microsoft Learn 

These fast follow enhancements were selected based on partner feedback, and we’re confident they enhance the partner experience within the Reporting & Analytics workspace. We value your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing it with us. 

DocuSign E-Signature Option in VL Central - Update: General Availability March 2, 2026

  • Date: February 27, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: Customers, Partners, SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement, Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EA, EAS)

Effective 2nd March 2026 , Docusign will be introduced as an additional e-signature solution within VL Central (VLC), complementing the existing Adobe Sign capability. This enhancement provides customers and partners with greater flexibility in selecting their preferred signature method and is designed to improve signature velocity across agreement workflows. Users are able to seamlessly choose between Adobe Sign and Docusign while maintaining all existing security, compliance, and audit requirements across Volume Licensing programs.

Docusign integration also addresses Adobe Sign restrictions in China, ensuring uninterrupted contract execution for impacted regions. 

Resources:

AI Assistant for Contracts now in VL Central & Call for Feedback

  • Date: February 2, 2026
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) – Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) partners; Partner operations teams managing Enterprise Agreements
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement (EA), Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EAS), Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE)

Note

Share Your AI Assistant Feedback and Ideas for next skills HERE!

Starting 2 February 2026, the Volume Licensing Central AI Assistant for Contracts is live for partners as a Preview feature. This AI-powered assistant in the Contracts workspace lets partners use natural language to streamline contract management tasks. It enables quick retrieval of contract details, one-click data export, and automated draft contract package creation – all within VL Central’s interface. Key capabilities in this preview include:

  • Contract inquiry: Use conversational prompts to quickly retrieve structured contract details – such as agreement information, participants, affiliate organizations, or tenant IDs – for any authorized enrolment. For example, a partner can ask “List all participants for enrolment 123456” and get the data instantly in the chat.

  • Export contract data: Instantly generate an Excel export of key contract info (participants, affiliates, tenants, etc.) for a given agreement with a single request. This makes it easy to analyse or share contract details externally.

  • Draft package creation: Automatically create a draft contract package for a renewal or new agreement using available artifacts (like a CPS proposal ID or expiring agreement number). The assistant assembles the draft in VL Central, saving time and improving consistency in contract preparation.

Note: This preview feature does not change any underlying contract workflows or policies – it’s an optional productivity tool on top of existing processes. Partners can continue to use VL Central as usual; the AI Assistant simply reduces manual effort (for example, fewer support cases to look up data, less manual drafting). Only partners with appropriate Contracts access (for example, Contract Viewer/Creator/Submitter roles in VL Central) can use the assistant, and it surfaces data for agreements the partner is authorized to view.

Action required:

  • Learn about the AI Assistant: We recommend that partners review the official documentation (see Resources below) to understand how to use these new AI Assist capabilities effectively. No mandatory process changes are required – this feature is available automatically for eligible users in VL Central.

  • Join the March partner call: Microsoft will host an Enterprise Partner Enablement call on March 10, 2026 to provide a live demonstration of the AI Assistant (Preview) and answer partner questions. Partners are encouraged to register for this call to learn best practices and ask questions (see registration link under Resources).

Resources:

If you have any questions or encounter issues with the AI Assistant, reach out via the VL Central My Cases and Support workspace.

Change of Channel Partner (COCP) – Legacy eAgreements (VLCM) Retirement for EA

  • Date: January 28, 2026
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) – Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: Scaled Solution Provider (LSP) partners; Partner operations teams managing Enterprise Agreements
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement (EA), Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EAS)

Starting end of February 2026 (after close), the Change of Channel Partner (COCP) functionality for EA programmes will be retired from the legacy Volume Licensing Contract Manager (eAgreements) tool. eAgreements will become read-only for EA COCP requests, meaning partners will no longer be able to initiate or process COCP requests for Enterprise Agreements in the old system. Going forward, all EA COCP transactions must be handled through the new self-service process in Volume Licensing Central (VL Central).

What’s changing: Since November 2025, Enterprise customers have been able to initiate COCP requests directly via the Microsoft 365 admin center or Azure portal, with partners then accepting these requests in VL Central’s Contracts workspace. This customer-initiated model is now becoming the exclusive method for EA partner changes. After February 2026, partners will not have the option to use eAgreements (VLCM) for COCP. Any in-progress COCP cases in eAgreements for EA will be viewable but cannot be modified or submitted in that tool. All new and pending EA COCP requests should be managed via VL Central.

What this means for partners:

  • COCP moves entirely to VL Central: Partners must use the VL Central Contracts workspace to handle all COCP requests for EA/EAS agreements. The legacy eAgreements interface will no longer support creating or editing COCP requests for these programmes.

  • Customer-initiated requests only: An EA customer’s admin now needs to initiate the partner change in their Microsoft admin portal. Partners can no longer initiate a COCP on behalf of a customer via eAgreements. Once the customer submits a COCP request, the new partner is notified and can accept or decline the request in VL Central. (Note: COCP requests expire if not accepted within 10 days, requiring the customer to re-initiate.)

  • No change for other programmes: This retirement applies only to Enterprise Agreement programmes. COCP processes for other volume licensing programmes (e.g. Open, Select Plus, SPLA) are unaffected and will continue under their current procedures.

Action required:

  • Inform your teams: Ensure your sales and operations teams are aware that after Feb 2026, all EA COCP changes must go through VL Central.

  • Prepare customers to initiate COCP: Proactively engage new EA customers about this change. Provide them with your organisation’s Public Customer Number (PCN) and an up-to-date partner notification contact email for COCP requests – the customer can't submit a COCP without a valid PCN, and a verified contact ensures you receive the request notification. Encourage customers to initiate any planned partner change via the Microsoft 365 admin centre or Azure portal well before the legacy tool is retired. [learn.microsoft.com]

  • Use VL Central for approvals: Make sure your partner contacts have access to the VL Central Contracts workspace and know how to review and accept incoming COCP requests. When a COCP request appears under Requests > My customer requests in VL Central, an authorized partner user should promptly accept or decline the request to avoid delays in processing.

  • Leverage available guidance: Review the resources below to familiarise your team with the new process and to assist customers with any questions.

Resources:

  • Partner guidance – Change of Channel Partner Request (COCP): Detailed partner documentation on the COCP process is available on Microsoft Learn: Change of Channel Partner Request (COCP) – Volume Licensing Central Contracts documentation. (Learn.microsoft.com) 

  • Customer guidance (Azure portal): Initiate a Change of Channel Partner (COCP) request in the Azure portal – step-by-step instructions for customers to initiate a partner change via the Azure Cost Management & Billing portal. (Learn.microsoft.com) 

  • Customer guidance (Microsoft 365 admin center): Initiate a volume licensing Change of Channel Partner request in the Microsoft 365 admin center – instructions for EA customers to start and track a COCP via the Microsoft 365 admin center. (Learn.microsoft.com)  

If you have any questions or encounter issues, please reach out via the VL Central My Cases and Support workspace.

Change in offering level selection for Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE)

  • Date: Friday 9th Jan, 2026
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP)
  • Programs: SCE (Server Cloud Enrolment), enabling Special Pricing support and Amendments- and BEC order automation for government deals (GOV and SLG)

Starting 12 January 2026, the responsibility for adding offering levels and qualifying enrollments (QE) for SCE enrollments will shift from partners to Commercial Executives (CE) during deal creation.

For SCE-type enrollments created on or after 12 Jan 2026, responsibilities change as follows:

1. Offerings & Qualifying Enrollments (Handled by CE)

  • Offering levels and qualifying enrollments will be added by CE during the deal creation process. These details will automatically flow to the Contracts section. This process will be similar to EA/EAS programs

  • Partners do not need to add QE or offering levels.

 If offering levels or QE details appear incorrect:

  • Contact your CE to have them corrected in CPS

2. Customer Type (No Change)

  • Partners must continue to add the customer type

  • The process remains unchanged from today

3. PSF Documentation (Still Required)

  • Partners must continue to:

    • Manually enter offering levels in the PSF document

      • Upload the PSF document in the Documents section

      • The offering levels in the PSF must exactly match what appears in the Offerings section

 If there's any mismatch, reach out to your CE to correct the offering levels in CPS before proceeding

Introducing the Launch Enablement guide

  • Date: December 16, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: All partners
  • Programs: All

Get the latest launch updates across the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) offering and Volume Licensing (VL) in one place.

With the AI-enhanced, always-current Launch Enablement guide, you can easily access consolidated launch updates and official Microsoft Learn content to self-serve and stay informed.

The Launch Enablement guide equips you to:

  • Navigate a centralized experience: Launch updates will live in one place, replacing the monthly Partner Launch calendars and empowering you to find the right information in a single location.
  • Use AI-assisted discovery to find key information: Quickly surface what’s new, what’s changing, and who’s impacted.
  • Plan for changes with confidence: Turn updates into actions for sales, operations, and customer communications.

Next Steps:

Explore the Launch Enablement guide for the latest updates:

Integration of DocuSign as an Additional E-Signature Option in VL Central 

  • Date: December 4, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: Customers, Partners, SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement, Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EA, EAS)

Effective 2nd March 2026 (updated), Docusign will be introduced as an additional e-signature solution within VL Central (VLC), complementing the existing Adobe Sign capability. This enhancement provides customers and partners with greater flexibility in selecting their preferred signature method and is designed to improve signature velocity across agreement workflows. Users will be able to seamlessly choose between Adobe Sign and Docusign while maintaining all existing security, compliance, and audit requirements across Volume Licensing programs.

Docusign integration also addresses Adobe Sign restrictions in China, ensuring uninterrupted contract execution for impacted regions. 

Next Steps:

Check VLC Launch Enablement Guide | Microsoft Learn and VLC What's New | Microsoft Learn for detailed updates to follow.

Changes to MAC Volume Licensing Role Provisioning for New Contracts

  • Date: November 27, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Programs: EA, EAS, SCE

Effective 15th January 2026, Online Service Manager (OSM) on new EA, EAS and SCE contracts will receive a Volume Licensing (VL) Online Administrator role in Microsoft 365 admin center (MAC). If a valid Work or School Account (Microsoft Entra ID) isn't provided for the OSM contact, then VL Online Administrator role in MAC is also not provided to them.

For more information on how to add WSA to a contact follow the guidance provided in Add Contact in an Agreement Package. For more details on changes to MAC VL roles, see MAC Role Segregation and Secure Authorization.

Change in offering level selection for Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE)

  • Date: November 24, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP)
  • Programs: SCE (Server Cloud Enrolment), enabling Special Pricing support and Amendments- and BEC order automation for government deals ​(GOV and SLG),  

Starting January 12, 2026, Microsoft is updating how offering levels are selected for SCE‑type enrolments to ensure accuracy and streamline downstream processes. For SCE enrolments, partners must select only the offering level chosen by the CE when submitting the PSF. Any other selection isn't accepted going forward. Partners won't have the ability to add offering levels in the offering section of VLC Contracts.  ​

No outreach to customers is needed to set offering levels. Determining and setting the offering level will be the CE’s responsibility, which removes a step for partners and reduces rework. This change enables downstream automation, including special pricing, amendments and BEC order - reducing manual touchpoints and improving data quality.​

Next Step:

Check VLC Launch Enablement Guide | Microsoft Learn and VLC What's New | Microsoft Learn for ​detailed updates to follow.

MAC Role Segregation and Secure Authorization

  • Date: November 19, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Programs: EA, EAS, SCE

Effective November 2025, we're updating the process for managing Volume Licensing (VL) roles on the Microsoft admin center (MAC) by retiring workflows that allowed sellers to manage MAC customer roles by making Agreement contact updates.

What to expect:

  • Work or School Account (WSA or Microsoft Entra ID) is Mandatory for Notices Contact (NTC) on a Contract. The WSA captured for NTC (or OSM) contact must always be an active WSA of the same cloud as the Organization PCN’s cloud scope.

  • Notices Contact (NTC) is provided VL Administrator role on MAC. Online Service Manager (OSM) is provided Online Service Manager role on MAC, only when a valid WSA is provided for them.

  • Bill-to Contact, Key Viewer (KEY), License Position Viewer (LPV), Online Admin (OLA), Downloads (DLD), Software Assurance Manager (SAB) agreement participants no longer receive any roles on MAC. Customer VL Administrator assigns all MAC roles to users with WSA via self-serve.

  • Partners must no longer use VL MAC customer roles (KEY, LPV, OLA, DLD and SAB) in VL Contracts for new, renew, extensions and CICR requests.

  • Partners can no longer view the VL MAC customer roles in Agreement management tools, like VL Central.

We're also enhancing the security and streamlining user management in MAC. VL administrators can only assign MAC roles to users with WSA in the same cloud as the Contract. MAC users can only access the VL contracts that are on the same cloud as your WSA. For more information, see Where to sign-in to view and manage your VL licenses.

When to expect these changes:

These changes will be effective for Customers outside United States (US) without any Non-EA/EAS contracts (like Open, Select-Plus etc) by 24th November 2025. For customers in US and remaining non-US customers with Non-EA/EAS Contracts, these changes will be effective 19th January 2026.

For more information on how to manage MAC roles follow guidance provided in Manage volume licensing user roles | Microsoft Learn

Customer-initiated Change of Channel Partner (COCP) process 

  • Date: November 15, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC) – Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: Enterprise Agreement (EA) / Enterprise Agreement Subscription (EAS) customers; Scaled Solution Provider (SSP) channel partners (LSP)
  • Programs: EA, EAS 

Starting November 15, 2025, Enterprise customers can initiate Change of Channel Partner (COCP) requests directly via the Microsoft 365 admin center or Azure portal, rather than having partners initiate the process. This empowers customers to kick off a partner change themselves and shifts the initiation responsibility from partners to customers. Once a customer initiates a COCP request and provides the necessary details, the nominated new partner is notified to accept or decline the request. Upon partner acceptance, Microsoft processes the change (typically within 24–48 hours), and the new partner becomes active on the agreement after a standard 90-day grace period (unless an earlier effective date is requested via a separate process). 

Details:

Scope and eligibility: The self-service COCP capability applies to Enterprise enrollments (EA and EAS) that are active and have an approved trade status.  

Customer experience: To initiate a partner change, an eligible customer admin goes to the Volume Licensing area of the portal (Microsoft 365 admin center or Azure portal) and uses the “Change partner” action on the desired contract/license ID. They must provide: 

  • The new partner’s Public Customer Number (PCN) – the customer cannot submit the request without a valid PCN. 

  • A partner notification contact email – an email for the new partner’s representative who will be notified of the COCP request. 

  • A reason for the change (e.g. unsatisfactory service, partner offboarding, other). 

Partner experience: The new partner will see incoming COCP requests in VL Central (Contracts workspace under “Requests” > “My customer requests”). An authorized partner user (with appropriate VL Central Contracts access for the given PCN) must accept or decline each request.  

Next steps & actions required 

Provide customers with your PCN and contact info: New partners should proactively share their PCN and a verified contact email with customers who might initiate a COCP. This ensures the customer enters correct information, which in turn ensures the partner promptly receives notifications. If the customer doesn’t have the correct PCN or contact, errors or notification issues can arise – so advance communication is key. 

Learn more & Customer Resources 

Partner guidance – Change of Channel Partner Request (COCP): Detailed partner documentation on the COCP process is available on Microsoft Learn: Change of Channel Partner Request (COCP) – Volume Licensing Central Contracts documentation. (Learn.microsoft.com) 

Customer guidance (Azure portal): Initiate a Change of Channel Partner (COCP) request in the Azure portal – step-by-step instructions for customers to initiate a partner change via the Azure Cost Management & Billing portal. (Learn.microsoft.com) 

Customer guidance (Microsoft 365 admin center): Initiate a volume licensing Change of Channel Partner request in the Microsoft 365 admin center – instructions for EA customers to start and track a COCP via the Microsoft 365 admin center. (Learn.microsoft.com)  

Mandatory MFA is coming to VLC

  • Date: November 04, 2025
  • Workspace: Volume Licensing Central (VLC)
  • Impacted Audience: All partners
  • Programs: All

Mandatory MFA for VLC starts January 5, 2026. Review the timeline and guidance to ensure your organization remains compliant.

At Microsoft, security and privacy are top priorities. To protect partners and their customers and tenants from identity theft and unauthorized access, multifactor authentication (MFA) will be mandatory for Volume Licensing Central (VLC) beginning January 5, 2026.

Microsoft began enforcing MFA for all Azure sign-in attempts in 2024, and this update for VLC is part of the ongoing rollout of MFA across all Microsoft platforms to align with our security policies and industry best practices. MFA strengthens account security by requiring a second verification factor, reducing the risk of credential compromise.

What to expect:

  • January 5, 2026: Users without MFA enabled can't access VLC.

  • Users previously exempted by tenant settings are redirected to Microsoft Entra ID for mandatory MFA enrollment at sign-in.

  • Users who already enabled MFA can proceed seamlessly after completing the second verification step.

  • Other applications that do not require MFA may still allow direct access; VLC enforces mandatory MFA as a security measure to protect sensitive data and meet Azure platform policies.  

What you should do now:

  1. Ensure all VLC users have MFA enabled in Microsoft Entra ID.

  2. Communicate the change to your organization and any roles that require access to VLC.

  3. Validate sign-in flows ahead of January 5, 2026, to avoid disruptions.

Enforcing MFA strengthens VLC’s security posture, safeguards sensitive data, and ensures compliance with industry best practices. 

Next Step:

To enforce MFA for your tenant while logging into VLC follow this guidance provided in How to enable MFA for Volume Licensing Central | Microsoft Learn. For additional information, check the related Microsoft Learn article.

Contracts Workspace: Tax Form Automation (US, Canada, Puerto Rico)

  • Date: October 23, 2025
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: Licensing Solution Partners (LSP) SSP
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement (Enterprise Enrollment, Enterprise Subscription Enrollment, Server and Cloud Enrollment)

Effective November 17, 2025, Tax Form automation for US, Canada, Puerto Rico will be available in VLC Contracts.

The Tax Form that is mandatory for United States, Puerto Rico and Canada is going to be part of the VL Central package by default. It is not necessary to download and fill it separately for EA, EAS and SCE contract packages.

Action Required

Review the documentation on the VL Central Hub on learn.microsoft.com: Manage Tax Information

Get familiar with the new functinality to include customer tax information on the automated form. The automated tax form meets all tax requirements for the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, there is no requirement to upload any other tax form – simply edit the customer information in the VLC Additional Information section and submit the package with the system generated tax form.

Volume Licensing Central (VLC) November 1, 2025 price list preview errors have been resolved

  • Date: October 15, 2025
  • Workspace: Pricing
  • Impacted audience: Licensing Solution Partners (LSP)
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement (Enterprise Enrollment, Enterprise Subscription Enrollment, and Server and Cloud Enrollment), Online Services Premium Agreement (OSPA), and the Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) 

On August 12, 2025, Microsoft announced changes to price levels in volume licensing agreements (EA, MPSA, and OSPA). These changes will go into effect November 1, 2025.

On October 1, 2025, Microsoft released the VL Central price list preview, to give partners advance insight of the November 1, 2025, pricing changes. There were discrepancies in the price list preview information. We notified partners of the discrepancies.

Microsoft has now corrected all discrepancies in the VLC price list preview released on October 1, 2025.

Action required

Partners should select “November 2025” in the date filter when downloading the VLC price list, to see the list of SKU prices that will go live for all Online Services product customer price levels, effective November 1, 2025. 

Partners can also use the “End Date” column to identify current SKU pricing that will end as of November 1, 2025.

Now Effective (October 15): New EA Deal Pre-Validation Criteria

  • Date: October 13, 2025
  • Workspace: VLC Contracts, VLC My Cases & Support
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Program(s): EA, EAS, SCE

As previously announced in the Partner Launch Calendar and VLC Hub What's New here on Learn.ms, the updated Pre-Validaton (PV) intake criteria to focus on complex, high-value deals (more than $500K) during peak periods, are now in effect. Starting October 15, 2025, the PV team will adjust how submissions are handled in the first vs. second half of each month:

Time Period (Monthly) - Pre-Validation Service Handling

  • Days 1–15 (First Half)
    Standard operating model. All EA deals are reviewed on a first-in, first-out basis (FIFO), as usual.
  • Days 16–Month End (Second Half)
    EA deals under $500K with low complexity (standard 3-year term with no or only one standard amendment) will only be accepted for PV review on a best effort basis, to ensure PV capacity for larger or more complex deals that need extra scrutiny.
  • Exceptions
    If after mid-month you have a sub-$500K deal that you strongly feel would benefit from PV (e.g. a strategic customer deal or a less-experienced CE/partner on the account), please work with your Microsoft Contracting Executive (CE) to have your Operations Deal Manager (ODM) request a PV exception.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace Select Plus UI

  • Date: October 6th 2025
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

Over the past few months, we’ve shared that a series of fast follows would be introduced to improve the Select Plus and EA experience within the Reporting & Analytics Workspace in VLC. We are pleased to announce that the first of these improvements is now live.

Effective October 6, 2025, Partners using Select Plus program reports will benefit from a new UI-based preview experience. This enhancement will allow partners to view report data directly in the browser, in addition to the existing export functionality.

Key benefits of this feature include: 

  • UI-based data grid for supported Select Plus reports  
  • Ability to apply filters as available in exports  
  • Ability to copy certain rows with a single click from grid  
  • Option to rename exported files  
  • Ability to schedule exports  

For more information about the Select Plus experience, review Open License and Select Plus Programs | Microsoft Learn. 

These fast follow enhancements were selected based on partner feedback, and we’re confident they will enhance the partner experience within the Reporting & Analytics workspace. 

We value your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing it with us. 

Volume Licensing Central (VLC) November 1, 2025 price list preview correction to be published soon

  • Date: October 3, 2025
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics - Price Lists
  • Impacted audience: Licensing Solution Partners (LSP), SSP, EDA
  • Programs: Enterprise Agreement (Enterprise Enrollment, Enterprise Subscription Enrollment, and Server and Cloud Enrollment), Online Services Premium Agreement (OSPA), and the Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA)

Microsoft has identified discrepancies in the VLC price list preview released on October 1, 2025. We are working to resolve these discrepancies and will notify you when the corrected version has been republished. Note: this price list preview issue does not change the planned pricing updates effective November 1, 2025.

Action required

  • Partners who may have downloaded the October 1 price list preview information should not use that information in pricing conversations with customers, as the information is incorrect.

  • Watch for an announcement soon regarding publication of the corrected VLC price list preview. Volume Licensing Central (VLC) November 1, 2025 price list preview correction to be published soon

New EA Deal Pre-Validation Criteria (Effective Oct 15, 2025)

  • Date: September 16, 2025
  • Workspace: VLC Contracts, VLC My Cases & Support
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP), EDA
  • Program(s): EA, EAS, SCE

Over the past months, we reviewed the effectiveness of the EA Pre-Validation (PV) service for new and renewal deals. Our analysis found that nearly 40% of deals sent for PV were already correctly constructed and required no changes. We also observed that many issues causing processing delays – such as missing signatures or outstanding compliance checks – **occur outside of PV’s control (often not available to fix at PV stage). In some cases, PV flagged issues but they were not addressed by the time of submission.

To address this and better focus resources where they add the most value, we are updating the PV intake criteria to concentrate on more complex, high-value deals (above $500K) during peak periods. Starting October 15, 2025, the PV team will adjust how submissions are handled in the first vs. second half of each month:

Time Period (Monthly) - Pre-Validation Service Handling

  • Days 1–15 (First Half)
    Standard operating model. All EA deals are reviewed on a first-in, first-out basis (FIFO), as usual.
  • Days 16–Month End (Second Half)
    Operational adjustment: EA deals under $500K with low complexity (standard 3-year term with no or only one standard amendment) will not be accepted for PV review. This ensures PV capacity is reserved for larger or more complex deals that need extra scrutiny.
  • Exceptions
    If after mid-month you have a sub-$500K deal that you strongly feel would benefit from PV (e.g. a strategic customer deal or a less-experienced CE/partner on the account), please work with your Microsoft Contracting Executive (CE) to have your Operations Deal Manager (ODM) request a PV exception.

What this means for you: In practical terms, plan to leverage the PV service for your high-value or complex EA deals early in the month, and be aware that simpler deals submitted late in the month may bypass PV. For deals below the threshold in the latter half, double-check that all documents are complete and accurate (since PV review won’t occur), or engage your Microsoft contacts for an exception if special circumstances warrant it.

This change will free up PV capacity to:

  • Increase speed at peak times. With fewer low-complexity cases in the queue during end-of-month compression, the PV team can turn around reviews faster for critical deals.

  • Focus on complex, high-value deals. PV specialists will spend more time on deals that carry greater risk of errors (higher “break rates”) so that those issues are caught before submission.

  • Expand in-house document correction. The PV team will have bandwidth to fix minor document issues (partner typos or oversights) as part of the review, reducing your administrative effort and improving deal velocity and quality.

Key Benefits of Using PV: Even with these adjustments, the core purpose and benefits of the Pre-Validation service remain the same for eligible deals:

  • Reduced risk of re-signature. PV catches errors before the customer signs, lowering the chance that you or the customer will need to re-sign corrected documents.

  • More valid submissions to processing. By submitting a PV-checked package, you increase the likelihood your EA deal is accepted by the Operations Center (OSC) without issues.

  • Faster revenue processing. Deals with valid documentation sail through the revenue recognition process more quickly, shortening the overall deal cycle.

  • “Four-eye” review for accuracy. An independent second pair of eyes checks the entire document package, complementing your own quality checks.

  • Improved customer experience. Higher-quality contract documents mean a smoother signing process and fewer last-minute delays, leading to a better experience for your customers.

We appreciate your partnership and support. Together, let’s ensure that the deals sent for PV are the “right deals at the right time,” enabling us to better support you during crunch periods while improving overall deal quality and velocity.New EA Deal Pre-Validation Criteria (Effective Oct 15, 2025)

eAgreements Retirement for Enterprise Agreements (EA)

  • Date: August 20, 2025
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP) EDA
  • Program(s): EA, EAS, SCE

Over the past few months, we’ve worked to enhance the performance of the VL Central Contracts Workspace, which has resulted in a better experience for partners by introducing additional capabilities released in April, May and July.

What does this mean for SSP Partners?

  • Effective 20 August 2025, EA functionality has been retired from eAgreements (VLCM).

  • eAgreements (VLCM) is Read-Only for Package Creation for the EA Program

Avoid disapointment and unproductive Time:

  • Partners cannot CREATE EA/EAS/SCE New/Renew/Extension Packages

  • Partners cannot progress or edit existing draft Packages. (but they are all visible in VLC Contracts)

  • Use VL Central Contracts Workspace for the creation, management, and submission of all EA deal packages.

eAgreements will remain available for all other Volume Licensing programs. Further details on non-EA capabilities in VLC will be shared in the coming months.

Continue to use the readiness material (Contracts workspace overview | Microsoft Learn) to learn about the functionalities that the Contracts workspace offers. For any issues, create a case through the My Cases and Support workspace within VLC. (How to create a case | Microsoft Learn)

Change to volume licensing agreement price levels coming November 2025

  • Date: August 13, 2025
  • Workspace: Deals, Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP)
  • Program(s): Enterprise Agreement (Enterprise Enrollment, Enterprise Subscription Enrollment, and Server and Cloud Enrollment), Online Services Premium Agreement (OSPA), and the Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA)

Content: Beginning November 1, 2025, Microsoft will take the next step in standardizing its pricing approach for Online Services purchased through volume licensing programs. This update builds on the consistent pricing model already in place for services like Azure and reflects our ongoing commitment to greater transparency and alignment across all purchasing channels. The information below is intended to help customers understand how this change may affect their organization and what steps they can take to prepare ahead of implementation.

What's changing? Microsoft will expand the set of products that have a single consistent price across Price Levels A-D to include all online services, for the following agreements: 

  • Enterprise Agreement (EA) 
  • Including Online Services Premium Agreement (OSPA) unique to China 
  • Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) 

This new pricing will align with the pricing published on Microsoft.com. 

When will it take effect?

The change applies at the customer’s next renewal or when a customer purchases new Online Services not already listed on their Customer Price Sheet, starting November 1, 2025. 

What's not changing?

  • There are no changes to on-premises software pricing. 
  • U.S. Government and worldwide Education price lists are excluded. 

How partners can prepare for this change  

  • Direct your EA, MPSA and OSPA customers to the news update Microsoft has published to inform customers of this change.  

Attend the Microsoft Business Operations Community Q&A Call for Enterprise Partners in September 2025 to learn more about this change. Register via the EventBuilder Global Enterprise Listing Page.  

This change reduces licensing complexity, enabling partners to invest less time evaluating Microsoft pricing and programs and more time working with customers on their business needs. With simplified and standardized prices, partners can shift their focus to delivering unique services that will propel their customers’ growth. 

Contracts Workspace: Final EA Capabilities, eAgreements Retirement (EA)

  • Date: July 24, 2025
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP) EDA
  • Program(s): EA, EAS, SCE

The final batch of capabilities and enhancements to the VL Central Contracts workspace is released to all SSP Partners between July 21. and 23. 2025. Following the April- and May-releases, ALL partner requests related to VLC Contracts EA Package Management, automation and Deal workflow are now addressed.

All SSP Partners are asked to support VL Central Contracts and the retirement of VLCM:

  • Confirm that VLC Contracts is ready to replace eAgreements by August 20, 2025

  • From July 24, use VLC Contracts for creation, management and submission of all EA deal packages

Readiness

  • 2 dedicated Adoption Calls on July 24 (Asia/EMEA + EMEA/Americas Time Zones) >Register<

Supporting July Close

  • 2 daily Q&A Calls on July 28, 29, 30, 31   >Register<

Capabilities:

  • Avoid incorrect trade holds by improved affiliate data management: This feature blocks package submission if the affiliate organization is on trade hold, ensuring compliance and preventing errors.

  • Enable commercial level D pricing as a substitute for government pricing: This prevents mismatches between the quote and contract definitions, ensuring consistency in pricing.

  • Enable editing of public customer number (PCN) contact details: This allows for the editing of PCN contact details, providing flexibility and accuracy in customer information management.

  • Enable late renewals aligned with Regional Operations Center (ROC) empowerment: This allows for late renewals in VL Central for up to 365 days, aligned with policy, providing more flexibility in renewal processes.

  • Enable short form extensions regardless of the channel price sheet (CPS) or quote configuration of the renewal quote: This feature allows partners to control the renewal or extension package type, offering more customization options.

  • Avoid mismatch of CPS customer name and PCN: This prevents name override edits in the quote (Deals workspace), ensuring consistency and accuracy in customer information.

  • Multi-language support in PKG documents (VLCM parity): This enables localized packages with mixed language requirements. For example, in Japan, you can generate an English CPS, a Japanese product selection form (PSF), and a Japanese discount transparency disclosure form (DTDF).

  • Prevent seller (CE) from using unauthorized partner PCN: This addresses issues related to unsupported partner and customer combinations, ensuring compliance and accuracy.

  • Successful PKG updates for any (most) complex CPS or quote changes (no loss of package work): This addresses failures in renewal CPS linkage with the package due to prior enrolment not being set in the CPS, ensuring smooth updates.

  • VL Central accepting PKGs with DCOE offline edits: This allows for channel model offline modifications in CPS against territory policy, providing more flexibility in package acceptance.

  • Support for protection on Office and PDF files (confidentiality labels): This prevents document-related errors during submission for signature, ensuring document security and compliance.

  • Support for state and local government contracts (US): This addresses issues when Form W29 is missed under state or local contract types, ensuring compliance with government contract requirements.

  • Customer-ready representation of Multi-Tenant Information: Proper rendering of tenant information in combined contract document generated for the electronic signing ceremony.

  • Enable Master reference in parallel PKG: Facilitate second (multiple) Package (PKG) to utilize master agreement number from related draft PKG prepared for a combined signing.

  • Enable EAS with future billings CPS: Facilitate package creation from EAS CPS specifying future billings with required Multi-tenant PO numbers management.

Enterprise Agreement Update 2025 & Corresponding VL Central Contracts Update

  • Date: July 22, 2025

  • Workspace: Deals, Contracts

  • Impacted Audience: SSP (LSP) EDA

  • Program(s): EA, EAS, SCE

Effective August 20, 2025, the document stack for Enterprise Agreement will be updated.
To achieve agreement consistency and ease of doing business across enrolments and segments and to mitigate legal risks when the EA lacks trade clause that Microsoft can enforce against customer non-compliance and ​EA customers change affiliates enrolment without timely trade screening.

Document Templates will be updated in the VL Central Contracts Workspace
Download Packets will be updated in VL Central Documents & Templates
The date and document numbers will be updated on templates in all locales.
All templates will be version 2026.1

A standard grace period will be available for contracts and forms in process prior to the changes. The current version can be created within 30 days following the launch. The current version can be submitted within 90 days following the launch of the new program version.

  • Creation end date: September 19, 2025 – 2024.1 versions removed from VL Central
  • Submission end date:  November 18, 2025 – 2024.1 versions in draft state rejected

Impacted Enterprise Agreement Documents

  • Enterprise Agreement (including GP and US SLG)
  • Enterprise Agreement Enrolments (Direct, Indirect, Sub, GP, US SLG)
  • Purchase Agreement
  • Qualifying Government Entity Addendum
  • Supplemental Contact Information Form

Key Changes

  • Change on affiliate selection: Added option to include all affiliates
  • New Regional Trade Compliance Supplemental Terms document

Additional Changes

  • Removing references to Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC), including updating outdated hyperlinks

  • Changes to Subscription License reduction sections in enrollments

  • Changes to true-up/annual order section in enrollments

  • Changes to renewal option section in enrollments

  • Addition of DPA in the list of included documents and order of precedence in enrollments and agreements

  • New definition Material Adverse Changes added to EA agreement

  • Change in terminology from Master Agreement to Primary Agreement in EA Agreement, enrollments, and purchase agreements.

  • New Government Procurement Rules section in Qualifying Government Entity Addendum

VL Central Contracts Workspace: Updated UI to facilitate the changes in EA Affiliate Options:
New Affiliates selection in EA packages:

  • Enrolled Affiliate only
  • All Affiliates
  • Enrolled Affiliate and the following specified Affiliates only

The VLC Contracts Tool Readiness will be updated in the Contracts Workspace Chapter of the VL Central documentation on Microsoft Learn

Readiness
For the full readiness deck with from/to contract language updates please check

Reporting & Analytics Workspace April 1 updates

  • Date: April 1st 2025
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

We're committed to creating the best experience for our partners, ensuring business continuity and a smooth transition for all users. Your feedback is crucial to us.

Open and Select Plus - Export to Excel experience

While transitioning the reporting and analytics experience from explore.ms to VL Central for the Open and Select Plus program, the user interface was removed and in place a robust export-based experience was created. This decision was based on evaluating usage patterns of Open and Select Plus reports on explore.ms and identifying the need for users to fully customize report parameters and filters. It was ensured that the new Excel-based experience on VL Central reporting and analytics is superior to the previous experience on explore.ms, with reduced download time variations.

Select Plus bulk enhancement

We appreciate your feedback regarding the Select Plus experience in the Reporting & Analytics workspace. As a result, we will implement a new enhancement that enable users to download all data for a specific time period. The enhancement will go live April 15th. This improvement will allow partners to export excel reports for multiple agreements removing the need to select a single agreement number, Primary Public Customer Number or Primary Customer Name.

Select Plus retirement

With the introduction of the bulk enhancement, we will begin retiring the Select Plus reports from Explore.ms in a phased approach:

April 30th - May 3rd, 2025

  • Partner organizations with <=5 users each

May 13th, 2025

  • Partner organizations with 5-100 users

Ensure that you continue using the Reporting & Analytics workspace for all your reporting needs and prepare for the retirements of Select Plus reports from Explore.ms.

We value your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing it with us.

Contracts Workspace February 17 updates

  • Date: February 17, 2025
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program: EA/EAS

Microsoft has launched on demand package creation with and without CPS for partners for new, renewal and extension type packages. The change enables the partners to create and send packages for signature to customer.

  • Partners can create packages with or without CPS for all EA deals in VLCentral.

  • The change automatically links documents such as CPS, PSF, DTDF and Amendments from quotes without any partner intervention.

  • All packages created in VLCM will be synced from the legacy VLCM tool and will be visible in VLC Contracts.

  • VL Central Contracts Workspace will be offline for maintenance for a part of February 21, 2025.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace February 13 updates

  • Date: February 13, 2025
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

Over the past few months, we have focused to improve the tool's performance which has resulted in a better experience for partners by introducing an additional 21 features to the VLC Reporting & Analytics (R&A) workspace and resolving 63 bugs. EA and Open reports retirement from Explore.ms will be completed in a phased approach beginning on 17th February, 2025 through to 7th April, 2025.

Partner flighting

Review the following dates and determine which flighting your organization will be in.

February 17th, 2025

  • EA Reports retirement from Explore.ms- Partner organizations with <=5 users each

April 7th, 2025

  • EA Reports retirement from Explore.ms- Partner organizations with 5-100 users
  • Open Reports retirement from Explore.ms- Partner organizations with 1-100 users

Ensure that you continue using the Reporting & Analytics workspace for all your reporting needs and prepare for the retirements of EA and Open reports from Explore.ms. Continue to use the readiness material (Overview of Reporting & Analytics | Microsoft Learn ) to learn about the functionalities that the Reporting & Analytics workspace offers.

We value your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing it with us.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace January 9 updates

  • Date: January 9, 2025
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

As we strive to improve the tool's performance in the Reporting & Analytics workspace, we postpone the retirements of EA and Open reports to February 2025. The retirements of Select Plus reports have been postponed with no date of retirement confirmed at this point. We appreciate your partnership in building this platform.

Please ensure that you continue using the Reporting & Analytics workspace for all your reporting needs and prepare for the retirements of EA reports from Explore.ms. We value your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing it with us.

We post all updates to the Latest News page.

Bug fixes:

  • VL Central Showing Incorrect Master Agreement End Dates.
  • Future billing records getting removed from SOLI.
  • Future billing considering past dates in anytime filter.
  • Unable to select time before current time for next day.
  • Purchase code to Purchase period changed.
  • Wrong value Subscription UTD Elected in Future Billings Excel export.
  • Excel download should be sorted with date column for POLI & SOLI report.
  • Column discrepancy for Custom PO Details Report.
  • Agreement Heading transformer bug.

VL Central Deals Workspace Maintenance January 18 - Completing Partner Quoting Transition

  • Date: January 18, 2025
  • Workspace: Deals
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program: EA/EAS

Microsoft launched the Deals Workspace on VL Central on November 15, 2024. On January 18, 2025 the transition of partner quoting to VLC Deals will be complete and the legacy Partner Quote tool will become read-only.

  • All finalized Quotes will be synced from the legacy Partner Quotes tool and will be visible in VLC Deals.
  • In addition, all in-progress quotes of the Fiscal Year 2025 (drafted since July 1, 2024) will be synced to VLC Deals.
  • This sync will require a maintenance window on Saturday, January 18, 2025.
  • VL Central Deals Workspace will be offline for maintenance for a part of January 18, 2025.

New Disaster Recovery Plan and Backup URL for Service Continuity in VL Central

  • Date: December 03, 2024
  • Workspace: All Workspaces
  • Impacted Audience: All Partner Types
  • Program: All Programs

As part of our commitment to ensuring uninterrupted service, a new disaster recovery plan now includes a backup URL to be used in an outage. Bookmark the URLs and access VL Central using these URLs:

How to identify an outage
There can be an outage if you encounter any of the following issues while accessing the Portal using https://aka.ms/vlcentral:

  • Page not found error
  • Service not available error
  • Error displaying your content
  • Blank screen

What to Do in case of an outage

  • Switch to the Backup URL: https://aka.ms/vlcentralDR

  • Contact Support: If you continue to experience issues, log a Support Case via My Cases & Support, or, by email to the established, regional alternative Customer Care aliases: for LATAM/NA: selquest@microsoft.com, for EMEA: mscosup@microsoft.com, for APAC: aplquest@microsoft.com

Reporting & Analytics Workspace November 29 updates

  • Date: November 29, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

We're committed to creating the best experience for our partners, ensuring business continuity and a smooth transition for all users. Your feedback is crucial to us, and we're working diligently to enhance the tool's stability and address any issues that arise. As we strive to improve the tool's performance in the Reporting & Analytics workspace, we postpone the retirements of EA, Select Plus, and Open reports to January 2025. We appreciate your partnership in building this platform.

Please ensure that you continue using the Reporting & Analytics workspace for all your reporting needs and prepare for the retirements of EA reports from Explore.ms in January. We value your feedback and encourage you to keep sharing it with us.

We post all updates to the Latest News page.

New features launched:

  • The extension of row limits from 200k to 600k for the following reports: Invoices, Agreements
  • Open Value & Select Reports reports are all available in the Reporting & Analytics workspace through export to excel capability.

Bug fixes:

  • Business agreement number data mismatch between VLC and Explore.
  • Mismatch in Invoice data (compared to explore.ms) for invoices having both credit and rebill transactions.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace November 7 updates

  • Date: November 7, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

We're working to improve the tools performance in the Reporting & Analytics workspace, and move the retirement phase to start the week first of November. We post all updates to the Latest News page.

New features launched:

  • The extension of row limits from 200k to 600k for the following reports: Special Pricing, Licenses
  • Open Value reports are now all available in the Reporting & Analytics workspace through export to excel capability.
  • 600k line truncation message.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace October 25 updates

  • Date: October 25, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

We're working to improve the tools performance in the Reporting & Analytics workspace, and move the retirement phase to start the week first of November. We post all updates to the Latest News page.

New features launched:

  • The extension of row limits from 200k to 600k for the following reports: Price list
  • Select Plus reports are available in the Reporting & Analytics workspace through export to excel capability.
  • Open reports are available in the Reporting & Analytics workspace through export to excel capability. The authorization list and authorization details Open reports are available. The remaining Open reports which will be available in the next release.
  • Anytime Filter added for licenses entity.
  • Content localization available in the Reporting & Analytics workspace.

Bug fixes:

  • Column order fix for Purchase order line items and sales order line items report excel download.
  • When PO filter applied UI should give both PO and System PO number.
  • Net price difference showing as Undefined in VLC - Price list Columns Disparity.
  • Price list type column data shifting.
  • Data filters not working for Agreement Financial Reporting.
  • Future billing records are missing from SOLI table.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace October 9 updates

  • Date: October 9, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

The Enterprise agreement reports retirement date from Explore.ms is delayed from October 1, 2024.

The retirement will be completed in a phased approach for EA reports beginning on October 24, 2024, through to November 4, 2024. Ensure that you're prepared for explore.ms enterprise agreements to be retired on October 24, 2024, and that you're using the Reporting and Analytics workspace on Volume Licensing Central for all of your reporting needs. Continue to use the readiness material to learn about the functionalities that the Reporting & Analytics workspace offers: Overview of Reporting & Analytics | Microsoft Learn. 

New features launched:

  • The extension of row limits from 200k to 600k for the following reports: Invoice line items, Purchase line items, Special Pricing, Price List
  • Anytime Filter added to SOLI on master agreement number
  • New report: My Views - Benefits
  • New report: Online Consumption and Online Subscription New Entity

Bug fixes:

  • Discrepancy in License Information in Deal book Export.
  • Related enrolments field cutting off full names.
  • License report is breaking for external user with query time-out issue.
  • Filter issue with Saved View-report.
  • Content Management-Display End date column not present under Show/Hide.
  • Invoice rows count mismatch in UI and export to excel.
  • Invoice amount visibility auth rule missing in VLC.
  • Master agreement number and purchase order type is showing null values in License Export.
  • My saved reports created before 7-22 aren't populating.
  • OV/OVS/OLSET Documents not available at VLC.
  • Messages view in R&A-Message not being sent to correct recipients.
  • Used/Protected Price columns do not populate on the exported file-POLI.
  • Discrepancy Between POLI UI versus Export to Excel and License Issue.
  • Incorrect queries from UX -Price List.
  • VL Central Future Billings_ Anniversary date is blank in Excel report.
  • Export Data- Time-out Issue POLI Expanded View.
  • Invoice Amount displaying incorrect value under Financial Reporting.
  • VL Central Invoices_ Discrepancy in System PO Number in UI and Expanded View Excel report.
  • Localized headers for Scheduled reports export.
  • Future billing records are missing from SOLI table.
  • Users can't open saved view for future billings report in VLC and receive an error message.
  • Filter reset not updating default filters.
  • UI and export to excel discrepancy while adding anytime filter with suggested filter.
  • Reporting and Analytics Excel export missing data that was present in the tool view.
  • Older saved views not opening up. 

Reporting & Analytics Workspace September updates

  • Date: September 4 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

As part of our continuous tool improvement for VLC Reporting & Analytics, these new features and bug fixes are now available.

New features launched:

  • Volume licensing keys added to agreements report. The Volume Licensing Keys report allows partners to view the product keys for all products purchased under an agreement. This report can be found under My Views. 
  • New filter. License Agreement Type filter added to My views- Invoice line items. 
  • New filter. Product Type filter added to My views- Invoice line items. 

Bugs fixed:

  • Column headers in export aren't visible in Localized language.
  • Difference in column header names for expanded and default report download for all reports.
  • Sorting function is working one way (descending) for columns in Financial reporting-Billing schedule.
  • Export button to be disabled on grid search.
  • Incorrect sorting for incidents in Agreement overview with CreatedDate & ClosedDate columns.
  • Unable to search in product family dropdown in products report.

Reporting & Analytics Workspace August updates

  • Date: August 15, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI
  • Program: EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

As part of our continuous tool improvement for VLC Reporting & Analytics, these new features and bug fixes are now available.

New features launched:

  • Ability to schedule reports for more than 20 columns in My views. Users are now able to schedule downloads for more than 20 columns by selecting the columns through the show/hide columns pane and clicking on Schedule button to set the schedule.
  • Truncation message for Downloaded reports. In case the downloaded report exceeds the 200k row limit, a message on the Downloads indicates that the report was truncated.
  • Agreement Subscription Details. Details of subscriptions in an Agreement are now available within the Agreement page under License information tab. Parent subscription can be expanded to show line items under the subscription 
  • Channel Type. Agreement summary section now has a field for Channel type, which specifies the channel used for the agreement, for example Direct to reseller

Bugs fixed:

  • External User-purchase order line items-quantity column is blank
  • External User-My view-message Report-error screen coming.
  • Invoice Number and Amount Becoming 0 along with other UI inconsistency upon adding Master Agreement Number Column in Invoice view.
  • Agreement Summary-Dealbook(Export to Excel)--Item Name column isn't present for Special Pricing.
  • Sorting function is working one way (descending) for few columns-Agreement overview Financial reporting PO.
  • License report is breaking for external user with query time-out issue.
  • POLI report no longer exports in VLCentral when choosing all columns.
  • Agreements Summary view more function not working properly.
  • Incorrect Invoice paid status in VLC.
  • Global search Pane is case sensitive.
  • Agreement Overview - Clicking on tabs for navigating to sections isn't perfect.
  • Coverage start date is different in VLC and Explore.
  • [My views Contacts, Amendments, Customers, Reservations] - Can't expand columns to read column header.
  • No results found message isn't coming in column search.
  • Content headers in financial reporting aren't readable in the tabs.

Explore.ms EA reports retirement extension

  • Date: August 8, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting & Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program: EA/EAS

In June, Microsoft announced that enterprise agreements would be retired from Explore.ms on September 1, 2024. We received feedback from partners and are happy to share some positive news with you that the date for the retirement of enterprise agreements is extended from September 1, 2024, to October 1, 2024, for all partners. 

Review the How to use the Reporting & Analytics workspace | Microsoft Learn to learn about the features available in the Reporting & Analytics workspace. 

VL Central Orders for ALL NON-EA Programs and Partner Types

  • Date: July 15, 2024

  • Workspace: Orders

  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI

  • Program(s): CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

VL Central Orders end-to-end user experience for ALL NON-EA Programs and Partner Types

Demo Video:

VL Central Contracts: EA Zero Usage/Update Statement

  • Date: July 15, 2024
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program(s): EA/EAS

VL Central Contracts to support single- & multi-year EA Update Statement package automation

VL Central Contracts Workspace provides a new Action called Raise request on the top right of the Contracts page. This new functionality facilitates the creation and submission of an EA Update Statement to report zero-usage for EA and USGov Programs. 

  • Users can search by Enrolment number, Customer Name or PCN
  • Update Statements can be created for one, or MULTIPLE consecutive non-compliant years in one process/one package!
  • All Adobe-Sign signature types are supported as in the VL Central Contracts workflow. 

A new tab called Requests is now available on the Contracts page, alongside In-Progress and All agreements. This tab facilitates the status tracking and management of Update Statement request packages, and also COCP and CICR request packages in a future release. 

New Attribute at PCN Level

  • Date: July 19, 2024
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program(s): EA/EAS

Introduction of a new attribute at PCN level for customer and partner Organizations transacting across multi-cloud EA enrolments

DEMO VIDEO

  • Partner Walkthrough – PCN Selection / PCN Creation
  • For full details, review the slides and recordings of the Simplifying VL Calls (April - July)

New Enhancement: License Reductions

  • Date: June 17, 2024
  • Workspace: Reporting and Analytics
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program(s): EA/EAS

Processed License Reductions are now fully represented in the Future Billings reporting on VLC Reporting and Analytics

New Orders Functionality available from May 2024

  • Date: May 6, 2024
  • Workspace: Orders
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program(s): EA/EAS

VL Central Orders: Additional-Products & Step-Ups

DEMO VIDEO Additional-Products, Step-Ups DEMO VIDEO Complete Order Functionality

  • Additional Products
  • Step-Up
  • True Up
  • Reconciliations
  • Bulk Edit
  • Multi Flag
  • Multiple PO
  • Export, PDF

New User Management Functionality

  • Date: Q3 2024

  • Workspace: Orders

  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI

  • Program(s): EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

DEMO VIDEO: New Functionality available in VL Central User Management

  • User Access Self Serve
  • Global Admin Role

Support for VL Central

  • Date: February 2024

  • Workspace: Orders

  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI

  • Program(s): EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

For transactional support (status, rejections, pricing, flagging, engage /w Operations):

  • ORDERS (transactional): Same as POET – log a VLC Ticket
  • CONTRACTS (transactional): Same as VLCM/eAgreements – log a VLC Ticket For tool issues: same as POET/VLCM – log a VLC (systems/tools) Ticket

VL Central Contracts Functionality

  • Date: February 2024
  • Workspace: Contracts
  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA
  • Program(s): EA/EAS

DEMO VIDEO

  • VL Central Contracts Workspace - Partner User Experience for autogenerated packages in the new Contracts Workspace

VL Central SANDBOX for all Partner Users

  • Date: Available during VL Central launches in FY24 and FY25

  • Workspace: Orders, Contracts, tbd

  • Impacted Audience: LSP/EDA - DISTI - SPLAR - ISV(R)-DISTI

  • Program(s): EA/EAS - CASA/EES - OV/OVS - SPLA - ISV(R) - HVMS - Select - Select Plus

VLC SANDBOX at: https://aka.ms/VLCsandbox Learn and test in a safe environment

  • Check the URL in your browser address bar for the rc-vlcentral... URL (release candidate) to ensure you are in the Sandbox vs. VLC production!
    With your own PSS/VLCM logins
  • ALL existing logins are provisioned! (all VLCM, all POET, all VLC)
  • To resolve login issues, also check your older credentials. If you are using a new login for VL Central (Tickets, Reporting) vs a previous VLCM or POET/PSS login, then also check your older credentials.
  • The launch team doesn't have the capacity to support individual access tickets for the Sandbox
  • Help us by checking all your credentials
  • And by using your company ADMIN user for user management support (all Users with ADMIN permission in the legacy systems also have admin roles in VLC Sandbox)
    With your own PCN‘s and customer data
  • All your company PCNs are synced to the Sandbox
  • Your login has the same PCN mappings as in VLCM/POET production. Full Orders functionality
  • No notification emails, No Invoice generation Full Contracts functionality
  • No notification emails, No contract activation, No billing
  • As the Sandbox has no live CE approvals triggering package creation, you can use existing draft packages to explore the Contracts workspace! Data cut-off date: July 2024  
  • Your Customer/Agreement/Order data was last synced into the Sandbox in July. Any newer Customer Organizations, Agreements, Enrolments, Orders, Draft Packages created since then aren't visible in the Sandbox for your learning
  • Use the available data for your learning and testing
  • A future data sync makes newer data available, but it also overwrites any test-Orders and test-Packages you created in the Sandbox Sandbox Support
  • Operations Customer Care (VLC Ticket) doesn't have access to the Sandbox
  • Don't log support tickets in VL Central My Tickets for Sandbox issues/questions
  • Use the Questions and Answers (Q&A) Opportunities at the VL Partner Community Calls and the Simplifying VL Experience Calls

Glossary

  • VL - Volume Licensing

  • EA - Enterprise Agreement

  • EAS - Enterprise Agreement Subscription

  • CASA - Campus and School Agreement

  • EES - Enrolment for Education Subscription

  • ISV(R) - Independent Software Vendor (Royalty) Program

  • SCE - Server and Cloud Enrolment

  • SPLA - Service Provider License Agreement

  • BEC - Basic Enterprise Commitment

  • SLG - State and Local Government

  • HVMS - High Volume Messaging Service

  • USGov - US Government (Enterprise) Program

  • LSP - Licensing Solution Provider (indirect Channel Partner)

  • EDA - Enterprise Direct Advisor (direct Channel Partner)

  • DISTI - Distributor (indirect Channel Partner)

  • SPLAR - SPLA Reseller (indirect Channel Partner)

  • ISV(R)-D - ISV(R)-Distributor (indirect Channel Partner)

  • VLC - Volume Licensing Central

  • R&A - Reporting and Analytics

  • POLI - Purchase Order Line Item

  • PCN - Public Customer Number

  • SOLI - Sales Order Line Item

  • OV - Open Value

  • OVS - Open Value Subscription

  • OLSET - Online Services Extended Term (Option Form)

  • PCN - Public Customer Number (used for customer and partner organizations)

  • COCP - Change Of Channel Partner

  • CICR - Contact Information Change Request

  • VLCM - Volume Licensing Contract Management (eAgreements)

  • CE - Commercial Executive (Licensing Specialist)

  • UI - User Interface

  • UX - User Experience

  • WSA - Work or School Account

  • Q&A - Questions and Answers

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