Over the past year, you have been hearing from your Innovia customer engagement specialist about the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, but many of you may still be wondering what a CSP is and why it is important to you. CSP is the way Microsoft sells all cloud products. These include:
- Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365)
- Azure
- Business Central and many other products
The pricing for these products and services is the same whether you purchase them directly from Microsoft or through Innovia. However, purchasing through Innovia gives you access to our licensing expertise, our easy-to-use license management portal, and our added support. On several occasions, Innovia has even been able to evaluate customers' licenses and save them significant money over the life of the product.
As of January 1, 2021, Microsoft will allow all products for Microsoft Dynamics NAV and other perpetual licenses to be purchased through CSP. This means that customers on NAV 2018 and prior will be able to add users, code units, tables, and ISVs through CSP. We anticipate that Microsoft is making this change so they can retire the CustomerSource and PartnerSource websites and move all transactions to the CSP portal. We feel that this transition could happen within the next year.
We have made it very simple for a customer to add Innovia as a CSP through Microsoft. Visit our Cloud Solution Provider page to answer a few questions and authorize Innovia as your CSP. Your monthly costs will not change on any product, but assigning Innovia as a CSP will ensure that we can continue to service all your NAV and cloud product needs. As an added benefit, Innovia will, with your permission, evaluate your current licenses and see if we can find any savings you may be missing.
If you have purchased Office 365 through a 3rd party supplier instead of directly from Microsoft or a direct CSP like Innovia, you will probably not be able to get a Business Central license. Most of the non-CSP 3rd party suppliers are not licensed for Business Central and are actually hosting your Office 365 on their own servers instead of Microsoft’s cloud. Innovia has dealt with this situation many times and can help you transition to the Microsoft cloud.
Over the next few months, you will see a renewed effort by our customer engagement team to ensure you have completed the CSP authorization. It is just another way that we continue to look ahead for our customers and ensure easy access to all the productivity tools you rely upon.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. We will set up a call with you and your team to address any issues and walk you through the process.
Best Regards,
Alan Wyne, CEO
