Full upgrades for NCE subscriptions to new and existing subscriptions

You can fully upgrade a Microsoft NCE subscription into a new or existing subscription of a higher eligible edition in compliance with Microsoft business rules.

During the upgrade process, the eligible editions are listed, and the new seats inherit the attributes of the existing subscription, including discount codes. Once the upgrade is completed, the old subscriptions are deleted, except for duplicate licenses. When a subscription is upgraded, redundant licenses may remain due to the upgrade to a higher tier. This may lead to duplication, such as an add-on. In such instances, you should raise a support request with Microsoft to cancel the required licenses.

When a full upgrade is completed,

• All seats or additional seats are upgraded.
• The subscription ID remains the same.
• For existing subscriptions, seats are added to them but retain the same term duration and billing frequency.

Billing continues as usual, with a prorated invoice line generated for that month. As subscriptions are consolidated after an upgrade, the total number of invoice lines are reduced.

Upgrade to a new eligible subscription

To upgrade an existing subscription to a new eligible subscription in a higher tier,

1. Go to Manage > Account > Applications.
2. Select an NCE subscription that you want to upgrade. Click Update Subscription.
3. Click on the Update Subscription or Microsoft Upgrade tab. The list of eligible editions to which you can upgrade, if any, are displayed.
4. Select the higher edition you want to upgrade to.
5. Specify the length of the contract, number of users, and then click Continue. You can apply any valid discount codes you have to apply discounted pricing.
6. Confirm the order and make payment to process the upgrade.

On the Order History tab, you can verify that the existing subscription is canceled and a refund invoice is generated. A new entitlement is created and the new upgraded subscription is linked.

Upgrade to an existing eligible subscription

To upgrade an existing subscription to a new eligible subscription in a higher tier,

1. Go to Manage > Account > Applications.
2. Select an NCE subscription that you want to upgrade. Click Update Subscription.
3. Click on the Microsoft Upgrade tab. Use this tab to make partial upgrades or full upgrades into existing subscriptions.
4. Select an existing subscription of a higher tier (you must have already purchased one).
5. Specify the length of the contract, number of users, and then click Continue. You can apply any valid discount codes you have to apply discounted pricing.
6. Specify the number of users, and then click Continue.
7. You can apply any valid discount codes you have to apply discounted pricing.
8. Confirm the order and make payment to process the upgrade.

For instance you have Microsoft E3 and E5 (should have been purchased 7 days prior to the upgrade) subscriptions. You can use the above upgrade process to upgrade your Microsoft E3 subscription to the E5. When the upgrade is completed, the E3 subscription is canceled and a refund invoice is created. The seats are transferred to the E5 subscription.

FAQs

• How are seat reassignments done?
  Seat reassignment is always attempted during full upgrades, even if license transfer without reassignment is passed through the API. However, reassignment must be completed manually during partial upgrades or when there are multiples of the same SKU.
  Licenses must be manually assigned if the customer purchased the destination SKU from another partner or channel. In such cases, you'll see a message in the Partner Center stating that the licenses need to be manually assigned.
• Does anything happen to the subscription ID?
  The subscription ID remains the same during a full upgrade, and licenses are assigned automatically.
• Why are duplicated licenses being created and how do I remove them after an upgrade?
  Duplicate (redundant) licenses may be created when purchasing a higher-level SKU in the following cases:
  • The upgrade is unsupported
  • The online services licenses don't need a prerequisite or a Microsoft base compatible product to purchase the higher SKU
    When you have redundant licenses after an upgrade, your partner should submit a support ticket requesting that the redundant licenses are canceled. This support ticket should be requested within the first two billing cycles from when the upgraded license was invoiced.

For more information, refer to the Microsoft documentation on upgrades.