EA vs MCA-E vs CSP

The New Microsoft Reality in 2026

As we enter 2026, the era of "negotiated complexity" in Microsoft licensing has officially ended. For over two decades, the Enterprise Agreement (EA) was the bedrock of corporate IT procurement. But as of today, that foundation has shifted.

The transition that Microsoft accelerated in late 2024 has reached its peak. For organizations still clinging to legacy structures, the renewal cycle in 2026 is no longer a routine paperwork exercise—it is a significant financial risk. At Zation, we are seeing a common trend: companies are being pushed into the Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) framework, often without realizing that the rules of the game have fundamentally changed.

1. The Timeline: How We Got Here

To understand your current bill, you have to look at the roadmap of the last 18 months.

• Late 2024: Microsoft began the "Cloud-only" push, moving smaller customers away from traditional agreements.

• Early 2025: High-pressure migration began for mid-market and large enterprise customers.

• November 2025: The "Big Bang" occurred. Microsoft removed programmatic volume discounts for Online Services in the EA.

If you are renewing a contract today, you are likely facing a "Level A" price list, regardless of whether you have 500 or 50,000 users. The 10-15% discounts that large enterprises (Level C and D) once took for granted have largely evaporated from the standard price list.

3. The "Hidden" Budget Killers in 2026

The Death of FromSA and LicSA

In the legacy EA world, many customers used FromSA (From Software Assurance) SKUs. These were highly discounted licenses designed to reward customers for their historical on-premise investments. In MCA-E and CSP, these SKUs simply do not exist. When you migrate, you move to full-price subscriptions. For a company that has spent 15 years building equity in on-premise licenses, this transition can feel like losing an asset and being forced to rent it back at a premium.

The Rigid 3-Year SKU Trap

Microsoft introduced 3-year SKUs in the MCA-E to provide price stability. However, there is a dangerous catch: flexibility has been removed. In a classic EA, you could typically reduce your seat count at your annual anniversary (the "True-down"). In the MCA-E, if you commit to 10,000 M365 E5 seats for three years, you are billed for 10,000 seats for the duration of that term. There is no annual reduction mechanism. If your company downsizes or divests a department, you are left with "shelfware" that you are contractually obligated to pay for.

The Unified Support "Multiplier"

Perhaps the most overlooked cost is Unified Support. Because Unified Support fees are calculated as a percentage of your total Microsoft spend, every dollar added to your license bill by the removal of volume discounts has a "multiplier effect."

• Example: If your license costs increase by $1M due to the loss of Level D pricing, your Unified Support bill will automatically increase by approximately $100k - $120k, for the exact same level of support.

4. Who Are You Negotiating With?

In 2026, the "Who" is as important as the "What."

Direct with Microsoft (MCA-E/EA)

You are dealing with a sales machine driven by standardized metrics. There is very little room for "bespoke" deals unless you are a global top-tier account.

Via Partner (CSP)

The CSP model allows for a more traditional business relationship. Partners have their own margins and can often "give back" some of that margin in the form of lower prices or bundled services to win your business. In 2026, we are seeing many enterprises move "commoditized" workloads (like M365) to CSP while keeping complex Azure workloads in MCA-E.

5. Invoicing: A Procurement Headache

The switch to MCA-E changes the flow of money. In a CSP, you pay your Partner, in an EA you paid Microsoft but ordered via a partner. In an MCA-E, you pay Microsoft directly. While this sounds simple, it often requires a total overhaul of the procurement process. Microsoft’s direct invoicing system is automated and rigid. If your internal PO process doesn't align perfectly with their digital billing cycles, services can be suspended automatically—a risk that was much lower when a Partner acted as a "buffer."

How Zation (zation.io) Protects Your Budget

In this new reality, the "standard" price is rarely the best price. At Zation, we specialize in identifying the hidden costs of the MCA transition.

• Benchmark Analysis: We compare your legacy EA costs against the new MCA-E and CSP realities, accounting for the loss of Volume Discounts.

• Usage Analytics and Optimization: Just pay for what you actually use and need.

• Flexibility Modeling: We help you decide which workloads belong in a rigid 3-year MCA-E SKU and which should remain in CSP for elasticity.

• Support Cost Decoupling: We identify ways to optimize your support structure so it doesn't scale uncontrollably with your license bill.

Don't navigate the 2026 licensing world alone. If you are facing an upcoming renewal or a forced migration to MCA-E, let us ensure you aren't paying the "default" price increase (typically 30-45% over 3 years).