Why request a cloud solution provider relationship with an existing Office 365 customer?

You can now request a cloud solution provider (CSP) relationship with Office 365 customers who have already purchased their subscriptions directly from Microsoft.

Note: Looking for other Partner help content? Check out Help for partners.

Benefits of requesting a reseller relationship with a direct customer

As a reseller you can reach potential customers regardless of how the customers were first created. Cloud solution provider (CSP) partners and customers can now interact in the following ways:

• An existing direct Office 365 customer can establish a relationship with a CSP.

• An existing direct Office 365 customer can purchase subscriptions from a CSP.

Partners can establish a CSP relationship with customers that already have existing tenants or subscriptions and can then sell them CSP subscriptions.

A CSP customer can also purchase subscriptions from directly from Microsoft and is no longer limited to buying subscriptions through their CSP reseller. With this, partners can establish a CSP relationship with a customer that already has an existing tenant and existing subscriptions and can then sell CSP subscriptions to that customer. While this enables the coexistence of CSP and other subscription types on the same customer tenant, this does not change or affect any of the customer's previously purchased subscriptions. Those subscriptions remain active and unchanged, and any Partner-of-record (POR) associated with those subscriptions remains in place. Additionally, customer can continue to purchase subscriptions via these other channels alongside their CSP subscriptions, for example, directly from Microsoft.

For instructions on how to request this relationship, see Partners: Request a reseller relationship.

FAQ

What CSP role do I need to have to send the reseller invitation mail?   

CSP partners with the Full Admin (AdminAgents) and Sales Support (SalesAgents) roles can send the mail.

Can CSP partners view subscriptions the customers purchased directly from Microsoft?    

Yes, the CSP partner can view all the subscriptions, but any subscriptions that were purchased directly from Microsoft are read-only.

Can customers view subscriptions that were purchased by a CSP reseller for them?   

No, the customers cannot view those in the Office 365 admin center, under BILLING > Subscriptions. However, the customers can see the licenses from those subscriptions under BILLING > Licenses.