Ist das MCA-E das Ende des Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA)?

The Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) is a simplified, digital, and open-ended contract for purchasing Microsoft Online Services.
Microsoft's vision is to gradually replace older and more cumbersome agreements with the MCA. What does this mean for customers?

The current MCA was introduced in 2019 as a replacement for the Microsoft Cloud Agreement. Since then, the MCA has become increasingly important. Azure services have been migrated to the MCA since 2021, even for EA customers, and new features and purchase options have been added gradually.

Starting in 2025, there will be a gradual migration from EA to MCA. Additional features will be added every six months to make the transition easier and more attractive for customers. However, EA renewals will no longer be possible for low-volume customers starting in early 2025.

When switching to the MCA, customers generally have a choice between three sales channels:

While the scope of online services offered by EA and MCA is similar, the term differs. With EA, the term of the subscriptions is co-terminated with the term of the EA contract, while with MCA, customers can choose an individual subscription term of either monthly, annually, or 3 years, with the option to co-terminate them.

There are also differences in Azure services. Azure services are only available to existing customers in the EA. Microsoft's preferred option is to purchase Azure services through the MCA-E, including a Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC). However, the EA is still the leader in on-premises licenses, including Software Assurance (SA), which are only available without SA in the MCA.

Significant discrepancies in the contract terms include the limited contract term of the EA compared to the unlimited Evergreen contract in the MCA. This is also associated with the lack of price protection over a longer period of time in the MCA-E and no classic contract renewal dates. However, there are also no minimum quantities or volumes in the MCA-E, making it suitable for companies of all sizes.

In terms of product portfolio, the MCA-E still focuses on Azure and online services, with the range to be expanded every six months. Usage rights for on- premises products are gradually being added as subscriptions. For example, Exchange Server SE was added to the MCA-E offering in July 2025.

Caution should be exercised with regard to MCA-E prices. In principle, the list prices without discount scales apply to MCA-E, but these will be eliminated for online services from 11/2025 upon the next renewal or for newly purchased products, including for EA & MPSA. As with EA, prices can be negotiated directly with Microsoft for high purchase volumes. However, these are only valid for the term of the respective subscription and not for all subscriptions in the overall contract. This means that prices must be negotiated individually for the various subscriptions at the respective end of the term (monthly, annually, or triennially). However, there have been cases where the prices of the subscriptions were linked to the term of the MACC during negotiations. In this case, the Azure prices are not fixed, but the monthly price list applies.

In addition, Microsoft reserves the right under the standard agreement to request a compliance report at any time within 30 days. In the event of sublicensing, the prices for additional purchases shall then be 125% of the current price. The MCA-E does not include a regular license audit in the course of reporting the licenses used in the last contract year for the True Up and the associated transparency regarding license requirements for the EA. Any adjustment to the audit clause must be negotiated individually with Microsoft.

Even though it will no longer be possible for customers with lower volumes (currently cloud-only EAs and Enterprise Subscription Agreements without complex additional agreements) to conclude an EA from the beginning of 2025, the MCA-E offering, particularly in the on-premises area, does not yet match the scope of the EA and does not represent a real alternative for large customers. Even Microsoft representatives are currently unable to provide any information about the exact roadmap for the MCA-E. Extensions are made every six months, but without any advance notice of which features and offers will be added.

Larger customers are therefore not yet being pressured to switch to the MCA-E when their EA contract expires. Instead, they can extend their EA and cover only Azure services via the MCA-E. However, Microsoft is aiming to conclude an EA-direct agreement, i.e., without a CSP partner. In EA-direct, the responsibility and work previously performed by a CSP partner now falls back to the customer. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop and whether EA-direct is to be understood as an intermediate step towards MCA-E.

Our recommendation: Keep a close eye on developments with MCA-E so you can be as prepared as possible for your next contract renewal and work out potential courses of action. You should also prepare for the possible conclusion of EA-direct, even if MCA-E is not yet relevant for your next renewal. We are happy to answer any further questions you may have on this topic. Contact us via mail@complion.de.

Author: Jessica Loi Müller