The Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise (MCA-E) is the publisher's new commercial framework, structured to absorb the Enterprise Agreement at term-end. The Admodum read on the transition mechanics, the seat-only purchase and the True-Up retirement.
The Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise is a perpetual master agreement; it does not itself have a term-end. Transactions are placed on order forms that reference the master and that carry their own term, term length, quantity and pricing. The MCA-E replaces the Enterprise Agreement and the various MBSA / enrolment artefacts the EA stacked on top.
The publisher's intent is unambiguous: new commercial behaviour migrates to the MCA-E; the EA is in run-off. The transition is not yet mandatory in all geographies for all customer segments, but the direction is settled.
The wider EA framework sits at the Enterprise Agreement overview; the EA True-Up mechanic that the MCA-E retires sits at EA True-Up mechanics; the renewal cadence the transition decision sits inside sits at the Microsoft EA renewal cycle.
The EA mechanic baselines at term-start, trues-up annually, locks the price level for the term and bills the True-Up at the locked level. The MCA-E mechanic baselines at order-form start, bills monthly, flexes the count at the monthly anniversary, and reads price against the catalogue version in force at the order date.
The buyer-side consequence is that the True-Up is retired. The monthly billing absorbs growth in real time; the annual reconciliation no longer exists; the down-true is now available for the cloud-subscription lines (the on-prem residue carries a slightly different mechanic).
The renewal-time disposition of the final True-Up at the EA exit is itself a negotiation lever; the buyer that transitions to the MCA-E on the cloud-subscription portfolio carries a final EA True-Up against the residue. The wider context sits at EA True-Up mechanics.
The EA mechanic locks the price level (A, B, C, D) at term-start and applies it for the term. The MCA-E mechanic reads price against the catalogue version in force at the order date. The order form, on a multi-year subscription term, carries the price; subsequent orders against the same MCA-E read the catalogue version in force at their own order date.
The buyer-side consequence is that the price-level lock is retired. The price is order-by-order; the catalogue is published-by-published. The negotiating discipline is therefore to concentrate the commercial volume into the order moments and to read the catalogue carefully against the order date.
The MCA-E retains the multi-year construct through subscription-term commitments on the order forms. A buyer can place an order for a one-year, three-year or five-year term against a defined subscription; the term-end disposition is then governed by the order form's autorenew posture and the master's notice period.
The MCA-E retains the Azure MACC (the Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment), which is structurally unchanged from the EA / SCE-Azure construct. The MACC carries quantum, tenor and ramp; eligible-service catalogue and Marketplace pull-through; the discount-band thresholds. The wider MACC context sits at the Azure MACC design spoke.
The MCA-E retains the legal entity and authorised-affiliate construct; the order forms carry the legal entity that is placing the order; the master governs the affiliate-by-affiliate use posture.
The EA term-end is the natural decision point. The choices are: transition the full enrolment to the MCA-E; persist on a final EA renewal (typically a one-year renewal for run-off purposes); split the enrolment (cloud-subscription lines to the MCA-E; on-prem residue on a final EA renewal). The decision is enrolment by enrolment, not whole-account.
The decision criteria are: the cloud-subscription share of the enrolment (high share favours MCA-E); the on-prem residue (a meaningful on-prem residue favours a split or a final EA renewal); the True-Up profile (a buyer with a large cumulative growth across the term may prefer to absorb the final True-Up and then transition); the Azure MACC posture (the MACC sits comfortably on either framework but is generally simpler on the MCA-E).
The wider renewal-time disposition sits at the Microsoft EA renewal cycle; the SA disposition sits at the Software Assurance benefits spoke; the M365 plans context sits at the Microsoft 365 plans spoke.
The buyer-side artefacts to hold against the MCA-E transition are: the cumulative-contract map (every enrolment, every product, every count, every price-level history under the EA); the cloud-versus-on-prem mix (per enrolment, per legal entity); the True-Up profile (cumulative growth against term-start baseline); the Azure MACC posture (consumption against commitment); the catalogue read (current MCA-E catalogue versus EA price-level read); the order-form design (subscription term, autorenew posture, quantum, ramp).
The renewal-time conversation is then a negotiation against artefacts. The publisher's MCA-E offer is read against the EA position line by line; the transition decision is taken enrolment by enrolment; the order-form construction at MCA-E start is the new term-start moment.
The wider engagement sits in the Microsoft practice; the aggregated reading list sits in the Microsoft knowledge hub; active renewal moments route to the Renewal Programme; active audit moments route to Audit Defence.
A senior Admodum Microsoft advisor will read your EA term-end, the enrolment-by-enrolment cloud-versus-on-prem mix and the MCA-E catalogue against your position. Active renewal moments route to the Renewal Programme.