Auto-Migration Process in interworks.cloud Platform

 

To ensure a smooth transition to Microsoft's upcoming migration process in the Microsoft Partner Center (MPC) after January 11, 2024, we've introduced Auto-Migration, a fully automated feature that eliminates the need for manual intervention. Your subscriptions will be seamlessly aligned with the MPC without any action required from you.

Automatic Migration Process


The Auto-Migration feature operates in the background, continuously monitoring and automatically managing all Legacy to NCE Migrations, meaning the ones that are initiated by Microsoft and the ones initiated by the CSP in the Microsoft Partner Center. This feature involves the following main automated processes in the form of serial steps:

Auto-Capture Migration Events: Our system automatically detects and captures any migration initiated in the Microsoft Partner Center, using a dedicated listener to subscribe to migration-related events from the Microsoft Partner Center (MPC).

Migration Data Retrieval & Verification: After our system automatically retrieves the successfully completed Microsoft-led migrations, it verifies them before the actual migration in our platform. Specifically, the following points are verified:

  • The legacy subscription in the MPC is not a trial.

  • The product type of the legacy product in the MPC is either Microsoft Cloud Services or Microsoft Dynamics.

  • The legacy subscription has been successfully migrated into an NCE subscription in the Microsoft Partner Center (MPC), and the migration status is indicated as complete. Moreover, the new NCE subscription should have been assigned an NCE subscription external ID in the MPC.

  • The status of the legacy subscription in the MPC is either suspended or deleted. (After a successful migration, it remains suspended for 90 days, after which it enters the nonrecoverable deleted status).

  • The legacy subscription residing in the MPC also exists in the BSS platform.

  • The legacy subscription in the BSS platform is synced with the one residing in the MPC.

  • The newly created New Commerce Experience (NCE) subscription residing in the MPC has a Microsoft product whose product type is Microsoft Online Services (New Commerce).

  • The newly created New Commerce Experience (NCE) subscription in the MPC is not a trial subscription; it is Active and in the Commercial, Non-Profit, or Education segment.

  • The newly created New Commerce Experience (NCE) subscription residing in the MPC does not already exist in the BSS platform.

  • The related New Commerce Experience (NCE) product is not discontinued, or the NCE SKU can be found in the BSS platform.

 

Successful Migrations Handling:

  1. Legacy Subscription Cancellation: Upon successful migration completion in the MPC, the existing legacy license-based subscription in your BSS platform is automatically canceled.

  2. NCE Subscription Creation: Corresponding New Commerce Experience (NCE) subscriptions are automatically imported into your BSS platform, mirroring the newly created NCE subscriptions in the MPC.

  3. Customer Notification: Email notifications are dispatched to your resellers or customers to inform them of the successful completion of the Auto-Migration process.

Failed Migrations Handling:
In case of migrations that fail to complete successfully, our system keeps as active the legacy subscriptions in your BSS platform, without further changes. Also, email notifications are dispatched to your customers, informing them of the reason for failure of the Auto-Migration process. You can check more in the Auto-Migration Notifications | Migration Failed to be Completed in our Platform page.

This automated approach ensures that your subscriptions remain seamlessly integrated with the MPC, minimizing manual intervention and potential errors.

Auto-Capture Migration Events

When Microsoft begins migrating a legacy subscription, our platform detects the event and initiates monitoring of the migration process. During the migration process, the legacy subscriptions remain active in our system but are locked, and no action is permitted on them.

Migration Webhooks

Our platform leverages webhooks made available from Microsoft Partner Center to easily automate and track the status of migrations. These migration webhooks are registered for each CSP.

Microsoft allows only one URL to be registered for webhooks. Please be cautious with the webhook URL and be aware that if you change this URL (due to an other development of yours), the automatic migration process will not be completed, since we will not receive the migration events messages.
Should you need to change the registration URL, please contact our Support Team or your Customer Success Manager first.

Subscription Locking during the Migration Process

While the migration of a legacy subscription is in progress in the Microsoft Partner Center (MPC), its status on the MPC is suspended, but its status on our platform remains active. To maintain consistency between the two systems (BSS and MPC) during the ongoing migration, our system implements a restriction mechanism on affected subscriptions, preventing users from making any provisioning actions on these subscriptions during this period. A clear explanation message will be displayed in both the BSS and Storefront portals whenever a user tries to perform any of the following actions on an active legacy subscription during the migration process:

  • Increase/Decrease licenses of the subscription

  • Cancel the subscription.

  • Suspend the subscription.

  • Activate the subscription

  • Upgrade/Downgrade the subscription.

  • Change the name of the subscription.

  • Add an add-on.

  • Increase/Decrease the licenses of an add-on.

  • Cancel an add-on.

Informative Message in the BSS Platform

Informative Messages in the Storefront

Informative Message in the BSS Platform

Informative Messages in the Storefront

 

 

Cancellation of the Legacy Subscription

When Microsoft has successfully completed the migration process, we will automatically cancel the legacy subscription from the date the migration was initiated or the legacy subscription’s start date (whichever is earlier).

Once the legacy subscription is successfully canceled within our platform, a corresponding credit invoice will be issued to reflect the prorated amount for the unused service days. This credit will cover the period between the migration's initiation date and the end date of the legacy subscription. For more details, please check the Auto-Migration Process in interworks.cloud Platform | Use Cases of the ‘Auto Migration’ Process page.

NCE Subscriptions Creation

The Microsoft Partner Center (MPC) migration process may generate multiple NCE subscriptions to accommodate the add-ons associated with the legacy subscription. For each eligible add-on attached to the legacy subscription, a corresponding NCE subscription will be created, ensuring that all add-ons are mirrored in the NCE environment. These NCE subscriptions will seamlessly be imported into your BSS platform, residing under the same BSS account as the legacy subscription they replace. Each NCE subscription will be imported with the exact same properties as its NCE counterpart in the MPC, including the start date (the date the migration is completed), the number of licenses, billing cycle, billing frequency, promotion status, and any other relevant details.

Pricing and Promotions

The billing of NCE subscriptions will follow the price lists assigned to the BSS customers under which they reside. Therefore, assigning price lists with equivalent NCE products to all your resellers and customers is crucial before the auto-migration process begins. Also, any promotions eligible for NCE offers will automatically apply to the newly created NCE subscriptions.

Customer Notification

Since the Auto-Migration process is a background running process, the only visual feedback of whether it is successfully working is done via our distinct Email Notifications. Specifically, our platform informs its users in case of a failure during any of the Auto-Migration steps (validation process, ancellation of Legacy subscription, creation of NCE subscription) and when the Auto-Migration process has been completed successfully.
For more information concerning the Email Notifications of the ‘Auto-Migration’ process, please proceed to the Auto-Migration Notifications page.

Use Cases of the ‘Auto-Migration’ Process


In the following three use cases of Auto-Migration, we depict how the Auto-Migration works for Legacy Subscriptions that their End Dates in BSS are aligned with those kept in the Microsoft Partner Center and Legacy Subscriptions for which the BSS End Dates are different than those kept in Microsoft Partner Center.

 

Migration Custom Fields


Upon successfully completing the Auto-Migration process, the respective migration details are saved inside the newly created NCE subscriptions' view page in the form of custom fields. More specifically, these custom fields are the following:

‘Migration’ Custom Fields in the Legacy Subscription View Page in BSS

‘Migration’ Custom Fields in the NCE Subscription View Page in BSS

‘Migration’ Custom Fields in the Legacy Subscription View Page in BSS

‘Migration’ Custom Fields in the NCE Subscription View Page in BSS

  • NCE Migration Status

  • NCE Subscription ID

  • NCE Migration ID

  • Legacy External Subscription ID

These custom fields can be managed by navigating to BSS Setup > Subscriptions > and selecting the respective instance.