Change in Microsoft Software Assurance Benefits for Training Vouchers and Planning Services

March 12, 2021

Microsoft has announced that it is discontinuing Software Assurance perks in the area of Training Vouchers and Planning Services. To this end, the following dates are important for customers with active volume licensing contracts if they have Software Assurance entitlements for the above benefits.

The most important dates at a glance

01.02.2021 - as of this date, Microsoft will no longer allocate Software Assurance benefits for Training Vouchers or Planning Services for new Volume Licence contracts or for renewed or newly booked Software Assurance.
30.06.2021 - until this date, customers who currently have unused vouchers for the two services in their Microsoft Licence Portal access can allocate these to employees in order to redeem them in the form of training or Planning Services at authorised service providers / training centres.
180 days after assigning the vouchers to employees, the training must have been carried out and the service provider must also have claimed vouchers from Microsoft within the 180-day period. Tip: Start training no later than 120 days after assignment.
- Example: If you assign vouchers to an employee in the licence portal on the last possible day, 30.06.2021, the complete process (participation in course/workshop, billing by service provider) must be completed by December 2021.

IMPORTANT: For the activated vouchers, Microsoft will also send an email with the voucher number to the beneficiary employee each time, please keep these emails until they are fully redeemed.

Only these voucher numbers ensure that the costs of the redeeming Microsoft partner are covered. The voucher numbers can also no longer be retrieved from the Volume Licensing Service Center (Microsoft Licensing Portal) after the contract has expired (if it expires before one of the above-mentioned deadlines)!