A growing number of hosters are looking past SPLA toward the Cloud Solution Provider program, the CSP, as the way they buy and resell Microsoft licensing. The reasons are real, and so are the traps. A migration from SPLA to CSP is not a like for like swap. It changes how you license, how you report, and what your audit exposure looks like on both sides of the move. This article sets out what the migration actually involves so you can plan it rather than stumble into it.
Two different programs, not two versions of one
SPLA is Microsoft's monthly licensing program for hosters who deliver software to external customers. It is pay as you consume, reported in arrears each month under the SPUR, with compliance verified for every monthly cycle across a 36 month lookback. CSP is a different model built around subscriptions and seats that you provision and bill through the program rather than reporting consumption after the fact. The mental shift is from reporting what you used last month to provisioning what your customer will use, and that shift touches operations, billing, and compliance all at once.
What changes when you move
- The licensing basis shifts from monthly reported consumption to provisioned subscriptions and seats
- Reporting changes from monthly SAL and processor submissions to subscription management within the program
- Some workloads map cleanly to CSP, while others may still need SPLA or another model, so a mixed estate is common during transition
- The compliance questions change, but they do not disappear, and the old SPLA period remains auditable for its full lookback
The SPLA tail does not vanish
The most overlooked fact about a migration is that leaving SPLA does not close your SPLA exposure. Compliance is verified across a 36 month lookback, which means the months you spent on SPLA remain open to audit well after you have moved to CSP. A clean migration therefore includes closing the SPLA chapter properly: a final reconciliation of your last reported months, the evidence to support them retained, and a clear line drawn under the program. Hosters who treat the switch as an instant clean break can find an old SPLA period reopened years later with no one left who remembers the detail.
Mapping the estate before you move
A migration starts with an honest map of what you run and who you run it for. Each workload needs a decision: does it move to CSP, does it stay on SPLA, or does it retire. That decision depends on the product, the customer relationship, and how the workload is consumed. A public, high volume workload and a small dedicated customer environment may belong in different programs even after the move. Mapping first means the migration is a series of planned decisions rather than a scramble to relicense whatever breaks.
A simple migration sequence
| Stage | Focus | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Map the estate | workloads, customers, models | a per workload decision |
| Close the SPLA tail | final reconciliation and evidence | the lookback defended |
| Provision in CSP | subscriptions and seats | the new model running |
| Run in parallel where needed | mixed estate during transition | no workload left unlicensed |
Indicative sequence, adapt to your estate.
Why plan the move as a defense, not just a project
A migration is usually run by operations and finance as a cost and efficiency project. That framing misses half the value. Because the SPLA period stays auditable and because mistakes during the transition can leave workloads briefly unlicensed, the migration is also a compliance event. Planning it with the audit in mind, closing the SPLA tail cleanly and documenting the cutover, turns a moment of risk into a moment that strengthens your position.
The risks inside the transition itself deserve their own attention, set out in risk in a SPLA to CSP transition. For why the SPLA lookback keeps the old period live, see why SPLA audits are different from normal audits.
The next step
Moving from SPLA to CSP can simplify your licensing, but only if the old program is closed as carefully as the new one is opened. The SPLA Audit Defense Guide covers how to reconcile and defend your final SPLA months while you transition, so the lookback never becomes a surprise. Download the guide and plan the move with the audit in view.
Close one program as you open the next.
The SPLA Audit Defense Guide covers how to reconcile and defend your final SPLA months while you transition to CSP, so the 36 month lookback never becomes a surprise.
Download the SPLA Audit Defense GuideWhen the numbers start to look serious, we plan the exit through our SPLA to CSP migration work so compliance never lapses mid move.