Welcome to our news!
Every month, Microsoft ships changes that directly affect how CSP partners operate. Some are minor. Others reshape workflows overnight.
February brought enforcement. The themes Microsoft has been signaling for months, API modernization, attestation lockdowns, and subscription lifecycle changes, are no longer previews. They're live, they have deadlines, and they affect how you operate day to day.
Here are the five announcements that matter most for CSP partners this month.
Ready to start?
Microsoft Updates - [02/2026]
1. MCA Attestation Update — Blocking Is Now Live
What's happening:
Microsoft has retired the legacy MCA attestation API, the Partner Center UX-based attestation, and the bulk attestation tool. All new customer orders are now blocked unless the customer directly accepts the MCA or the partner uses the enhanced attestation API.
- Date of announcement: February 2, 2026
- Effective date: Live now
- Who is affected: All CSP partners: Direct bill, indirect providers, and indirect resellers.
Action required:
- Confirm your integration uses the enhanced MCA attestation API.
- For customers who haven't accepted, direct them to accept the MCA via the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Review the MCA attestation FAQ for edge cases and troubleshooting.
Quick note:
This is the enforcement milestone we flagged in our January roundup. If you haven't migrated off the legacy attestation methods, new customer onboarding is already blocked.
This isn't a future deadline, it's happening now. If you're using CloudCockpit's provisioning workflows, make sure your MCA attestation calls are routed through the enhanced API. Zero room for delay here.
2. Revised Timelines: Extended Service Terms (EST) in CSP
What's happening:
Microsoft has pushed EST enforcement from April 1, 2026, to May 4, 2026. The production UX and API for managing end-of-term options went live on February 16, 2026, and a data export of EST-eligible subscriptions became available on February 28.
- Date of announcement: February 5, 2026
- Production availability: February 16, 2026.
- Data export: February 28, 2026.
- Effective date: May 4, 2026.
- Who is affected: All CSP partners: Direct bill, indirect providers, and indirect resellers.
Action required:
- Use the Partner Center UX or API to set end-of-term preferences (renew, cancel, or move to EST) for eligible subscriptions.
- Download the EST data export to identify which customer subscriptions are scheduled to auto-convert to EST at expiration.
- Begin renewal conversations with customers whose subscriptions expire on or after May 4, 2026.
- Review Microsoft's EST documentation and the partner FAQ.
Quick note:
Another continuation from January's post, the timeline shifted, but the direction hasn't.
After May 4, any eligible subscription with auto-renewal off and no explicit action will automatically convert to a paid EST. That means unexpected charges for customers and support tickets for you.
The February 28 data export is your best friend here: pull it, review the list, and start having conversations now. Don't wait until April.
3. CSP Unbilled Invoice Reconciliation API v1 Retirement
What's happening:
The unbilled invoice reconciliation API v1 will be retired on March 15, 2026. Partners must migrate to the asynchronous API v2, which reduces retrieval time from 15+ hours to approximately 15 minutes.
- Date of announcement: February 17, 2026
- Effective date: March 15, 2026
- Who is affected: CSP direct bill partners and distributors still using API v1
Action required:
- Migrate to API v2 (async unbilled reconciliation) before March 15.
Note: the new Microsoft Graph APIs are currently available only for the public/global cloud. Existing APIs remain available for Azure Government, Azure Germany, and Azure operated by 21Vianet. Attend the CSP Technical Training recordings for migration guidance.
Quick note:
This is a hard cutoff, not a deprecation warning, not a soft sunset. After March 15, API v1 simply stops working for modern commerce. If your billing reconciliation pipeline still calls v1, it breaks.
The upside is real though: v2 is dramatically faster. If you're running reconciliation at scale, this migration is a performance upgrade disguised as a compliance deadline. Prioritize this in your next sprint.
4. Legacy Azure Price Lists: xlsx to csv Transition
What's happening:
Three Legacy Azure price lists — Global, Global Shared, and US Government — will transition from Excel (.xlsx) to CSV (.csv) format effective March 1, 2026. Column names, structure, and naming conventions remain unchanged.
- Date of announcement: February 26, 2026
- Effective date: March 1, 2026
- Who is affected: CSP direct bill partners and distributors who consume Legacy Azure price lists.
Action required:
- Ensure your systems, scripts, and automation workflows can ingest .csv files instead of .xlsx.
- No data remapping is required; the structure is identical.
- Review pricing overview documentation for access details.
Quick note:
This is a small change with outsized potential for breakage. If you have automated pipelines that parse .xlsx files from Partner Center.
Whether homegrown scripts, third-party tools, or platform integrations, they will fail silently or throw errors on March 1 if you don't update the file handling. CSV is lighter and more universally compatible, so this is a net positive.
Just make sure someone on your team validates the ingestion path before the switch.
5. Extended Timeline for Microsoft Sentinel Azure Portal Transition
What's happening:
Microsoft has extended the sunset date for the Microsoft Sentinel Azure portal experience from July 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027. The Defender portal remains the target destination for all Sentinel capabilities.
- Date of announcement: February 12, 2026
- Effective date: March 31, 2027 (previously July 1, 2026)
- Who is affected: System integrators, MSSPs, and partners with Sentinel SIEM customers managing security content across tenants.
Action required:
- Continue planning and executing customer migrations to the Defender portal, this is where new Sentinel capabilities are being delivered.
- Validate key scenarios early: multi-workspace operations, multitenant management, correlation behavior, and alert latency.
- Review the MSSP playbook for migration guidance.
Quick note:
If you're a CSP partner also delivering managed security services, this extension gives you breathing room. But don't treat it as a pass to delay.
Microsoft is clearly investing in the Defender portal as the future home for Sentinel, and the latest innovations (Security Copilot, SOC optimization, graph-based analytics) are only landing there.
Use the extra time to validate your multi-tenant workflows, not to postpone the move.
The Bottom Line
February 2026 is when Microsoft's multi-month transformation agenda started hitting production. MCA attestation blocking is live. EST tools are in your hands with enforcement weeks away. The billing reconciliation API has a hard cutoff in March.
The pattern is consistent: Microsoft announces months in advance, then enforces without exceptions. The partners who stay ahead of these timelines protect their operations and their customer relationships. The ones who wait for the deadline end up filing support tickets.
Review your API integrations, talk to your customers about renewals, and make sure your automation can handle the format changes coming on March 1. The window for preparation is open, but it's closing.
All information in this post is based on official Microsoft Partner Center announcements for February 2026. For the full list of announcements, visit Microsoft Partner Center Announcements.
