Microsoft Unified Support vs Premier Support.

MICROSOFT UNIFIED SUPPORT VS. PREMIER SUPPORT

See the Microsoft Unified Support vs Premier Support comparison chart for full details. Read the top 5 differences and how to save 30-50%.

Comparison Chart | Top 5 Differences | Save 30-50%

Compare Microsoft Unified Support to Premier Chart

Unified Support is the replacement for Microsoft Premier Support. In Premier, organizations bought the number of support hours they needed for proactive/reactive support, Technical Account Managers (TAM) and Dedicated Support Engineers (DSE).

In late 2017 Microsoft introduced Unified, in which you receive unlimited amounts of some types of support. The price is determined by the enterprise’s entire MSFT software and cloud services spend. Review the Unified vs Premier Chart below for full details.

Support Feature	Microsoft Premier Support (EOL 7/22)	Microsoft Unified Support Core	Microsoft Unified Support Advanced	Microsoft Unified Support Performance
Pricing	Per-hour pricing based on consumption	6% of Office 365 and client software annual costs and 8% of other software and online services annual cost	8% of Office 365 and client software annual costs and 10% of other software and online services annual cost	10% of Office 365 and client software annual costs, and 12% of other software and online services annual cost
Account Management	Technical account manager (TAM) – team, shared or dedicated	Customer success account manager (CSAM) – shared	Customer success account manager (CSAM) – shared	Customer success account manager (CSAM) + technical advocate
Proactive Support Automated and online programs	Support assistance hours	As needed	As needed	As needed
Proactive Support Engineer-led risk assessments, chalk talks, planning and implementation engagements	Can be obtained using Support Assistance hours	Optional, extra charge	Specific number of days included	Specific number of days included
PRS Reactive support	PRS hours	As needed	As needed	As needed
PRS Online services	Included without using hours	Included in fees @6% of cost for O365 and 8% for Azure and Dynamics	Included in fees @8% of cost for O365 and 10% for Azure and Dynamics	Included in fees @10% of cost for O365 and 12% for Azure and Dynamics
Initial Response Time	1 hour critical; otherwise, 2 hours during business hours	1 hour critical; 8 hours standard	1 hour critical; 4 hours standard	30 minutes critical; 4 hours standard
Third-Tier Support	Optional, extra charge	N/A (no option)	Included (priority routing for critical)	Included (priority routing for all incidents)
Technical Training	Expert-led webinars, hands-on labs, learning paths	On-demand, self-service	On-demand, self-service	On-demand, self-service
Advisory Support	Included. Counts towards hours.	Limited to 6 hours per incident	Limited to 6 hours per incident	Limited to 6 hours per incident
Minimum Contract Size	N/A	$25,000	$50,000	$175,000

Top 5 Differences Between MSFT Unified & Premier Support

#1 END OF LIFE VS. ONE OPTION

Premier is End of Life (EOL) July 1, 2022. Microsoft Premier Support is being retired in July 2022 and will no longer be available for new support subscriptions or renewals.

Unified is the only option from MSFT. Microsoft Unified Support is now the only enterprise support option available from MSFT in 2022. All Premier Support subscriptions will be moved to the Unified support model. For those preferring the retired Premier model, third-party MSFT support is available.

#2 AS NEEDED VS. CONSUMPTION-BASED

Premier is a consumption-based support model. You buy the number of hours you think you will need in a given year. Overall, most Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor Management (SPVM) buyers feel that Premier gets them close to their actual needs most of the time.

Unified is an as needed support model. The issue being that some SPVM buyers and organizations don’t need support for all Microsoft products and cloud services – they simply don’t use all of them. As a result, they can’t justify the significant cost increase of moving from Premier to Unified.

#3 SOFTWARE ASSURANCE BENEFITS (SAB)

Premier offers SAB credits. Software Assurance Benefit (SAB) incident credits were used to offset Premier Support cost. Under Unified, SAB credits were available during the transition from Premier to Unified. However, Microsoft is officially retiring Premier in July 2022.

Unified does not offer SAB credits. Under Unified, SAB credits were available during the transition from Premier to Unified. Enterprises found that SAB credits could often reduce an organization’s Unified support bill by 25% or more according to Gartner (June 2020). However, Microsoft has officially retired SAB credits in February 2022.

#4 TAM VS. CSAM

Premier offers TAMs. Microsoft Premier Support offers Technical Account Managers (TAM) as part of of Premier Support. TAMs typically have 10+ years experience in MSFT technologies and a degree in MIS, IT or CS. TAMs investigate the client’s business objectives, anticipate current and future technology needs, develop a strategic technology solution roadmap and lead the proposed solution work-streams to bring clients to that future state. Salary: $100,000 to $170,000. Key MSFT KPI: Customer Satisfaction

Unified offers CSAMs. Microsoft Unified Support offers Customer Success Account Managers (CSAM) as part of Unified Support. CSAMs typically have 2-4 years experience in MSFT technologies and a degree in business, MIS, IT or CS. CSAMs drive program management and acceleration of cloud adoption by providing cross-engagement oversight, resource orchestration, and blocker escalation, in close collaboration with key account team unit members and business partners supporting customer success. Salary: $75,000 to $145,000 Key MSFT KPI: Cloud Spend

#5 DEDICATED SUPPORT ENGINEERS (DSE)

Premier has 400 hour minimum. Microsoft Premier Support has a 400 hour DSE minimum for all MSFT technologies. Premier Support DSE rates are $295 per hour. Lower DSE minimums and rates are available with third-party Microsoft Support providers.

Unified has 600 hour minimum. Microsoft Unified Support has a 600 hour minimum for Microsoft 365 and Azure DSEs. All other MSFT technologies have a 400 hour DSE threshold. Unified Support DSE rates are $315 per hour. US Cloud offers a 150 hour DSE minimum and 30-50% support savings for all Microsoft technologies.