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Microsoft 365

How It Works

Let us show you why you should switch to ctm for Microsoft 365.

Can't find the answer you're looking for?
We're here to help. Get in touch and we'll fill in the blanks for you.

What is a Cloud Solution Provider?

Microsoft

We are a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, or CSP for short, which means we partner with Microsoft to provide you with access to their products and services, as well as our own, rather than you having to work with Microsoft directly.

Specifically, we are a Direct Bill CSP, which means we purchase Microsoft products and subscriptions directly from Microsoft and sell them directly to our customers. We leverage the buying power of all of our customers and our expertise with the Microsoft product range to be able to offer you prices significantly below retail for nearly all Microsoft 365 products.

So what changes?

When you switch to ctm, three things will change:

1
You will use our portal to manage your subscriptions: buying more licences, cancelling a subscription, accessing past bills etc.
2
You'll get an invoice from us rather than Microsoft each month - with a lower figure at the bottom of it!
3
You'll pay us rather than Microsoft each month - usually by Direct Debit.

Everything else will stay the same.

You'll still assign licences to your users and manage everything else via the Microsoft Admin Portal just as you did before.

It's a bit like switching electricity or gas supplier. It's the same product, you're just switching who you're buying it from.

What's the catch?

If it seems too good to be true, don't worry, you're not alone. Our biggest obstacle when onboarding new customers is convincing them that there isn't a catch!

But there isn't a catch, it is just as good as it appears to be. If your organisation is using Microsoft 365 and you're paying Microsoft, or another CSP that's less competitive, there really isn't a good reason not to sign up.

We'll beat any price (or die trying)

If you find a cheaper deal, contact us and we'll do all we can to beat it.

How do we switch?

We've made switching to ctm as easy as possible.

1
Sign-up

We'll gather some basic information from you to setup your account and establish a reseller relationship with your Microsoft 365 tenant.

To do this you'll need a user with Global Administrator permissions, and someone from Finance or Management who can authorise the creation of a Direct Debit for payment.
around
30 mins
2
Migrate

Once you're signed-up, we'll use our Migration Wizard to order up all of the licences you need, and provide you with instructions on how to cancel your old subscriptions with your outgoing supplier, be that Microsoft or a third-party.

around
20 mins

We can have the whole process done and dusted in under an hour of your time - it really is that simple.

If you do want to sign-up, why not book a call and we can work through the switching process with you over a shared session?

But what if my existing subscriptions aren't due to expire for a while?

No problem, you can sign-up now and place a pre-order for each of your subscriptions with us for the date they are due to expire.

How do we manage our licences?

Once you're up and running you'll have one of two portals to use, depending on what you need to do.

ctm Information Technology
ctm Portal
https://cloud.ctm-it.com
  • Add new licences and products
  • Remove licences
  • Cancel subscriptions
  • Manage renewals
  • Billing and finance
Try a demo
Microsoft
Microsoft Admin Portal
https://admin.microsoft.com/
  • Assign licences to users
  • Unassign licences from users
  • Manage user settings
  • Manage all product features

No matter which portal you're using, we'll be here to support you every step of the way. If you have any questions on anything license-related, we'll be ready and waiting to help.

How do we pay?

You'll receive one invoice from us via email per-month, per-tenant, on or around the 8th of the month for the preceding calendar month.

e.g If you have one tenant, you'll receive one invoice on or around the 8th of February for all usage between the 1st and 31st of January.

We'll setup a Direct Debit with you when you sign-up and payment will be taken for each invoice on or around 14 days after the invoice is sent to you.

All invoices, past and present, are available to review at any time in the ctm Portal.

You can also keep track on spend and savings over time with our unique Savings Explorer, included as part of the ctm service.

Try a demo
But what about...

Security

We use Microsoft as our login provider to protect your privacy and security, so you'll need a Microsoft login in order to sign-up with us and login to the ctm Portal.

We don't store any personal data or passwords other than your name and email address.

All ctm services adhere to industry best practices for encryption, for data both in transit and at rest.

Microsoft Secured with Microsoft Authentication
But what about...

Trust in ctm

It is an important point; many of our customers are switching to us from working with Microsoft directly, and its hard to match the brand equity of one of the biggest companies in the world.

ctm Information Technology is a UK-based IT company that's been delivering market-leading IT products and services to organisations throughout the UK since 1999.

We are a Microsoft Solutions Partner and operate a quality management system externally audited every year to the ISO9001:2015 standard.

Rest assured that ctm can be your trusted partner.

Microsoft Solutions Partner Microsoft Solutions Partner ISO 9001:2015 ISO 9001:2015
But what about...

Enterprise agreements

If your organisation is large enough to have one or more Enterprise Agreements (EAs) with Microsoft, that's great! - it is by far the most economic way to purchase Microsoft 365 products.

However, there may well still be a way ctm can help you save every month.

EAs typically only cover a subset of the products that you're using, and you can use ctm to supply all of the licences that aren't covered by them.

But what about...

Already locked-in with another supplier

If you've got a while to wait until your existing subscriptions are due to renew with another supplier, don't worry, we've got you covered.

You can register for ctm now and place a pre-order for each of your existing subscriptions for the day they are due to expire.

All you have to do then is tell your existing supplier to not renew your subscriptions, and ctm will automatically fire-up the new subscriptions exactly when they are needed.

What's more, you can buy any additional licences you need between now and then with ctm, so you start saving on those right away.

But what about...

Existing IT companies

If you currently outsource your IT to a managed service provider (MSP), you may think that ctm isn't an option for you, but there is no reason it can't be.

We're not looking to step on anyone's toes, but it should be perfectly possible for your IT MSP to work with ctm for licence supply in the future, just as they work with Microsoft or another third-party system to do so today.

You can even work with multiple Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) at once, so even if you have one or even more existing CSP relationships, there's no reason why you can't take advantage of our savings and still work with another CSP providing related services.

But what about...

Other commitments

No matter what the obstacle, we'll do our level best to find ways to unlock savings for you.

Part of a larger organisation, perhaps with overseas locations?

No problem! Let's talk with the group and see if we can put a proposal together for savings across the organisation.

Getting a better deal already?

Nicely done! We'll do all we can to beat it though, in fact we guarantee it, so it couldn't hurt to get in touch.

Next steps

Next step

Sign-up

Ready to jump in? Let us guide you through the setup process and we'll have you onboard in no time.

Sign-up now
Next step

Book a call

We can answer any questions you may have and, if you're ready to get started, help you through the whole onboarding process in under an hour.

Book a call with us today for a time and date that suits you.

Book a call
Microsoft Teams
Next step

Watch example videos

Let us take you on a guided tour of some of the most commonly used features with one of our example videos.

Video examples
Next step

Try a demo

Take a test-drive of our industry leading portal with a personalised, full-functioning demo on our production system.

Try a demo
ctm Portal Example
ctm Portal Example
Next step

Chat live

Sorry but there isn't anyone available to chat right now.

We'll be back at our desks from 09:00 on Tuesday 19 March.

Next step

Drop us an email

Simply drop us a note and we'll be in touch as soon as possible.

Email us