Migrating the AI Services from EA subscription to a CSP subscription

YUJIEYANGBeyondsoft-7976 0 Reputation points
2026-08-14T07:50:08.4766667+00:00

I have an EA subscription with various Azure services, such as Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Speech, Azure AI Foundry Project, Agents/Connectors. Now, I need to migrate all these services to another CSP subscription.

My question is:

Is it possible to move all these services from one subscription to another without any complications?

After the migration, will the users be able to continue using all the services without any errors or issues?

Thanks!

Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models

2 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest

  1. AI answer

    2026-08-14T07:51:43.4333333+00:00

    A full, complication-free move is not guaranteed.

    For EA to CSP, there are two different paths:

    1. Subscription transfer path
      • EA or MCA enterprise subscriptions can be transferred to a CSP partner in supported cases.
      • After transfer, previously applied quota increases carry over. If no quota increases were previously applied, quota resets to CSP default limits.
      • Billing and utilization history does not transfer, so it should be exported before starting.
    2. Manual resource move path
      • For subscriptions that aren’t eligible for billing transfer, resources must be moved from the source subscription to target CSP subscriptions.
      • The source and target subscriptions must be in the same Microsoft Entra tenant.
      • The account performing the move must have Owner access on both subscriptions.
      • All resources should be validated first because some Azure resources can’t move between subscriptions.
      • Moving resources between subscriptions might result in service downtime.
      • CSP supports only Azure Resource Manager resources. Any classic deployment model resources must be migrated to Azure Resource Manager first.

    For the services listed, the supported guidance in the available material is:

    • Azure AI Search: moving to another region requires creating a new service, republishing indexes, data sources, skillsets, reloading indexes, re-creating security roles, and updating client apps to the new service name and API keys. This shows that service continuity without reconfiguration should not be assumed.
    • Azure OpenAI / Azure AI Foundry / AI Projects / AI Services: the available Q&A guidance indicates that direct moves may require reconfiguration, only top-level resources move, dependencies may need updates, resource IDs change, and role assignments must be recreated. For Pay-As-You-Go to CSP, the cited guidance states direct move of Azure AI resources is not supported and recommends re-creation in the target CSP subscription.

    What can be stated confidently for the scenario:

    • It is not safe to assume all listed AI services can be moved to CSP without complications.
    • It is not safe to assume users will continue working with no errors or changes after migration.
    • Even when a move is possible, common impacts include:
      • possible downtime
      • changed resource IDs
      • required updates to application configuration, endpoints, keys, or dependencies
      • loss of RBAC access if directory association changes
      • removal of policy assignments if directory association changes
      • need to recreate role assignments

    A practical migration approach is:

    1. Confirm whether the EA subscription is eligible for CSP subscription transfer.
    2. If not eligible, create the target CSP subscription with the partner.
    3. Ensure source and target subscriptions are in the same Microsoft Entra tenant.
    4. Validate each resource for move support before starting.
    5. Export billing data that must be retained.
    6. Plan for downtime and post-move reconfiguration.
    7. For services that don’t support direct move, re-create them in the CSP subscription and update applications to use the new endpoints, names, and keys.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. SRILAKSHMI C 19,730 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-01T16:58:21.2466667+00:00

    Hello @YUJIEYANGBeyondsoft-7976

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

    Migrating an AI workload from an EA subscription to a CSP subscription is possible in some scenarios, but it should not be assumed that all Azure AI resources and their dependencies can be moved seamlessly without any changes.

    Azure resource moves are supported on a resource-type basis. For example, Azure Cognitive Services accounts support subscription moves, and Azure AI Search supports subscription moves, although some services may require additional steps. Microsoft also notes that when resources are moved between subscriptions, the resource ID changes, and dependencies, role assignments, policies, and other configuration may need to be updated or reapplied. Both subscriptions must also be associated with the same Microsoft Entra tenant for a standard cross-subscription move.

    For an environment containing Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Speech, Microsoft Foundry projects, Agents and Connectors, we recommend validating each resource and its dependencies individually. In particular, Foundry projects, agents, connections/connectors, managed identities, RBAC, networking/private endpoints, model deployments, and application configuration should be reviewed before the migration.

    There is also an important CSP-specific consideration for Foundry Models. Microsoft currently documents that CSP subscriptions cannot purchase third-party model offerings through the Foundry partner/community model experience. Therefore, if the existing EA environment uses third-party/partner models that require Azure Marketplace, those deployments may not be reproducible in the target CSP subscription. Microsoft recommends using models offered as first-party Azure consumption services in that scenario.

    Recommended migration approach

    1. Inventory all resources and dependencies in the EA subscription.

    Verify whether each resource type supports a cross-subscription move.

    Identify all Foundry model deployments and determine whether they are Microsoft/Azure-sold models or third-party/partner models.

    For resources that support a direct move, perform the subscription migration and validate dependent configurations.

    For resources or deployments that cannot be moved, recreate them in the CSP subscription and migrate the required configuration/data.

    Revalidate RBAC, managed identities, private endpoints, networking, application settings, resource IDs, endpoints and deployment names.

    Test the complete application and agent workflow in the CSP subscription before retiring the EA resources.

    Users can continue using the workload after the migration provided that the required resources, deployments, permissions and dependencies are successfully recreated or moved. However, we cannot guarantee a completely transparent migration with no configuration changes.

    if the applications reference Azure resource IDs directly, those references must be updated because the subscription ID forms part of the resource ID and therefore changes after a subscription move.

    Please refer this Microsoft documentation:

    Move Azure resources to a new resource group or subscription

    Azure resource types that support move operations

    I Hope this helps. Do let me know if you have any further queries.

    If this answers your query, please do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful.

    Thank you!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.