Switch from Microsoft Sustainability Manager Premium to Essentials
Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability empowers organizations to accelerate progress in sustainability while also driving business growth. It brings together a range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) capabilities across the Microsoft cloud portfolio and solutions from our global ecosystem of partners. Microsoft Sustainability Manager is a Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability solution that unifies data to help you monitor and manage your environmental sustainability performance.
Microsoft Sustainability Manager offers a free 30-day trial. After you complete a quick sign-up process, you can access the app's key features. After the 30-day trial expires, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability includes two plans for Microsoft Sustainability Manager that you can select based on your organizational requirements:
- Microsoft Sustainability Manager Essentials
- Microsoft Sustainability Manager Premium
These plans offer your organization greater flexibility and choices in sustainability reporting, management, and aligning with your unique goals. They provide tailored solutions to empower your organization on its sustainability journey. After the trial period, if you acquire licenses for Microsoft Sustainability Manager Premium, you can convert to production.
If you purchase Microsoft Sustainability Manager Essentials, Premium data doesn't display in your environment. The data for the Premium features isn't removed, but it's no longer visible. If you purchase Microsoft Sustainability Manager Premium after November 1, 2023, you can get functionality added back by updating your environment through the Power Platform Admin Center or Microsoft Cloud Solution Center.
Existing Microsoft Sustainability Manager customers received a Premium offer code to access all Premium features and capabilities. Because this offer code expired in May 2024, you need to sign up for the Premium license to use Premium capabilities within your instance of Microsoft Sustainability Manager.
This article provides a high-level overview of the features and capabilities affected by switching from Microsoft Sustainability Manager Premium to Microsoft Sustainability Manager Essentials. It also includes the steps to downgrade the license with the Solution Center and Power Platform Admin Center.
Features affected by switching plans
This table lists the features that are affected by switching from Premium to Essentials and describes the differences.
| Feature | Difference when switching from Premium to Essentials |
|---|---|
| Navigation pane | The left navigation pane doesn't include any of the Premium features. You can find a detailed list of all the available features in Essentials in Microsoft Sustainability Manager plans. Certain advanced tools and configurations are no longer accessible, including capabilities such as Intelligent insights (preview), What-if analysis (preview), Document analysis (preview), Allocation profiles (preview), and Value chain. |
| Carbon activities | Activity and reference data for Premium scope 3 categories (10, 11, 14, 15) carbon activities are unavailable for carbon activity tracking in Sustainability Manager Essentials. You can't import data for these categories. These Premium data categories are removed from the Power Query and Excel template import experiences. |
| Calculation models and calculation profiles | You can't configure calculation models and calculation profiles that enable emission calculations for Premium scope 3 categories (10, 11, 14, 15) in Sustainability Manager Essentials. You also can't set or view a carbon fee for any of the emission scope types. |
| Preparation reports | Preparation reports for Premium scope 3 categories (10, 11, 14, 15) aren't available in Microsoft Sustainability Manager Essentials. |
| Advanced analytics | Advanced analytics capabilities aren't available in Sustainability Manager Essentials. These advanced analytics include Intelligent insights (preview), What-if analysis (preview), Document analysis (preview). |
| Emissions insights | The Emissions insights page doesn't include an Allocations tab, which is a Premium feature. The Allocations tab is removed, along with the ability to allocate emissions in Sustainability Manager. |
| Allocations | The allocations feature that allows users to view how your emissions are attributed to different parts of your business isn't available in Sustainability Manager Essentials. |
| Value chain | The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) value chain solution isn't available in Sustainability Manager Essentials. This feature lets you gather data directly from value chain partners and use that data to calculate scope 3 emissions. |
| Premium factor libraries | Premium factor libraries like the International Energy Agency (IEA) factor library isn't available in Sustainability Manager Essentials. |
| Report versioning | The ability to track report versions to issue updated reports isn't available in Sustainability Manager Essentials. |
| Key performance indicators (KPIs) | Key performance indicators that include water intensity and waste intensity metrics aren't available in Sustainability Manager Essentials. |
Premium license expiration
If your Microsoft Sustainability Manager Premium license expires and you didn't switch your tenant to Essentials, all Premium capabilities become unavailable. While they still appear in the UI, their usage is disabled and you can't perform the following actions:
- Import activity data for Premium scope 3 categories (10, 11, 14, 15).
- Run calculations for Premium scope 3 categories (10, 11, 14, 15).
- Use the ESG value chain solution, including the ability to setup surveys and collect partner data.
- Run what-if scenarios, perform allocations, and generate insights.
- Use Copilot in Sustainability Manager for report generation, document analysis, interactive data chat, and calculation model creation.
- Use report versioning, premium factor libraries like IEA, and water and waste KPIs.
- Set a carbon fee for emissions.
Note
To avoid seeing Premium features that you can no longer use, we recommend that you switch your tenant from the Premium to the Essentials version.
Switch your tenant from Premium to Essentials
You can switch to Sustainability Manager Essentials from either the Solution Center or Power Platform Admin Center.
The downgrade from the Premium to Essentials version of Sustainability Manager reduces some of the capabilities available to you. Essential functions are retained, but advanced features, especially the ones related to Premium scope 3 categories and complex data manipulations, aren't available. This change might require a reassessment of how to achieve sustainability reporting and carbon management objectives within the constraints of the Essentials version.
Switch versions in the Solution Center
In the Microsoft Cloud Solution Center on the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability tile, select View all solutions.
On the Microsoft Sustainability Manager (Essentials) tile, select Add, and then select the Deploy button.
On the Step 1 Additional components page, optionally select components you want to add, and then select Next.
On the Step 2: Select a Power Platform environment for Microsoft Sustainability Manager (Essentials) page, select an existing Power Platform environment or create a new one, and then select Next.
On the Step 3: Deployment summary and nickname page, review the information and make any necessary changes. Check the Terms of service box, and then select Next.
On the Required configurations page, confirm the required configurations, and then select Deploy. The deployment takes a few minutes to complete.
When the deployment completes, select Close.
Switch versions in the Power Platform Admin Center
In the Power Platform Admin Center, in the navigation pane under Resources, select Dynamics 365 apps.
In the search bar, search for Microsoft Sustainability Manager. Select the ellipses (...) to the right of Microsoft Sustainability Manager, and then select Install.
Select the environment where you want to install Microsoft Sustainability Manager Essentials, check the terms of service, and then select Install. The installation can take a few minutes to complete.
