Subscription Management

This guide covers how to manage existing subscriptions, including understanding their status and making changes to quantity or term.

Understanding Subscription Status

The status field on subscription endpoints provides insight into the provisioning state. Here is a breakdown of common statuses:

• PendingManual / PendingAutomated

  • Both of these display as "Provisioning" in the UI. This means the subscription record has been created, but the provisioning task is not yet closed.
  • The distinction is whether the provisioning task is fully automated or if a manual action is required by our service delivery team.
  • NOTE: This status can sometimes get "stuck" if service delivery manually provisioned the service but the task was not closed (or was skipped). It does not always mean the service wasn't provisioned in the vendor's system.

• PendingCancel

  • This means the subscription has been cancelled (and has an endDate), but deprovisioning has not yet occurred.
  • This status was used more frequently in the past when we scheduled future end dates. Now, an endDate is typically added to a subscription at the time a cancel order is received.

• PendingActivation

  • This status is no longer used. It was for older vendor models where hardware shipment confirmation was required before activating the subscription.

• WaitingForDetails

  • This should not appear for most partners. It means provisioning details were missing when the subscription attempted to provision. We have validation to prevent this, so it would likely only occur due. to internal manual actions bypassing validation.

IMPORTANT: Billing and Subscription Status

Subscription status currently has no impact on billing. We bill subscriptions based on the subscription's start and end dates. This means that if there are provisioning delays, it is possible for billing to occur for a service that has not yet been fully provisioned in the vendor's system.

Future-Dated Subscription Changes

Future-Dated Cancellations

Cancelling subscriptions at a future date is supported via the Pax8 API. You can schedule a future cancellation via the following endpoint:

• Endpoint: Cancel Subscription

Future-Dated Increases in Subscription Quantities

Increasing subscription quantities for a future date is supported in the Pax8 platform interface, but not directly through the Pax8 API.

Workaround:
To handle future-dated increases:

• You can place the increase in subscription quantity immediately.

• Or, your system can be configured to place the subscription quantity increase once the specified date/time has passed.

• Endpoint: Update Subscription - Increase Quantity

Future-Dated Decreases in Subscription Quantities

Support for future-dated subscription quantity decreases varies by product type and has specific limitations.

• For Non-Microsoft NCE licenses: Decreases are possible via the Pax8 platform interface, but not via the API.
• For Microsoft NCE licenses: Decreases are not supported via the Pax8 app or API except during the renewal window.

Workaround for Non-Microsoft NCE Licenses:

• You can place the decrease in subscription quantity immediately (if allowed by the product).
• Or, configure your system to place the subscription decrease after the scheduled date/time.

Workaround for Microsoft NCE Licenses:
For Microsoft NCE licenses, subscription quantity decreases can only be processed after the subscription has renewed.

1. Store the subscription’s commitmentTermEndDate in your system.
2. Wait for the renewal to process (e.g., 24 hours after the renewal date).
3. Pass the API call to decrease subscription quantity after the renewal is complete.

• Endpoint: Update Subscription - Decrease Quantity

Notes for API Users:

• NCE Products: The decrease will only be accepted post-renewal. You must store and manage subscription end dates to track when a quantity decrease can be processed via the Pax8 API.
• Non-NCE Products: Future-dated decreases are possible via the Pax8 platform interface but not the API. Make sure to handle these decreases with a similar time-check mechanism as suggested for orders and increases.