Texas A&M AgriLife, through the Center for Managed Technology Services, CMTS, has become the first higher education institution in the nation to execute a Microsoft Customer Agreement – Enterprise, MCA-E, directly with Microsoft under a tax-exempt higher-education framework.

The agreement creates a new model for research technology management – a direct conduit between Microsoft and a non-taxing education entity – without requiring the traditional reseller model or campus-wide enterprise agreement, said Tim Ramsey, founding director of the center, which is a part of Texas A&M AgriLife Information Technology.

Specifically designed for higher education

The “E” in MCA-E stands for Enterprise, and this structure was previously available only to commercial or government customers, Ramsey said. CMTS changed that as the first education organization nationwide to execute an MCA-E directly with Microsoft under a tax-exempt education framework.

“This was the first time Microsoft extended this enterprise-grade agreement directly to a non-taxing education institution,” Ramsey said. “We maintained education pricing while preserving enterprise-level features like direct billing, multi-tenant governance, advanced compliance management and centralized cost allocation.”

Ramsey is also director of information technology for the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

A first for higher education

Previously, Microsoft’s education customers were required to purchase Azure and related cloud services through third-party resellers or through campus-wide Enterprise Agreements managed by the major university agency, Ramsey said. CMTS’ approach represents the first higher-education MCA-E nationwide, opening a pathway for other institutions to replicate the model.

Key benefits of the new structure include:

  • Direct billing: Researchers can now subscribe to Microsoft Azure and related cloud services directly through CMTS, without multiple layers of pass-through billing or internal transfers.
  • Reduced administrative overhead: The elimination of third-party layers simplifies cost flow and accelerates reconciliation.
  • Integrated compliance and cost recovery: Researchers purchase Azure directly from Microsoft under the MCA-E, while CMTS offers management and compliance support through cost-recovered service blocks of technical expertise. This creates a transparent, scalable model for higher-education research environments – a structure now being studied by other universities as a replicable model.

Awareness and access

Ramsey said the new structure will improve how researchers at Texas A&M AgriLife and beyond access cloud-based tools.

“Our goal is to make sure every researcher knows they can request Azure resources directly through CMTS,” Ramsey said. “This is about removing barriers and empowering discovery through faster, more transparent technology access.”

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