Set up Office 365

Pre-start checklist

Configure Business Center users

Create a new user

Use an existing user

Activate Office 365

Scenario A: Your client will be doing all of the Office 365 setup work themselves

Scenario B: You are completing the setup but will not be an administrator

Scenario C: You are completing the setup and would also like to remain as an administrator

Office 365 configuration (admins only)

Final steps

Link Office 365 and Business Center users

Pre-start checklist

Before you’re able to use Office 365, there are a few things you’ll want to configure first:

• Secondary Email Address: Ensure you have an email address that is not at the above domain name. This will be used as your administrative email address.
• [Optional] Domain name: If your client wishes to access their Office 365 products via Business Center, ensure that you or your client have administrative access to your client’s domain name’s DNS settings.
• [Optional] Business Center Users:If your client wishes to access their Office 365 products via Business Center, ensure that you’ve set up a Business Center user for each Office 365 user. These users should match the domain name you are using above.
• Example: username@domainname.com

Configure Business Center users

If your clients wish to access their Office 365 products via Business Center, they will need to provide a Business Center user to correspond with each Office 365 license. Follow these steps to ensure that each user is set up in Business Center.

Create a new user

1. Partner Center > Businesses > Users, click Create User.
• Alternatively, you can access this option from Partner Center > Businesses > Accounts > Account Name > Users.
2. Complete the form. If your client wishes to access their Office 365 products via Business Center, make sure the Email has the same domain name as the domain you are configuring.
3. You'll need to add the user to the account you are activating Office 365 on. Select Add Business.
4. Locate the account and click the checkbox next to it.
5. Click Add Accounts.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each user you are configuring.

Use an existing user

If you already have users with the same domain as the domain you are configuring Office 365 for, you can assign those users to the account instead of creating new ones.

If the users have already been assigned to the account, you can skip ahead to the Activating Office 365 step.

1. From Partner Center > Businesses > Users, click [kebab] > Edit Permissions next to the user you wish to use.
2. Click Add Business.
3. Locate the account and click the checkbox next to it.
4. Click Add Accounts.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for each user you are configuring.

Activate Office 365

To start using Office 365, you’ll first need to activate it on the account.

1. From Partner Center > Businesses > Accounts, click on the account.
2. Click Activate Products > Office 365.
3. Click Proceed to Next Step.

At this point, it is important to decide how you would like to configure the product. For details on how to fill out the remainder of the form, please find the scenario below that best aligns with your desired configuration.

Scenario A: Your client will be doing the Office 365 setup

• Primary Contact Name: Enter the name of your client who will be the admin for Office 365. 
• Primary Contact Email: The email address of the client named above. 
• Primary Contact Phone Number: The phone number of the client named above.
• Initial Admin Email: The alternative email address that your client will use to sign into and configure Office 365. Microsoft requires this email address to be on a different domain name than the one you are configuring, so they provide an onmicrosoft.com address.
• Admin Alternate Email: This email will receive information on how to set up the Office 365 Admin account. 

Scenario B: You are completing the setup but will not be an administrator

• Primary Contact Name: Enter the name of your client who will be the admin for Office 365. 
• Primary Contact Email: The email address of the client named above. 
• Primary Contact Phone Number: The phone number of the client named above.
• Initial Admin Email: The alternative email address that your client will use to sign into and configure Office 365. Microsoft requires this email address to be on a different domain name than the one you are configuring, so they provide an onmicrosoft.com address.
• Admin Alternate Email: This email will receive information on how to set up the Office 365 Admin account. 

Scenario C: You are completing the setup and would also like to remain as an administrator

• Primary Contact Name: Enter the name of your client who will be the admin for Office 365. 
• Primary Contact Email: The email address of the client named above. 
• Primary Contact Phone Number: The phone number of the client named above.
• Initial Admin Email: The alternative email address that your client will use to sign into and configure Office 365. Microsoft requires this email address to be on a different domain name than the one you are configuring, so they provide an onmicrosoft.com address.
• Admin Alternate Email: This email will receive information on how to set up the Office 365 Admin account.  

Once you've filled in the form, click the I understand... checkbox, then click Purchase. Office 365 will begin activating. Please allow up to 10 minutes for the product to move from a pending state to an active one.

Office 365 configuration (admins only)

Before you are able to proceed, Office 365's terms of service must be agreed to by the administrator entered in the previous section. If you are not performing setup work for your client, you can skip this section.

If you are doing setup work for your client, there are just a few more steps you'll need to complete before proceeding.

1. Check the inbox of the email address entered in the Admin Alternate Email field in the previous step. Keep your eyes open for a password reset email entitled "Microsoft Office 365 Admin User for...".
2. Click Login.
3. Enter a unique password into the New Password and Confirm Password fields.
4. Click Reset.
5. You will be redirected to https://office.com. Sign in with the email address and password you just set.

From here, the admin can click Assign Products to assign a product license to their own user account and/or to the other desired users in the organization. Afterward, all assigned apps will show up here and all assigned users will be able to use their products by logging in via office.com.

Final steps

If your client wishes to access their Office 365 products via their Business Center login, the following domain verification steps are required. Please note that once these steps are completed, users will be required to access their products via Business Center. Trying to log in via office.com will redirect users to Business Center.  

1. From Partner Center > Businesses > Accounts > Account Name and click Office 365 under the "Products" section to open the Office 365 Partner Portal.
2. Click Setup in the sidebar.
3. Follow either the Recommended or Alternate Methods listed on the verification page.
• Depending on the DNS host you currently use, updating your TXT and MX Records is completed differently. If you are unsure how to complete this setup, please reach out to your domain name host for further instructions.
• You can also make use of the View full instructions option where Microsoft provides more detailed instructions based on the host you are using.

Link Office 365 and Business Center users

If you have purchased any additional Office 365 seats, you'll need to link these to your Business Center users.

1. From Partner Center > Businesses > Accounts > Account Name, click Office 365 under the "Products" section to open the Office 365 Partner Portal.
2. Click Users in the sidebar.
3. Click + Add User to add a new user and assign an available license. The number of currently available licenses is listed at the top of the table.
4. Fill in the form. The following fields are available:
• Business Center User: A Business Center user you created earlier.
• First Name and Last Name: The user's name.
• Office 365 Username: The username you are creating for this user. This will ideally match the Business Center user entered above.
• Alternate Email: A secondary email that can be used for password recovery.
5. Complete steps 3-4 for each additional seat you've purchased.

You’re done! Your clients can now access Office 365 directly through Business Center. Please be aware that impersonated users (users who have not logged directly into Business Center) are not able to access Office 365 and will, instead, see the icon grayed out.