06 — Quick Reference Cheatsheet

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Reference for Cloud Solutions Architects — everything on one page.

Table of contents
  1. 🔗 Key URLs
  2. ⏱️ Severity Reference
  3. 📄 Microsoft Unified — What’s Officially Documented
  4. 🔑 Key Personas at a Glance
  5. 🎫 Case Creation Checklist
  6. 🚨 Escalation Path
  7. 🛡️ Digital MIRP Quick Reference
  8. 🔄 Services Hub vs Engage Center: One-Line Summary
  9. 📊 On-Demand Assessment — Top Picks for CSAs
  10. 📝 CSA Role Tips
  11. 🧩 Engage Center Navigation Shortcuts
  12. 🔐 Common Entra ID / Security Quick Checks
  13. ©️ Notes

🔗 Key URLs

Portal / Resource URL
Engage Center engagecenter.microsoft.com
Services Hub (legacy) serviceshub.microsoft.com
Azure Portal portal.azure.com
M365 Admin Center admin.microsoft.com
Microsoft Support support.microsoft.com
Unified Support info microsoft.com/unifiedsupport
Microsoft Secure Score security.microsoft.com/securescore
Defender for Cloud portal.azure.com → Defender for Cloud
Azure Status status.azure.com
Microsoft Entra ID entra.microsoft.com

⏱️ Severity Reference

Severity Business Impact Microsoft Unified Legacy Premier
A — Critical Business down, no workaround ≤ 1h 24/7 ≤ 1h 24/7
B — High Major impact, partial workaround ≤ 2h 24/7 ≤ 2h 24/7
C — General Minor / question ≤ 4h BH ≤ 4h BH

BH = Business Hours · 24/7 = Around the clock

⚠️ Initial response time only — not resolution time. Resolution is not contractually guaranteed.


📄 Microsoft Unified — What’s Officially Documented

Attribute Detail
Official name Microsoft Unified / Unified Enterprise Plan
Service categories Value Acceleration Services (proactive, strategic) · Mission Critical Services (reactive break-fix, incident response)
CSAM Included — named account manager for relationship and success planning
DSE Available — scope defined in the individual agreement
On-Demand Assessments Available — scope defined in the individual agreement
Proactive hours Annual pool — volume defined in the individual agreement
Portal Engage Center (engagecenter.microsoft.com)
Entitlements Response SLAs as per Severity Reference above; proactive hours, named resources (CSAM, DSE), and additional services defined per negotiated contract

💡 For the specifics of what a customer is entitled to, navigate to Customer Activity in Engage Center or ask their CSAM. The contract document is the authoritative source.


🔑 Key Personas at a Glance

Role Abbreviation What They Do
Customer Success Account Manager CSAM Relationship owner, success planning, escalation coordinator
Designated Support Engineer DSE Deep technical resource for complex issues
Cloud Solutions Architect CSA Architecture advisory, proactive services delivery
Technical Account Manager TAM Legacy Premier title, equivalent to CSAM
Premier Field Engineer PFE Legacy Premier title, equivalent to DSE
Detection & Response Team DART Reactive security incident response (separate engagement)

🎫 Case Creation Checklist

Before submitting a support case, gather:

Item Example
☐ Azure Subscription ID xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
☐ Tenant / Directory ID xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
☐ Resource Group name rg-prod-eastus
☐ Resource name / ID vm-appserver-01
☐ Exact error message Copy full error text + code
☐ Steps to reproduce Numbered, repeatable steps
☐ Time of first occurrence UTC preferred
☐ Recent changes (last 48h) Deployments, config changes, patches
☐ Business impact statement “X users cannot access Y, impacting Z process”
☐ Relevant logs attached Diagnostic logs, screenshots

🚨 Escalation Path

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Issue unresolved / response inadequate
    ↓
1. Update case severity in Engage Center
    ↓
2. Add escalation comment in case thread (document business impact)
    ↓
3. Contact CSAM directly (Teams / phone)
    ↓
4. CSAM escalates to Microsoft support manager
    ↓
5. CSAM escalates to Account Executive / Engineering (subject to agreement)

🛡️ Digital MIRP Quick Reference

Major Incident Response Plan — self-service portal tool in Engage Center, not a consulting engagement.

Section Purpose
Cloud Solutions Inventory of business-critical workloads + key contacts; attest when current
Your Account Team Microsoft contact info and support portal links
Response Guidelines Before / During / After a service incident guidance
Azure Health Services Dashboard + Resiliency Recommendations + Azure Advisor link

Azure workloads: auto-populated via the Proactive Resiliency Program · M365 / D365 / Power Platform: added manually · Contacts: managed by customer admins only · Attest after any significant change

Access: requires appropriate Engage Center role — confirm with CSAM


🔄 Services Hub vs Engage Center: One-Line Summary

Portal Status Use For
Engage Center (engagecenter.microsoft.com) ✅ Primary (current) All new workflows
Services Hub (serviceshub.microsoft.com) ⚠️ Legacy (parallel) Legacy cases / service types only

📊 On-Demand Assessment — Top Picks for CSAs

Assessment What It Checks Typical Time
Azure Well-Architected Review Reliability, Security, Cost, Performance, Ops Excellence 2–4h questionnaire
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Azure security posture, Secure Score gaps Automated + 1h review
Identity Security Entra ID config, MFA coverage, CA policies 2h questionnaire
Business Continuity Backup, DR, RTO/RPO posture 2–3h questionnaire
Microsoft 365 Security Exchange, Teams, SharePoint security config 2h questionnaire
Endpoint Security Defender for Endpoint coverage & config 2h questionnaire

📝 CSA Role Tips

Situation Tip
First call with a new Unified customer Start in Customer Activity in Engage Center to understand their entitlements and hours pool
Customer says “our cases take too long” Check severity assigned and whether “Waiting for Customer” time is inflating perceived response time
Customer wants to know what proactive services they can use Go to Services catalogue in Engage Center — available services reflect what’s included in their agreement
Customer asks about Services Hub retirement “No firm date yet. Both portals work. Default to Engage Center, Services Hub still there if needed.”
Customer wants to expand their Unified entitlements Key additions to ask CSAM about: 24/7 Sev A response, dedicated CSAM, DSE, On-Demand Assessments — entitlements are contract-specific, not a fixed published tier
Preparing for a QBR Pull 90-day case and service consumption reports from Analytics
Customer has a security incident Do NOT use MIRP — open a Severity A security case and/or engage DART

🧩 Engage Center Navigation Shortcuts

Section Path
Create new case Support → New Request
View all open cases Support → All Requests → filter by Status: Open
Browse proactive services Services → Catalogue
View my CSAM contact People & Contacts → Account Team
Check contract hours Account → Entitlements
Pull case analytics Analytics → Case Volume
Configure notifications Settings → Notifications

🔐 Common Entra ID / Security Quick Checks

For use during MIRP or advisory sessions:

Check Where
MFA coverage % Entra ID → Identity Protection → MFA registration report
CA policy gaps Entra ID → Security → Conditional Access → Policies
PIM configured? Entra ID → Privileged Identity Management
Break-glass accounts set up? Entra ID → Users → filter for emergency access accounts
Secure Score security.microsoft.com/securescore
Defender for Cloud score portal.azure.com → Defender for Cloud → Overview
Azure Policy compliance portal.azure.com → Policy → Compliance

©️ Notes

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. Content based on publicly available documentation. Always verify against the latest Microsoft documentation. Last reviewed: April 2026.