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ECIF Explained

Microsoft End Customer Investment Funds.

ECIF is a Microsoft program through which Microsoft account teams can nominate partner-delivered workshops, assessments, and migrations for funding to accelerate adoption of Microsoft cloud technologies. Eligibility, scope and funding amounts are decided by Microsoft. Modern 42 is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with the Identity and Access Management specialisation, 100% Australian owned, with onshore delivery.

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100+Projects Delivered
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100%Australian Owned
1Identity Specialisation
What is ECIF

A Microsoft program to accelerate cloud adoption.

ECIF stands for End Customer Investment Funds. It is a Microsoft partner program through which Microsoft sets aside funding in its fiscal budgets that can be used to pay approved partners to deliver services that accelerate a customer's adoption of Microsoft cloud technologies. The program was previously called Business Investment Funds (BIF) or Customer Investment Funds (CIF).

In practice, ECIF can be used to offset the cost of partner-led workshops, assessments, proofs of concept, and migrations for enterprise customers who are committing to or expanding their use of products such as Microsoft Entra, Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform. Whether ECIF applies to any particular engagement, the scope it covers, the partner Microsoft selects to deliver it, and any funding amounts are decisions Microsoft owns, not Modern 42.

ECIF is not self-service. The program is field-driven, which means your Microsoft account executive or Partner Development Manager nominates the opportunity on your behalf and Microsoft finance approves the funding.

For Microsoft's own description of the program, see the official Microsoft ECIF knowledgebase article.

Modern 42 engineers scoping an identity engagement
  • Can fund partner-delivered services, not licences or run costs
  • Targets net-new Microsoft cloud adoption
  • Nominated by the customer's Microsoft account team
  • Approved by Microsoft finance, not the partner
  • Eligibility and scope decided by Microsoft
About Modern 42

Microsoft Solutions Partner. Australian owned.

Modern 42 holds the Microsoft Solutions Partner credentials for identity work and delivers every engagement from Australia. Whether any specific engagement is funded through ECIF is a decision Microsoft owns.

Microsoft Solutions Partner

Modern 42 is a Microsoft Solutions Partner. Our credentials and identity track record are independently verifiable on the Microsoft Partner directory.

Identity Specialisation

We hold the Microsoft Solutions Partner designation for Security with an Identity and Access Management specialisation.

100% Australian Owned

Modern 42 is Australian owned and Australian operated. Every engineer who delivers your engagement is based in Australia. Your data, code, and project artefacts remain onshore.

Supporting Documentation

If your Microsoft account team is considering ECIF for your initiative, we can supply a scoped statement of work, deliverable definitions, and other artefacts they may need to take a nomination forward.

Fixed Scope Delivery

ECIF nominations typically require a clearly scoped statement of work. Our Marketplace offerings are already structured this way, and we are happy to scope custom engagements to the same standard.

Senior Engineering Team

Every Modern 42 engagement is delivered by the same senior engineers, regardless of how the engagement is funded. No separate team and no difference in quality.

How it works

From conversation to kick-off.

ECIF nominations follow a predictable path. Here is what to expect when you involve Modern 42.

01

Scope the opportunity

Tell us about the identity initiative you are planning. We identify whether a Marketplace offering already fits or whether a custom scope is the right fit for ECIF.

02

Engage Microsoft

Speak to your Microsoft account executive or Partner Development Manager about funding options for the engagement. Microsoft owns the nomination decision and the choice of delivery partner. If you would like Modern 42 to be considered, you are welcome to mention us in that conversation.

03

Submit and approve

Microsoft submits the nomination with our scoped statement of work. Microsoft finance reviews and approves the funding. Timelines are set by Microsoft and depend on their review cadence and fiscal cycle.

04

Deliver the work

We deliver to the agreed scope. Microsoft pays Modern 42 directly for the funded portion of the engagement. You receive the deliverables and outcomes as if it were any other Modern 42 project.

Engagement patterns

Identity work Modern 42 commonly delivers.

Anonymised engagement patterns across Microsoft Entra ID, Entra External ID, Microsoft Entra ID Governance, Microsoft Entra Private Access, and adjacent identity products. Customer details are withheld.

Entra ID01

Conditional Access framework uplift

Review and redesign of a Conditional Access policy estate, closing bypass risks and standing up a documented framework for future policy changes. Followed by managed Conditional Access reporting.

Policy reviewFramework designManaged reporting
Entra External ID02

Azure AD B2C migration to Entra External ID

Readiness assessment and migration design for a customer identity platform. Covered authentication flows, user journeys, federation, and data migration approach.

Migration designUser journeysFederation
Entra ID Governance03

Identity Governance deployment

Design and pilot of Microsoft Entra ID Governance, including access packages, access reviews, and lifecycle workflows replacing legacy MIM-era processes.

Access packagesAccess reviewsJoiner-mover-leaver
Entra ID04

MIM to Entra ID Governance migration

Migration of Microsoft Identity Manager workflows, MA agents, and synchronisation rules to cloud-native Entra ID Governance and provisioning. Eliminated legacy on-premises dependency.

Workflow migrationCloud-nativeLegacy retired
Privileged Access05

Privileged Identity Management proof of concept

PIM proof of concept covering eligible role assignments, approval workflows, and just-in-time elevation across Microsoft Entra and Azure resources. Outcome was an executive-endorsed rollout plan.

JIT elevationApproval workflowsAudit ready
Entra ID06

Phishing-resistant MFA uplift

Design and rollout planning for FIDO2 and Windows Hello for Business authentication, enforced via Conditional Access authentication strengths. Replaced legacy MFA methods across the workforce.

FIDO2Windows HelloPhishing-resistant

Every engagement above was delivered to a fixed scope and a defined statement of work. The same approach applies regardless of how the engagement is funded, whether through a direct purchase, a MACC commitment, or any funding Microsoft elects to provide.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about ECIF, how it works, and how Modern 42 participates in the program.

ECIF stands for End Customer Investment Funds. It is a Microsoft partner program where Microsoft sets aside funding to pay an approved partner to deliver services that accelerate a customer's adoption of Microsoft cloud technologies. ECIF was previously known as Business Investment Funds (BIF) or Customer Investment Funds (CIF).
ECIF is intended for enterprise customers who are committing to or expanding their use of Microsoft cloud products such as Microsoft Entra, Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform. Eligibility is determined by your Microsoft account team based on the size of the opportunity, the workload involved, and whether the engagement drives net-new Microsoft cloud consumption.
There is no public application portal for ECIF. The program is field-driven, which means your Microsoft account executive or Partner Development Manager nominates an opportunity on your behalf, and Microsoft decides whether to fund it. The typical flow is to speak to your Microsoft account team about funding options for a planned identity initiative. Microsoft owns the decision on whether ECIF applies, the scope it covers, and which delivery partner is the right fit for the work. If you would like Modern 42 to be considered for the delivery, you are welcome to mention us in that conversation.
ECIF typically funds workshops, assessments, proofs of concept, design engagements, pilot deployments, and migrations. The work must accelerate the customer's adoption of an eligible Microsoft cloud workload. Pure operational or run services are generally not eligible. Modern 42's identity assessments, Conditional Access reviews, MIM to Entra ID migrations, and CIAM migration readiness assessments are examples of identity engagements that have been considered in the past, though whether any specific engagement is funded is a Microsoft decision.
Identity engagements we commonly deliver include: Microsoft Identity Manager (MIM) to Entra ID migration; Conditional Access framework review and uplift; customer IAM current state assessment; Azure AD B2C to Entra External ID migration; application migration to Entra ID single sign-on; identity lifecycle and provisioning workshops; Privileged Identity Management proof of concept; and Zero Trust identity strategy and roadmap. Whether any of these is suitable for ECIF funding for your organisation is a decision your Microsoft account team and Microsoft finance own, not Modern 42. We are happy to talk through scope on its own merits, regardless of how the engagement is paid for.
Yes. Modern 42 is an ECIF approved Microsoft Solutions Partner with the Identity and Access Management specialisation, which is the credential Microsoft account teams typically reference when determining whether an identity engagement may qualify for ECIF. Whether a specific engagement is nominated and approved, who Microsoft selects to deliver it, and the scope and amount of any funding are decisions Microsoft owns, not Modern 42.
If Microsoft approves ECIF funding for an engagement Modern 42 has been selected to deliver, Microsoft pays Modern 42 directly for the funded portion. You receive the same statement of work, the same senior engineers, and the same deliverables as any other Modern 42 engagement.
Approval timelines vary and are set by Microsoft, not Modern 42. A nomination typically requires a scoped statement of work, a customer commitment, and review by Microsoft finance. If you are putting Modern 42 forward to deliver the work, we can supply a scoped statement of work and the deliverable definitions your Microsoft account team may need to take a nomination forward.
ECIF is a global Microsoft program. Whether it is available for any specific Australian customer or engagement is a decision Microsoft owns. Modern 42 is 100% Australian owned, so any engagement we deliver, regardless of how it is funded, is delivered entirely by Australia-based engineers with no offshore handoffs.

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