At the end of last year, Microsoft announced they are due to increase prices for Microsoft 365 as of 1st March 2022.
As this price rise is due to take effect in less than two months, now is the time to act.
The price rise means any customer with Microsoft subscriptions that renew after 1st March 2022 will automatically be moved onto the higher prices. This includes rises for key services such as Microsoft 365 and Office 365.
| PRODUCT | PRICE INCREASE |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | 20% |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | 10% |
| Microsoft 365 E3 | 12.5% |
| Office 365 E1 | 25% |
| Office 365 E3 | 15% |
| Office 365 E5 | 9% |
There are no changes to pricing for education products at this time.
Understanding licensing – Are you paying too much?
Many organisations struggle to understand their subscriptions and as a result, end up oversubscribing and buying software they don’t need. The subscription model is certainly fairer than before as organisations can scale their licenses up and down as needed.
Let’s get straight to the point though – Microsoft licensing can be highly complicated. Their information doesn’t help due to the confusing number of versions, all with different products and features. So much so that every other Google search result for “Microsoft 365” relates to people trying to explain the differences between the versions, rather than on the products themselves.
If anyone can make something fairly straightforward sound immensely complicated, then Microsoft are the masters!
Up to April 2020, the difference was fairly clear, with two categories: Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Office 365 being the basic applications (Word, Excel, Outlook etc.) and Microsoft 365 being the basic applications plus a Windows license, mobility, and security tools.
However, on April 2020, Microsoft rebranded Office 365 to Microsoft 365. Most of the plans are now under Microsoft 365, except for a few exceptions such as the Enterprise plans.
Naming aside, you have a variety of plans to choose from such as E(Enterprise) and F(Frontline Workers) and each of these has different levels (E1, E3 and E5 or F1 and F3).
The key is choosing the right package for your needs. If you would like to see all of the options, this excellent chart lists all Microsoft 365 and Office 365 plans, including what is included under each plan. If you are still stuck, please get in touch as we are a Microsoft partner and will be happy to advise which is the best package for your business.
How to beat the price increase
You can renew your Microsoft subscription early, before the end of February, and maintain your current price until February 2023.
BEAT THE PRICE RISE
It’s important to take a close look at your subscriptions and keep on top of your Microsoft 365 license administration. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you have the right licenses assigned to each user?
- Do you have licenses still assigned to users who have left the organisation?
- Are you paying for Windows licenses and a Microsoft 365 E5 subscription?
By failing to track your licenses, you are likely to be throwing money away and this cost will only snowball over time.
As more applications and features are added to the Microsoft 365 suite, then the administrative overhead increases, making it even more confusing to manage. You could not only be wasting money on software you don’t need but missing out on great new apps and features that you do. All of which will have a detrimental effect on the efficiency of your organisation.
What should you do next?
Microsoft 365 is generally just one of several subscriptions that organisations must contend with and with the scale of IT services, it’s often one small piece of a very substantial pie.
As a company, you are the experts in your field. You will be focusing on providing your products and services to your customers and you want your IT systems to support you. Contact Coretek today. You can have a whole team of highly experienced personnel for less than the cost of one employee, removing the headache of managing your IT estate and freeing up precious time for your employees.