Microsoft announces new pricing coming in spring 2022

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced changes to their commercial pricing for Microsoft 365 which is the first major price update since Office 365 was launched 10 years ago. See https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2021/08/19/new-pricing-for-microsoft-365/

Microsoft said in their statement that this updated pricing reflects the extra value they have built into Office 365 and now Microsoft 365 for customers over the past 10 years.

Said Microsoft in its launch briefing: “Since its launch a decade ago, Office 365 has grown to over 300 million commercial paid seats. Along the way, we have continuously re-invested to meet the changing needs of our customers. Four years ago, we introduced Microsoft 365 to bring together the best of Office, Windows, and Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS). That same year we added Microsoft Teams as the only integrated solution where you can meet, chat, call, collaborate, and automate business processes—right in the flow of work.”

It’s certainly true that since introducing Microsoft 365, they have added many new Apps to these products including: Microsoft Teams, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate, Planner, Visio, OneDrive, and Whiteboard. They have also released 1,400+ new capabilities and features chiefly across the 3 areas of:

1. Communication and collaboration (especially Microsoft Teams and deep integrations with Power Platform, Lists, Planner, Forms, and SharePoint – plus other 3^rd Party Platforms such as Adobe, Salesforce and ServiceNow);
2. Security and compliance in an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape – Microsoft has added important capabilities such as data loss prevention (DLP) for email and documents, built-in mobile device management (MDM), sensitivity labels, plus powerful compliance capabilities to aid increasing regulatory requirements; and
3. AI and automation. Microsoft has built-in AI capabilities across their productivity and collaboration applications to help everyone achieve more. Across Microsoft 365, cloud-powered AI now automatically creates tables in Excel, sorts and removes email clutter in Outlook and provides translation, caption, and transcription capabilities.

The new 2022 model for Microsoft 365 services will also extend audio conference capabilities with unlimited dial-in capabilities for Microsoft Teams meetings across the business suites over the next few months. Unlimited dial-in provides peace of mind that users will be able to join their Microsoft Teams meeting from virtually any device regardless of location.

The new pricing changes being announced by Microsoft will come into effect in six months. On March 1, 2022, the list pricing will be updated for these services (and others are to be confirmed across this time): Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Office 365 E1, Office 365 E3, Office 365 E5, and Microsoft 365 E3. The most important aspect of the change is that subscriptions will be offered on a 3-year, 12-month, or month-to-month term with different price levels for these term commitments.

Microsoft is merely aligning its pricing with that of other common subscription models to charge a premium of at least 20% for the lowest, monthly commitment service model – so as with so many other subscription models, businesses will pay extra for the flexibility to remove licenced subscriptions at the end of any given month - otherwise, they must pay for the minimum term of 12 months even if they no longer require those 365 licences due to staffing reductions.

As an experienced Microsoft Cloud Services partner based in Edinburgh and Dundee, Grant McGregor Ltd has been working closely with Microsoft and its Distributors to plan to save you money by moving customers over to this new model before the changeover date next year. David Lawrence, Director said:

“The Grant McGregor cloud services team seeks the best possible outcome for clients to help with their Microsoft 365 licensing needs to provide best in class productivity and security solutions based on Microsoft 365 whilst at the same time working to save them money ahead of these price rises for at least the next few months. Our team will report more on this directly and work with its customers ahead of March 2022 to ensure they have the right licences and terms in place for their Microsoft 365 cloud needs.”

If you have any questions about your Microsoft 365 cloud licence needs, please get in touch with the team today on 0808 164 4142 or Contact Us today. https://www.grantmcgregor.co.uk/contact-us/