MicroAge, The Digital Transformation Experts®, announced a timely webinar preparing for major changes to Microsoft licensing and consumption starting in Q1 of next year. The December 9th educational event kicks off at 10:00 a.m. MST. It comes amidst confusion and surging demand levels on the heels of recent announcements from Microsoft unveiling changes to Office 365 and M365 plans. This is big news for technology leaders since the popular Microsoft productivity cloud platform now boasts more than 50 million daily users—the oncoming pricing and consumption updates will impact many CIOs and their employers.
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According to the most recent update from the tech giant, technology leaders can prepare for the following key changes:
A price increase hits six core M365 and Office 365 plans starting on March 1st of 2022. Then on June 30th, 2022, Microsoft will roll out its New Commerce Experience—along with pricing adjustments based on how users purchase and manage licensing. Microsoft customers who prepay for licensing annually won’t see new pricing go into effect until the annual term renews on or after March 1st of 2022.
For month-to-month payment plan customers, payments are still based on a yearly subscription model. Month-to-month M365 and Office 365 users will notice that each monthly plan still indicates a future expiration date. The price increases are effective for monthly plans once the subscription renews on or after March 1st of 2022.
In addition to price increases, the Microsoft New Commerce Experience (NCE) impacts all users leveraging Microsoft cloud technologies across O365, M365, D365, and Power Platform. With the rollout of NCE, Microsoft cloud users must evaluate their long-term approach to paying for cloud subscriptions because users who continue month-to-month payments will soon pay a premium. This premium includes a whopping 20% price increase on impacted products in addition to the price increases across the six core M365 and O365 plans. Even Microsoft cloud users who cancel early are responsible for paying for the full commitment in its entirety. Microsoft licensing customers can commit to an annual agreement upfront and prepay or pay it off monthly to save on the 20% month-to-month premium.
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“It’s a lot for IT leaders coming off of a challenging year to navigate,” says Rick Trujillo, MicroAge director of cloud services and connected workforce. “In the age of remote work and the digital workspace, IT leaders can’t afford to get it wrong with the leading cloud productivity platform. Fortunately, there are ways technology leaders can prepare now.”
Trujillo urges IT leaders to first invest time in learning about program changes with their Microsoft provider. He also recommends the following ahead of Q1 price increases:
- Understand current subscription and end dates.
- Start developing a strategy to navigate changes ahead.
- Evaluate Microsoft NCE early-adoption promotions now.
- EA Microsoft Cloud customers should explore a transition to NCE or navigate leveraging NCE for specific services in addition to the Enterprise Agreement.
