Last year, Microsoft made an announcement that they’d be increasing the price of Microsoft 365 services as of 1 March 2022.
In addition to the price increases, they’re making a significant move towards pushing customers from monthly to annual subscriptions.
All of this is part of what Microsoft is calling the New Commerce Experience (NCE) for Microsoft/Office 365, revamping the way that end users (like you) buy their services through business partners (like us).
News outlets have identified that by pushing more users to annual subscriptions, Microsoft can potentially have better visibility into its revenue and reduce concerns about customer churn. (Source: CNBC)
They are also changing the cancellation policies to avoid prorated refunds on subscriptions after the first 72 hours of purchase.
Here’s where you can learn all the nitty-gritty details about Microsoft’s NCE.
Microsoft Price Increases
Starting 1 March 2022, Microsoft is increasing the prices of its most popular Microsoft 365 solutions… by as much as 25%.
The price rise means that if your Microsoft 365 subscription renews after 1st March 2022, you’ll move on to the higher prices.
As part of our proactive IT support commitment, we’ve spent the past several months working out how to best help our clients beat this price rise and keep their Microsoft 365 service costs as low as possible.
When you combine the price increases and Microsoft’s push to annual subscriptions, we’re left with three options for you.
Option A: Beat the Price Rise
Renew your Microsoft 365 services for the year.
Pay in advance for the year (up to 28 February 2022).
You’ll save 5% off the current monthly agreement price!
Deadline: 28 February 2022 BUT we will require at least a week to get your account sorted with Microsoft. Contact us NOW if you want to pursue this option to beat the price rise.
Option B: The Next Best Pricing
If you miss the 28 February deadline, you’ll still want to renew your Microsoft 365 services and pay annually to get the next-best pricing.
Deadline: 30 June 2022
Option C: Do Nothing Offer
If you do not take action before 1 July , or if paying annually is not accessible to your business, you can pay monthly, but at a the new premium pricing from Microsoft.
The obvious benefit of this is that you’re able to pay month-to-month, which offers your business flexibility, but it certainly comes at a cost.
Here’s how it looks when you add the prices that correspond to each of these options.
Option C: Pay Monthly | Option A: Renew and pay 1 year in full BEFORE 28/02/2022 | Option B: Renew and pay 1 year in full AFTER 01/03/2022 | ||||
Current Monthly Price | New Monthly Price | Equivalent Monthly Price * | Total Annual Price * | Equivalent Monthly Price | Total Annual Price | |
M365 Business Basic | £3.77 | £5.42 | £3.58 | £42.98 | £4.52 | £54.24 |
M365 Business Premium | £15.08 | £19.90 | £14.33 | £171.91 | £16.59 | £199.08 |
M365 E3 | £28.13 | £37.98 | £26.72 | £320.68 | £31.56 | £378.72 |
Office 365 E1 | £6.03 | £9.04 | £5.73 | £68.74 | £7.54 | £90.48 |
Office 365 E3 | £17.58 | £24.26 | £16.70 | £200.41 | £20.22 | £242.64 |
Office 365 E5 | £30.77 | £40.09 | £29.23 | £350.78 | £33.41 | £400.92 |
* Includes 5% discount for 1st year.
Act now and lock in your current price until February 2023.
Again, the best value for your business will be to move to an annual contract, fully paid for in advance, to not only maintain your current price but save 5% until February 2023.
The deadline to accept this offer (28 February) is fast approaching, and we’ll need at least a week to get it set up for you, so please contact us at your earliest convenience.