Microsoft 365 Price Increase: Save Now, Promotions End June 30

Things to Know about the Recent Microsoft Licensing Changes

Last year Microsoft announced an increase in subscription pricing as of March 1, 2022. A price hike is never a good thing, but there is a silver lining. Through the Microsoft New Commerce Experience (NCE), there are opportunities for organizations to work with their Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) and take advantage of promotions Microsoft has extended to them until June. Talk to your CSP for a walkthrough of Microsoft licensing changes in 2022 and figure out how best to plan your investments moving forward.

Steps You Can Take to Mitigate the Price Increases

The NCE model incentivizes annual subscriptions over monthly ones. The big change is that until now organizations could add or remove licenses monthly on a pay-as-you-go basis. Starting in July 2022, monthly changes will cost about 20% more compared to the annual price. For companies relying on seasonal workers, the monthly option may still make sense. However, the annual license offers significant savings if the staff consists of regular employees. Moreover, it is possible to have both license types concurrently, if necessary.

Lock in Your Pricing by June 30, 2022

The other thing you need to know is that while the pricing for new subscriptions went up starting March 1, you can still renew old ones for a few more months. Beginning July 1, these legacy subscriptions will be phased out. So from a long-term perspective, it makes sense to consider locking in a 12-36 month agreement, which ultimately brings you savings with respect to licenses. If your company is steady or growing and you know you plan to continue with your chosen license, a 3-year contract can save a lot over that time.

Microsoft 365 Price Increase

While no one likes price increases, this is the first price increase in over a decade in the course of which dozens of new apps and hundreds of new features have been added to these subscriptions since they were first offered.

iShift is Here to Help

At present, Microsoft is running promotions providing price discounts for the annual and monthly terms for CSPs such as iShift. As your trusted advisor and co-innovation partner, we are willing to pass on these savings to you. Moreover, as of March 17, Partners have seven calendar days, increased from 72 hours, to cancel or reduce seats after ordering or renewing new commerce subscriptions in CSP. We know that all these changes are complex and at times overwhelming. The good news is that we know how to navigate the licensing ocean and we can help. Give us a call.

About iShift

iShift is a multi-cloud technology solutions company that provides cloud engineering, cloud migration, cloud management and specialized IT staffing services. Our mission is to help businesses to simplify and accelerate growth while enabling digital transformation and IT modernization. No matter where organizations are in their cloud journey, iShift can design, build, optimize and manage a future-ready multi-cloud environment, resulting in significant cost savings, increased workforce productivity, operational resilience, continuity of services, and business agility. For more information on how our offerings empower businesses through their adoption of cloud and modern technology, visit www.ishift.net.

Share this article on: