Microsoft 365 license changes in 2022
21 Feb 2022Microsoft has two major changes happening in 2022. These include:
- Price increases
- Changes in how licenses are bought (new commerce experience)
Microsoft 365 price increases
As of March 1st, there have been a number of prices increases for Microsoft 365 products. These mainly include the following products:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic – 20% increase
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium - 10% increase
- Office 365 E1 - 25% increase
- Office 365 E3 - 15% increase
- Office 365 E5 – 8.6% increase
- Microsoft 365 E3 – 12.5% increase
These price increases will automatically be applied. For more information, Microsoft have pushed a blog post onto their US site: New pricing for Microsoft 365 - Microsoft 365 Blog
Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience (NCE)
In addition to the above price increases, the way licences are purchased have also changed – and will slowly roll out as your current license terms expire (over the next 12 months). It’s worth noting – each software type you have (Microsoft 365 Business Basic / Microsoft 365 Business Premium, etc.) are viewed as separate licenses – so we could be doing this for you several times over the next year.
The major difference with NCE is the change in terms depending on the length you commit to. In all cases, removing users will no longer allow for a part monthly payment – you are committed to the full length of that period.
Monthly:
- Monthly commitment RRP: 20% premium on price compared to yearly commitment.
- Term length per user license: Committed to a full month – no cancellation / refund available.
- Length term: 1 month
Yearly:
- Annual commitment RRP: As listed.
- Term length per user license: committed to a full year – no cancellation / refund available.
- Length of term: 12 months – paid in full.
The Microsoft changes to licenses do allow for upgrades to higher tier licenses, but don’t allow for downgrades (while you are in your license term). For example:
- You can upgrade from a 1 month term, to 12 months, but you cant downgrade from 12 months to 1 month.
- A Microsoft Business Basic can be upgrade to a Microsoft Business Premium.
You can also have a mix of yearly and monthly licenses.
The licensing terms and company requirements can get complicated – so BlueReef Technology will be managing the transition for all clients seamlessly over the coming year as your firm needs to transition to NCE licensing.
This is the first major change to Microsoft licensing structure in over a decade.
More information can be found here: More changes are coming in the New Commerce Experience - US Partner Community Blog - Microsoft
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