Well prepared for the new year! How will Microsoft licenses change in 2022?

Over the past 10 years, Microsoft has added an awful lot to Microsoft 365. Services such as SharePoint and Teams have significantly broadened the possibilities for users. For the first time in a decade, Microsoft is now going to raise prices a bit. In addition, the software giant introduces subscription terms.

In short, there are some important changes coming. We discuss the ins and outs of this in this blog post!

Microsoft 365 price increase: What's up with that?

As of 1 March 2022, prices will increase for the following six products:

• Office 365 Plan E1
• Office 365 Plan E3
• Office 365 Plan E5
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Microsoft 365 Plan E3

On average, the price increase is around 10%, but in some cases it can be up to 30%. The new prices will apply to all new orders you place after March 1st. Existing subscriptions include price protection (one year from the moment you ordered the first product).

New commerce experience: 1 subscription, 3 installments

From 1 January 2022, you will also have to deal with Microsoft's new commerce experience. In concrete terms, this means that you can choose from three subscription terms:

• 1 month
  You can change the number of licenses every month, but this option is 20% more expensive than an annual subscription.
• 12 months
  You commit yourself for a year, paying a fixed amount in advance every month.
• 36 months
  If you sign in one go for three years, you pay the same price (monthly or annually) for 36 months.

For all subscriptions, you can scale up in the meantime. If you want to upgrade to a more advanced version in the meantime, you can always!

The advantage of this construction is that you create regularity. As a result, you can, for example, schedule a fixed evaluation moment every month to discuss whether you need to scale up or down.

Microsoft's vision is to deliver all Microsoft products based on one agreement: the Microsoft Customer Agreement. The New Commerce Experience also makes use of this agreement. This allows you to purchase products from Microsoft and Microsoft partners. You can easily supplement the contract with third-party products. This provides more convenience and overview.

A 'mix and match' is also possible: for example, if you purchase a workplace service from party A and a security service from party B, this is now easier to arrange. The new commerce experience has a mechanism that checks whether underlying products are present and whether the parties are allowed to deliver them.

What now? Promotions and next step(s)

From January 2022 you can get a 5% discount on an annual subscription. And if you choose a monthly subscription between January and June 2022, you pay the same price per month as with an annual subscription.

These promotions are valid for a maximum of 2,400 workplaces.

Want to know more? Watch the video below in which we explain the changes.

Would you like to switch gears to work out the best scenarios for your organization? Contact us here to discuss the possibilities.