Need help with Microsoft’s changes?
Knowing what to do when a giant like Microsoft announces changes to its prices and licensing model can be difficult. Often companies adopt a ‘put-up-and-shut-up’ attitude thinking there’s nothing they can do to control their costs.
But while Microsoft’s changes are unavoidable, making sure you have the best possible options from their packages and subscription model can help you mitigate any increases or, indeed, make savings.
Here’s what Microsoft is planning for March 2022:
- A price rise of up to 25% on six of the most popular Microsoft 365 solutions
- Changes to their subscription order cancellation policy
- A further 20% premium is to be added to the monthly subscription model.
Let’s look at the price rises first.
Microsoft 2022 Price Increase – March 2022
The price rises are part of global changes to Microsoft’s business subscriptions and are shown in the following table.
Ouch! Even the smaller percentages are significant, especially when there are already so many cost pressures in business. These percentage rises equate to a sum of between £1 and £3 per user depending upon your subscription. Currently, Microsoft has not published its GBP prices.
At present, there isn’t an advertised increase for Business Standard along with Exchange Plan One and Two (Exchange only subscriptions).
Whatever is in store, we’re asking the questions so that we can help.
Now, let’s look at what Microsoft is doing with subscriptions.
The way Microsoft is changing its subscriptions could also affect your pricing.
Changes to Flexibility
Orders for a new user subscription can only be cancelled for a period of 72 hours from the time of the order. After this cut-off point, you will be committed to the full subscription term you have selected.
IMPACT: Be careful when placing an order for a new user. This is very important if you move from monthly to annual pricing.
Further Changes to Pricing for Monthly Subscriptions
Microsoft is adding a further 20% premium to the monthly subscription model as of March 2022.
IMPACT: If you operate using the monthly subscription model, you could be paying an extra £2 or £3 per user – every month. That’s on top of the average 15% price rise mentioned earlier.
What can Urban IT Solutions do to help you?
We can’t stop the Microsoft price changes, but we can look at the subscriptions you have and ensure you’re getting what you need without paying for what you don’t. The best time to do this is now – before the planned changes kick in. Don’t wait until March 2022. We’re ready to help right away.
Subscription Duration
Businesses indeed need flexibility with their licences. That’s why the monthly subscription model is so popular, but with Microsoft’s imminent changes, flexibility will come at a cost. As an example, selecting the annual model to avoid the 20% increase, can end up very costly if you cancel a licence early in the annual term. We can help you explore the options.
We can help you select the subscription model that works best for your business and fits your plans.
Is doing what you’ve always done still right for your business?
You’ll only know if you take the time to think it through, and because we can help you understand all your options, we can ensure you get the solutions that work for your business, now and in the future.
Get in touch as soon as possible so that we can have everything sorted when Microsoft’s changes come into effect.
We’re Urban IT Solutions. We care about your IT.
